PORT ORANGE, Fla. — It’s nesting season again for hawks outside of the Port Orange Library, and the territorial birds are attacking people.
Gwen Searfoss’ grandmother had pain for a month after one of the hawks drove its talons into her scalp.
“She said that it was like getting hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire,” said Searfoss.
A little over a month ago, city officials placed more signs warning people at the library and around City Hall across the street.
As a Channel 9 photographer was getting video of the birds, a hawk swooped over his camera.
People were seen leaving the library with umbrellas to protect themselves from the birds.
“It’s a threat to people, and we have to come here to pay our water bill, and we’re regulars at the library, you know, kind of almost makes me feel like I don’t want to come up here at all,” Searfoss said.
Florida Fish and Wildlife said the hawks are protected by state and federal law.
Their nests can be removed with a permit from FWC, but if a nest has eggs or chicks, moving it would require a permit from both FWC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
So far, officials with the city are not considering either option.
“There are still a lot of people who are unaware of what’s going on that I’m afraid that a child or elderly person is going to get struck,” Seafross said.
The birds nest for about three months, so during that time, city officials want residents to be on alert.
Cox Media Group
