Rescuers hunt hawk in San Francisco with nail in head

A red-tailed hawk in Golden Gate Park suffering from a nail in the head has been seen eating small animals the past two days, a hopeful sign to rescuers trying to catch the bird before it's too late. A crew with the group WildRescue spent most of Wednesday chasing the bird, which was apparently shot by someone using a nail gun.

A crew member spotted the bird in the early afternoon near Lincoln Way and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, the same area where it was seen one night earlier, said Rebecca Dmytryk, director of the Monterey group. The hawk was eating a squirrel on Tuesday night and was working on a gopher on Wednesday afternoon - a good sign, Dmytryk said.



"He's catching prey and eating," she said. "While he's definitely injured and suffering, it hasn't compromised him too badly." The hawk has survived with a nail in its head for at least a week, and Dmytryk said she's worried about a possible infection.

Rescuers have set two traps in hopes of capturing the bird. They cannot use nets because of concerns the nail would get caught and further injure the hawk, Dmytryk said. She has high hopes of saving the bird if it can be trapped. "I think he has a good chance," Dmytryk said. "He's a survivor."