On August 17, 2012 when I arrived at work, I was greeted in the parking lot by one of the maintenance guys who told me that he'd seen a hawk at our campus park (campus is 406 acres) and it only hopped around on the ground and he thought it couldn't fly. Once my staff got to work I went down in my truck to drive around and look for it. Didn't see it. Because I'd driven my truck to work, instead of my SUV, I didn't have my 'raptor catching' gloves with me. For years I have transported injured hawks and owls to either the zoo vet, Dr. Marilynn Baeyens or one of the two close-by raptor rehabilitators; Rodney Paul, of Raptor Rehab of Central Arkansas, is closest to me. I went home to retrieve my gloves, a rat I'd pitched out at the edge of my driveway that morning (one I'd caught in a snap trap on the back porch the night before), a sheet to catch the hawk with and a pet carrier to put it in. I drove back to work and spotted the hawk, a Red-tailed on the ground near the park pavilion. On foot, I approached the hawk and it began to hop away from me, wings outstretched. I didn't want it to get close to the fence line behind the park where I might lose it, so I circled wide to come back to it. I pitched the rat out on the ground and it hurried over to it. Proud of one of the few meals it had probably had in a while, it appeared more interested in the rat than me, it certainly was not interested in leaving the rat. I approached closer and the hawk flopped over on it's back, wings outstretched, feet in the air .... PERFECT. I pitched the sheet over it, put on my gloves and picked it up by its 'ankles'. I retrieved my rat and put the hawk in the pet carrier in the back of my truck and took it to my office area .... folks are kind of used to that with me ... at least I left it outside the building to eat the rat while I went inside to call Dr. Baeyens' office. She was out that day and could not see the bird until Monday. I came home after lunch and began thawing rats that I keep in a freezer for such occasions. I promise, it is a different freezer from the people-food freezer. If I trap rats, either in snap traps or live traps, they always go in the freezer for this very reason. I left a message for Rodney Paul and he called me back about 4:00. The hawk ate two rats before I took it up, in my SUV, to Rodney, in El Paso, AR at 5:30. Rodney did not feel that the bird was terribly thin from his exam, so I felt encouraged. Exam and x-rays by Dr. Baeyens the following Monday revealed a fracture in the 'elbow', I think I remember it was the left wing. Rodney said 'cage rest' and hopefully she could come back to work in 2 months. On September 30, after just 6 weeks of rehab, the hawk was sufficiently healed to get to come back. She was released in the same area where I caught her. It only took her about 30 seconds to realize that she was free, so photo opts were few. I decided I needed a prop, for her to hop onto, so I added the limb in front of the carrier, that worked perfect for a quick shot of her release and a couple of photos after she flew to a tree. Rodney thought she was about 3 years old. I gave him a donation for his rehab efforts. Donations are tax deductible. Please visit his Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Raptor-Rehab-Of-Central-Arkansas/184508031575523?ref=br_tf