“Adapting and Overcoming” Win the Day in Red-Tailed Hawk Removal

PARTNER

Wholesale warehouse club location

• A juvenile red-tailed hawk flew into the Tallahassee, FL, location of a national wholesale
  club while chasing a customer’s small dog.

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OBJECTIVE

The store’s pest control partner failed to catch the hawk,
resulting in an emergency call to Meridian.

• The Technician drove five hours from another job and arrived at the wholesale club location
  at 10:30 p.m.
• Having joined Meridian earlier that year, Technician Eric A. relied on training and intuition
  to assess the situation.

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SOLUTION

Meridian used creative tactics and improvisation to safely
capture the large and potentially dangerous raptor.

• Conferring with the store manager and employees, the Meridian Technician located the
  hawk preening by the registers.
• The Technician set up two nets and attempted to drive the hawk into them, baiting the bird
  with a takeout burger.
• The hawk instead flew into a window repeatedly, exhausting itself. At that point, the
  Technician sensed he could capture it by hand.
• Donning raptor gloves, the Technician safely took hold of the hawk and released it outside the
  loading dock.

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RESULTS

The store was bird-free and safe for the next day’s opening.

• The store employees expressed surprise at the hawk’s six-foot wingspan and Meridian’s successful hand capture.
• Eric A. did not let a late night and a dangerous, uncooperative bird deter him. His “commitment to
  capture” and ability to “adapt and overcome” saved the store’s operations and the red-tailed hawk.