Saved From the Cook Pot, Hawk’s a Lucky Jailbird

She is one lucky jailbird.

The creature in question is a red-tailed hawk that came very close to being dinner for two transients this week.

But she was saved by the kindness of a third homeless man who wangled her away from his hungry acquaintances, then took her to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division station Tuesday morning.

“Apparently, the transient traded food for the bird,” Officer Joseph Napolitano said.

Officers put the bird in a holding cell and called the Wildlife Waystation, a nonprofit organization that provides medical treatment to wild animals.

Details of the rescue are sketchy but police believe that the transient--who did not identify himself--saved the bird of prey on San Fernando Road in Pacoima, Napolitano said.

Waystation veterinarians determined that the hawk, which is at least 2 years old, was in shock and apparently suffering from a bacterial infection, director Martine Colette said.

If the hawk recovers, she will be released in the foothills near Pacoima, Colette said. It is against the law in California to capture, possess or kill any birds of prey. The maximum penalty for the misdemeanor is a $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

“Most people try not to eat hawks,” she said, noting that birds of prey taste pretty foul. And, she said, there would not have been very much of the emaciated bird to eat.

Evidently the hawk, like the transients, had not had a meal for quite a while.