A friend and I were doing trail monitoring for VDGIF at Wilna today, and
this is what we encountered. A hawk (we couldn't determine which from
what we could see - possibly a Northern Harrier since they are
patrolling the fields nearby) with a back rat snake in its talon. Both
were very much alive, although the hawk had definitely had an encounter
with something that knocked it down. The snake was flipping its tongue
in and out, and was not on the ground, but in an upright stance. The
hawk's eyes were blinking, and its grip was still tight enough on the
snake that the unharmed snake couldn't get away, but the hawk could not
get up or even right itself from its prone position.
Fortunately a refuge staff member was already there when we arrived, and
was on the phone calling Diana O'Connor when we finally had to move on.
When we returned, both were gone, so hopefully both snake and hawk will
have a good outcome.
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