Upside-Down Hawk Brings Out a Ladder Truck

You've heard the one about firefighters rescuing a cat from a tree, but how about a bird? Well, here's something different.

Southampton Fire Department volunteers helped wildlife rescuers free a hawk from 35 feet up in a tree in Water Mill on Monday night. Bette Lou Fletcher of Sag Harbor, a volunteer with the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays, said the Cooper's hawk, a medium-sized hawk often seen in the area, was found hanging upside down.

Bob Rossetti, an employee at a beverage distributor on Montauk Highway, was closing up for the night and heard an animal in distress, Ms. Fletcher said. "He spent some time trying to find the source," she said. He spotted the upside-down bird in the branches of a tree on private property next to the shopping complex and called Southampton Town police.

Officer Steve Frankenbach responded and saw that the hawk was "very much alive." He called the wildlife center for assistance and was put in touch with Ms. Fletcher, a retired Suffolk County police detective who has been a wildlife volunteer for three years. "I told him, 'There's no way I have the equipment to get 35 feet up the tree,' " she said. The officer called the Fire Department, and Chris Brenner, the second assistant fire chief, brought in a ladder truck that has a bucket at the end.

"We rendezvoused in the parking lot behind the post office" about how to get access to the tree on the neighboring property, Ms. Fletcher said. No one was home at the time.

"When I got there, the hawk wasn't moving, but we proceeded because it was recently alive and it could have been unconscious and in shock," she said.

The ladder was extended not only up 35 feet, but laterally about 35 to 40 feet over a fence and into the yard in order to get to the hawk. A few branches had to be cut down. "It was quite the maneuver," Ms. Fletcher said. As the firefighters got close to the bird, they found that it had already died, but they cut the branch it was caught on and brought the bird down.

Though wildlife rescuers occasionally see birds, particularly waterfowl, wrapped up in discarded fishing line, they found none attached to the hawk. It looked as if it had gotten its foot tangled in the branch and broken its leg, she said. Even if they had been able to get to the bird while it was still alive, it would have had to be euthanized because of the injury, she added.

While the outcome was unfortunate, Ms. Fletcher said it was heartwarming to see so many people come together for the rescue. While the animal rescue center has had other instances of tangled birds getting stuck in trees, as strange as that sounds, "I've never seen the Fire Department come out and help get it down."