(Osgood, IN) – A hawk is recovering at a wildlife rehabilitation center after several Ripley County law enforcement officers rescued the animal last week.
Ripley County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched on Thursday to the 7,000 block of North Baseline Road in Osgood on a report of an injured bald eagle on the roadside.
Osgood Town Marshal Daniel Craig and deputy J.T. Linkel were the first to arrive and located the injured bird. They received assistance from volunteer Special Deputy M. Chastain.
Because of the length of travel time for an Indiana Conservation Officer to arrive on the scene, the Ripley County Communications Center coordinated with a number of wildlife rehabilitation centers across the state.
UTOPIA Wildlife Rehabilitators in Bartholomew County agreed to rehabilitate the bird if it could be transported there.
Chastain volunteered to transport the bird to ensure full time patrol officers were not pulled away from the county.
He took the bird to the center, where it was determined the wounded animal – at first believed to be a nestling/fledgling Bald Eagle – is more likely a Red-Tailed or Red Shouldered Hawk.
“I would like to thank everyone who participated in this rescue. There is a strong culture of law enforcement agencies working together across disciplines, and this was an outstanding example of the interagency cooperation that occurs in Ripley County,” said Sheriff Rob Bradley.
If you would like to learn more about UTOPIA Wildlife Rehabilitators, visit https://www.utopiawildlife.org/.
