Movie Studio Calls on Meridian to Rescue Halted Production from Hawk

PARTNER

Movie studio hosting a streaming television production

• This Brooklyn, NY, studio’s sound stage was in the midst of producing a new series for a global entertainment
  streaming service.

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OBJECTIVE

Remove a hawk that had flown into the sound stage.

• A Cooper’s hawk shut down production when it flew into the building and could not find its way out.
• The raptor had already been inside for several days by the time Meridian was summoned.
• Meridian Technicians tried a traditional capture three times, with the hawk escaping the nets on each attempt.

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SOLUTION

Adapting and overcoming, the Meridian Technicians built a trap with some unusual features. 

• The three Technicians built a bal-chatri trap from purchased supplies. A rat bought from a pet store served as bait.
• The hawk managed to evade the trap several times. Meridian captured a pigeon and replaced the rat as bait.
• On the tenth try, the hawk’s talons became entangled in the trap, and the Technicians were able to capture the raptor safely.

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RESULTS

Production was able to resume, and the hawk was safe.

• Meridian took the Cooper’s hawk to a wildlife rehab center in Manhattan. Dehydrated and underweight, a band on the hawk indicated it had flown all the way from Maryland.
• Meridian released the pigeon, and a volunteer adopted the rat.