MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — The Wilderz at Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center near Stroudsburg say they got a call after a tree service cut down a tree in Bushkill that was known to have a nest of red-shouldered hawks.
"They are federally protected, so if you are told that they are in there and you do it anyway, it is illegal. It's a federal offense, so it was reported," said Janine Tancredi, Pocono Wildlife co-director.
The four birds were not hurt but are still too young to care for themselves. Rehab experts knew time was limited to get the birds back to a nest near where they originally came from.
"We had a majority of the original nest, so we got one of our old laundry baskets and put the nest in there," said Sampson Metzgar, a wildlife avian specialist at Pocono Wildlife.
But Pocono Wildlife needed a helping hand to get the birds back home, so they put out a call on Facebook. It didn't take long for Busy Beaver Tree Service from Lords Valley to answer the call and bring the gear.
"We have the spider lift, it's a tracked aerial lift that we use for tree removal," said owner Walter Magie. "We got it to the tree they picked out, and we went up and helped them secure the nest in the tree."
Magie then helped Metzgar get suited up to take the birds back to the nest nearly 40 feet up.
"Generally, the parents will stay around for a while, at least a couple days, trying to find their babies, flying around with food," Metzgar explained. "Last night, one of the parents was flying around with a mouse."
The parents of the red-shouldered hawks returned to the nest Monday morning. Everyone involved says they're thankful for this happy ending.
"In 2011, we did rescue a red-tailed hawk that was stuck up in a tree, but this was a first," Magie said.
"This would not have happened without them," Metzgar added. "If they weren't there, we wouldn't have been able to do this, so the credit goes to them."