One-legged hawk has Belleville man to thank for its escape from rising flood water

While walking down West Monroe Street with a friend to survey Tuesday’s flood , Ryan McCann spotted a one-legged Cooper’s hawk trapped in the chain-link fence on one of the old Belleville Khoury League fields .

“It had its one foot latched onto it, and its wings were spread back in the water,” McCann said. “So, I immediately went back to the house, put on my waders and grabbed my large fishing net.

“I didn’t think too much about my safety because the water wasn’t moving, it was just rising. And so I knew that if we’d have left the bird there, it surely would have perished.”

As McCann waded into the water, he said he felt the pressure of the water against him and could feel how deep the water was. Once he arrived at the fence, it took five minutes to get the hawk in the net.

McCann took the animal to dry ground, but he said the hawk was still in a lot of distress from the environment.

“There were a lot of people turning around from the flood water,” McCann said. “There’s too much traffic and too many people. A lot of folks were just trying to take pictures, but some folks were harassing the bird by poking it with sticks or getting too close.

“So I said, ‘OK, the bird can’t stay here,’ and so I ended up moving it from over here on the dry ground to my front porch so it could be out of this stressful environment.”

The hawk wasn’t in great shape, McCann said. It was exhausted, had ruffled feathers and was missing a leg — though, he’s unsure if it was severed in the fence or sometime before it got stuck.

It rested in a chair on the edge of McCann’s porch (and relieved itself all over it). At one point, it hopped into one of McCann’s garden beds and kicked up some of his plants.

“I didn’t really care, I just wanted to make sure the bird was OK,” McCann said.

McCann said he made contact with the World Bird Sanctuary the night of the rescue, but by the time he received a response on Wednesday morning, the hawk had gathered up enough strength to fly away.

“It was good that it could still fly, but it is still in need of help,” McCann said. “I was informed that if we see it again, we should put it in a box and get it over to the World Bird Sanctuary as soon as possible … Hopefully it comes back again.”

The World Bird Sanctuary is west of St. Louis, about a 45 minute drive from Belleville. The organization rehabilitates over 600 birds of prey each year, according to their website .

McCann is a professional. He works for AJS Wildlife Solutions, a company that removes nuisance animals like raccoons, squirrels or bats from homes. McCann said they try to trap the animals, then once they’re removed they repair the home so they can’t come back.

And the hawk wasn’t McCann’s first off-the-clock rescue. In August 2023, he helped untangle a goose that got its legs tied up in a fishing line at Bicentennial Park, he said.

McCann said anyone wanting to help animals should do the best they can, but ultimately they need to seek the help of trained professionals because animals can be wild and unpredictable.

“Call a certified wildlife technician or your local wildlife rehab to come out and help, they specialize in these things,” he said. “They are more efficient and professional when it comes to the health of the animal.”