Hawk hunkers down in taxi to avoid Hurricane Harvey

In this case, taking a cab was just easier than flying.

A cabbie in Texas found himself with an unusual fare on Friday when a hawk took refuge from the impending Hurricane Harvey in the front seat of his taxi. William Bruso of Houston was gathering supplies when he returned to his cab and found the hawk sitting in his front passenger seat and refusing to leave.

Bruso dubbed the bird “Harvey the Hurricane Hawk” and documented the entire saga on his YouTube channel. Most of the 10 videos have at least 200,000 views, with the first video already garnering more than 500,000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6MjdV_8E6Q

“He just kind of hopped on in and doesn’t want to leave,” Bruso says on the video. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

Bruso said he tried to get the bird to leave the car, but once you call “shotgun,” that seat is yours. The hawk also didn’t seem that scared of Bruso, instead spending most of its time just looking at him. In other news, do not get into a staring contest with a hawk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEsigyZ_hAk

“He’s not afraid of me, he’s kind of comfy-cozy right now,” Bruso said. “Is that normal?”

Harvey the Hawk and Bruso then went home and did what most people were doing this weekend in Houston: sheltering from the storm, watching the news and eating chicken hearts. OK, so maybe that last part was just Harvey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMAgZULQimc

After an overnight slumber party, people with the Texas Wildlife Rehab Coalition came to pick up the hawk. Bruso bid his new buddy a fond farewell, and even gave him a last-minute promotion to Sgt. Harvey, for what that is worth.

Texas Wildlife Rehab Coalition told the Huffington Post that Harvey is now “safe with a licensed rehabilitator” and will be evaluated more fully once the roads clear and they can take him to a facility with an x-ray. In a video posted by the wildlife center, a woman can be heard saying Harvey actually was injured.

“He has an injury that is preventing him from flying, so would not have survived the storm if he was not picked up,” she is heard saying in the video.

So it seems that Harvey owes a great deal to Bruso. Which makes it even more outrageous that he did not appear to pay his fare before he left.

Harvey is just the latest animal to go viral after Hurricane Harvey, joining the likes of Otis the dog and a bunch of wet bats.