Sonny, the Yellow Lab, and Lucky, the Red Shouldered Hawk

Sonny, the yellow lab, and Lucky, the Red Shouldered Hawk’s lives crossed on a cold snowy day in Virginia when Sonny sensed something was terribly wrong with the beautiful raptor perched on the fence for hours. http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/59853
Injured, with his wings clipped or possibly dragged by a car, the hawk could not fly away. He’s been sitting on his fence perch for hours, just moving his head, unperturbed by the dog’s furious and relentless barks. Sonny seldom barked so that drew the attention of his owner, Scott Lingamfelter, who sent his son Paul to check out the source of Sonny’s commotion.

Lucky
Photo Credit: Scott Lingamfelter, March 23, 2014

Red Shouldered Hawks nest in deciduous woodlands with tall trees and a good source of water, near rivers and swamps. Hunters of mice, frogs, and snakes, their “kee-rah” whistle makes a distinctive sound in the forest. Their stick nests can be seen in the main crotch of a large tree. When migrating, the Red Shouldered hawks fly high overhead along ridges and the coast.

Scott Lingamfelter, Sonny’s owner, posted today an update on the fate of the Red Shouldered Hawk who had been picked up by the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia in Falls Church for evaluation and possible rehabilitation.

Kent Knowles of Raptor Conservancy of Virginia reported that the hawk is doing as well as it can be expected. He is “self-feeding and slowly regaining weight.” When the weather warms up, RCV will release some birds from flight cages, birds that have completed rehab, and are now ready to fly on their own in the wild. There will be room, and Sonny’s hawk, Lucky, will be moved into a flight cage.

After the hawk completes a successful molt in August, his condition will be reassessed. The wildlife caretakers are not sure Lucky will be able to complete a molt. Sonny’s hawk may need more recovery time since “most of his flight feathers on both wings were torn at the halfway point, and the raptor is considered non-flighted.”

Without Sonny’s “bark-a-thon” that cold December day, the dehydrated and hungry hawk would not be alive today. Scott Lingamfelter named the hawk Lucky. He did not have nine lives that day but Sonny’s canine instinct that alerted human help, gave him another chance at life. Nobody would have known the terrible condition the raptor was in.

 Sonny, the Yellow Lab hero

Photo credit: Scott Lingmafelter, March 23, 2014

 

 

Sonny and the Red Shouldered Hawk

Sonny the "rescue dog"

Sonny was running back and forth in the wet snow, barking furiously in the direction of the back yard fence. Scott Lingamfelter’s yellow lab was normally quiet, he rarely barked. Something must have really attracted his curiosity.

At first, they ignored him. He will eventually calm down, they thought. Perhaps he saw neighborhood kids outside playing in the snow or building a snowman and he got excited.

It was a cold, snowy day, and everybody was enjoying the cozy fireplace. Scott’s son, Paul, decided to go outside and investigate the source of Sonny’s unusual barking and irritation.

Perched on the fence, resting, was a Red Shouldered hawk, totally unperturbed by the noise made by the agitated yellow lab. When seeing humans, the seemingly calm bird did not fly from his perch. He sat there motionless for hours, occasionally moving his head, uninterested to fly away in spite of Sonny continued barking.

The hawk perched on the fence.
 

After several hours, Scott decided to call the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fishers (DGIF), asking about this particular hawk. After contacting a raptor rescue, an individual arrived to capture and check the hawk out to make sure he was not injured.

To their surprise, the hawk could not fly away even if he wanted to flee. His wings were indeed damaged, not by another animal, they had been clipped. The hawk got away from his owner who held him captive by clipping his wings. He could not fend for himself but had made it as far as Scott’s back yard fence, causing the commotion with Sonny.

The hawk was very dehydrated and hungry. Caring and safe hands fed him and gave him water. He will be held and cared for until his wing feathers will grow back and he will be able to fly and fend for himself. New feather growth will take about a year and, if able to fly and feed himself, he will be released back into the wild.

Sonny “the rescue dog” saved the beautiful hawk’s life. Without Sonny’s canine instincts, Scott and his family would have never known the terrible condition the raptor was in. While the hawk is being cared for by the Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries, Scott Lingamfelter, a Virginia delegate, will post regular reports on his Facebook page on the hawk’s condition and progress.

Photos by Scott Lingamfelter

 

Virginia is for Food and Farm Freedom Lovers

Virginians are not taking lightly the NGOs environmentalist assaults on their land and the right to farm. They are fighting back with the Virginia Small Farm and Food Freedom Resolution in support of the Farm and Food Freedom Act. (www.vafarmandfoodfreedom.com)

Many Virginians testified in Richmond in support of HB1430, The Right to Farm Act, better known as the Boneta Bill, which passed the House of Delegates 77-22 in February 2013 but was blocked by the Senate Agricultural Committee by a vote of 11-4. Delegate Scott Lingamfelter promised to reintroduce the bill next year.

Virginians have vowed to continue the fight. Chairman Mike Thomas and his committee of 12 proposed a resolution on May 4, 2013 to be included and published on the Republican Party of Virginia website with a link on the home page.

It remains to be seen if any of the parties and members of Congress represent the wishes of the majority of the people anymore. Would lawmakers continue to pass laws just to protect the loudest minorities, the illegals, those on welfare, and the elites in power?

The Resolution calls on the Republican Party of Virginia to “support state legislation and local ordinances consistent with each farmer’s right to determine what best constitutes farming, farm life, the best uses of his/her own farm land, respect for their neighbors,” market pay for their labor, and to repeal state laws and ordinances inconsistent with the Resolution.

The Governor and the General Assembly have a duty to advance legislation in 2014 that respects the rights of citizens to pursue their self-interests as protected by the Constitution of the United States, the vision of the Founding Fathers, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Farmers engage in more than just production agriculture, they have the right to commerce, the right to enjoyment of their land, assembly on their property, the right to exercise religious freedom on their lands, the right to grow, eat, sell their locally produced foods without burdensome local and state government regulations or dictates from environmental groups sponsored by international groups and entities, including the United Nations ICLEI.

Government should not use laws, regulations, zoning ordinances, or cumbersome and expensive permits to violate or trespass on the farmers’ rights and freedom to farm under the guise that they know what is best for farming in general or one farmer in particular.

Government agencies or subdivisions that violate farmers’ rights and trespass on their property should be made accountable for their deeds. Americans should not be treated as guilty until proven innocent while giving environmental groups unlimited power without much redress for small farmers who do not have the means to fight back and must shut down their farming operations and farm stores as was the case of Martha Boneta in Virginia and many others across the country.

Less than three percent of American labor feeds 306 million Americans yet the government is making it harder and harder for small farms to operate and bring wholesome foods to the market. Why should farmers be subjected to “annual property monitoring visits and inspections” by environmental groups funded by U.N. Agenda 21 agencies and pursued by groups beholden to ICLEI and other environmental councils who have no idea how their food gets to the table nor do they care? Are “penny loafer farmers” and their horses the only Americans protected under the law? Don’t real farmers deserve the same protection under the supreme law that guarantees all Americans unalienable rights such as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?”