Hawk that terrorised village given forever home

A Harris's hawk that terrorised a village for at least a month has found a forever home with a local falconer.

The bird of prey was blamed for dive-bombing attacks on about 50 people in Flamstead, Hertfordshire, including in one case where a man was taken to hospital.

Nicknamed "Bomber Harris", the hawk was eventually captured last month and has since been trained by falconer Wayne Housden.

He said the story had reached a happy ending, with the wayward bird having "calmed right down".

• LISTEN: A new life for the hawk that attacked people

The hawk's behaviour was likely hormonal or territorial and he was "not nasty at all", Mr Housden added.

The spate of attacks began in March, with people in the village, south of Luton, claiming the belligerent bird had a penchant for diving on "tall men".

In one case a runner was left "bloodied and bruised", while an innovative 91-year-old tied his new hat to his head with a shoelace after two were clawed off him.

Royal Mail admitted the havoc caused by the hawk had disrupted its postal deliveries.

The attacks became more serious when an elderly man had to be treated in hospital after the bird drew blood when swooping on him.

The bombing was even caught on camera - but the Harris's hawk was eventually captured a month later, fittingly by a Mr Harris.

At one stage there were discussions about the rogue bird having to be euthanised.

He was eventually handed to Mr Housden, who has worked with birds of prey for about 30 years.

The falconer revealed how his first priority was to stabilise his new feathered friend - and promptly spent about £1,000 building an aviary.

Mr Housden told the BBC he would take Bomber Harris to the popular Flamstead Scarecrow Festival in August.

He plans to keep the hawk full-time and hopes to be able to let him fly loose in the autumn - when he will hopefully come back again.

Mr Housden said the hawk - a non-native South American species - was likely a captive-bred bird that had lost its falconer.

He said the dried-out leather tags on its feet suggested it had been loose for more than a year.

He had not been contacted by anyone claiming to be its owner, Mr Housden said.

"If I was to let someone else have him, I would have wanted to stay in contact with him," he added.

"He's been failed once and he is not going to be failed again."

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