By Kyle LoJacono
When 43-year Lutz resident Scott Peterson stepped out onto his patio on Aug. 28 to start his grill, he never expected he would have company.
- After struggling for 20 minutes to find its way out of the Petersons’ screened-in patio, Lori Peterson managed to wrap the red-shouldered in a large beach towel in order to set it free. (Photo by Scott Peterson)
Perched a few feet from him was a red-shouldered hawk that got inside the screened-in patio after a storm blew the door open earlier in the day.
“It was about 5 p.m., and I was literally going outside to fire up the grill when I heard a bit of a clutter over on the other side of the patio,” Scott said. “We have a plant stand with herbs and it was sitting right on top, probably 20 feet from me.”
Scott and his wife Lori see hawks and other birds of prey circling their house on a regular basis, but none had ever managed to get inside their patio before.
“When Scott said there was a hawk in the patio, I didn’t believe him,” Lori said. “That’s not what you’re expecting to hear after your husband goes outside to start the grill.”
Scott estimates the bird was 14-16 inches tall with a 2.5-foot wingspan.
“I’ve seen them bigger, so I don’t think it was fully grown, but its talons were very impressive,” Scott said. “I can’t say for sure if I’ve seen that particular one before, but we see them all the time.”
What started next was an attempt to free the confused creature.
“I suspected he was kind of baffled by the screen from trying to fly through it before I went outside,” Scott said. “When I got out there he was taking five to rest. He let me get within about five feet of him. Then he took off and kept hitting the screen cage. Then he tried to go talons first into it and shredded the screen like a box cutter.”
The Petersons gave the animal space. After about 20 minutes it settled down enough for them to try another attempt.
“My wife got gloves and a big beach towel to cradle him,” Scott said. “The bird let my wife come right up to it. It’s almost like it knew she was trying to help. It just let her pick it up. She cradled it very gently and got it out of the screen and it took off.”
Lori wasn’t afraid the animal might attack her.
“It was very calm,” Lori said. “I don’t know if it was just very tired, but I think it knew I wasn’t going to hurt it.”
The red-shouldered hawk flew to a branch before eventually taking off for good.
“It gave me goosebumps,” Scott said. “My first thought was good it’s not hurt, but then I just watched because it was just so majestic. It was just a gorgeous bird. I haven’t seen it since, so maybe it’s a little scared of the screen.”
