In August, a Pennsylvania game warden received an urgent call about an animal stuck in a local farm’s manure pit. When the warden arrived at the scene, the last thing they expected to find was a red-tailed hawk buried in the sticky, suffocating mess. Struggling and exhausted, the bird was a pitiful sight.
With calm care, the warden carefully placed the bird into a carrier and rushed it to the Raven Ridge Wildlife Center. “I could smell her before I even saw her,” said Tracie Young, a rehabilitate at the center, as she remembered the hawk’s arrival. The team knew it would be a tough recovery, but they were ready.
After settling the hawk into a quiet quarantine space, the team gently worked to remove the manure from her feathers. A series of soothing baths, along with pain relief, fluids, and nutritious meals, helped the bird regain strength. And within hours, something remarkable started happening. Her body, once limp and depleted, seemed to come alive.
“The change was incredible,” the staff wrote in a Facebook post. “Within just a single day, this tired, defeated hawk transformed into a bold, energetic creature again.”
After her miraculous recovery, the time had come to release the hawk back into the wild. Watching her spread her wings and soar into the sky, the team felt an immense sense of satisfaction. But for Tracie, it was bittersweet.
“You wish she could understand,” Tracie reflected as the hawk flew away. “You want to say, ‘This is why we did what we did—so you could fly again, where you belong.’”
