Harris Hawk Gets Stuck Up Tree
A Harris Hawk's been rescued after getting stuck 30 ft up a tree in Dorset.
It took fire crews around 2 hours yesterday to free 'Storm' after his tethering rope got all tangled in some branches in Blandford.
Specialist animal rescue teams were sent out to Becket Close around 4.20pm on Monday (April 11th 2011) and used a ladder to free him.
The bird of prey has a wing span of around 4ft (1m) but he wasn’t injured.
District Commander for Poole and Hamworthy, Group Manager Phil Allen said:
"Having escaped from its owner, Storm became trapped in the tree because its 8 foot leash became wrapped around a branch at the outer edge of the tree. It quickly became apparent that anyone tempted to rescue the bird would have put themselves in extreme danger, not only because of the height but because of the thinness and unpredictable strength of the branches.
"Our Technical Rescue and animal rescue team were able to install a safe working system using ropes and harnesses which ensured the safety of the firefighter undertaking the rescue. Having ascended the tree the firefighter was able to use a pole to unwrap the leash and Storm flew away. Storm was last seen in another nearby tree, but luckily not trapped!"