Wildlife folks in Virginia just shared the funniest animal story in a while. A red shouldered hawk turned up sitting in someones driveway looking completely grounded. Staff at the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center checked her over and found nothing broken or sick. The real issue? She weighed over 910 grams, nearly twice what a normal female of her kind should tip the scales at.
Turns out the bird had been living her best life for weeks. Free ranging chickens in the neighborhood kept vanishing at a steady pace. She would grab an easy meal, fill up, then nap in the trees until she felt hungry again. Repeat that cycle day after day and eventually those wings just could not lift all the extra weight.
The center called the diagnosis straight up: too darn fat to fly. She is now on a proper diet so she can get back in the air. Meanwhile the rest of us are left laughing at a hawk that treated the whole neighborhood like an all you can eat buffet. Nature really does have a sense of humor sometimes.
