WHTM News Staff – YORK, Pa. (WHTM) – State officials hope to capture and treat a hawk seen flying with an arrow pierced through its chest.
Barb Thomas, who lives in Pleasureville, was the last person to see the red-tailed hawk. She was able to get a picture of the bird on her camera while walking at Rocky Ridge Park on Monday.
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"When we first noticed him he was on the second landing of the (electric) tower," Thomas told ABC 27 news. "He stayed there for about a half an hour or so."
According to officers with the Pennsylvania Game Commission the hawk was first spotted about a month ago about a mile away from Rocky Ridge Park at the corner of Druck Valley and Range Roads.
Shawn Musser, a Wildlife Conservation Officer with the Game Commission, said after looking at a picture of the bird that it appears the arrow entered through the bird's chest.
"When it got to the fletching it actually looks like it stopped," he told ABC 27 News.
Musser said the red-tailed hawk has been spotted numerous times and it appears to be flying normally. He told ABC 27 News the Game Commission is working with a falconer to try to catch the bird to get it to a rehabilitation center.
"To make it a month it's got to be feeding pretty decently," Musser suggested. "I'm sure it's underweight, I'm sure it's hurting, but I think for having an arrow through it's chest I think it's doing very well."
Musser told ABC 27 News it doesn't appear the hawk was shot by accident. He said finding out who shot the bird might next to impossible because arrows often don't include anything that's traceable.