Queen of the Buffet

• A red-shouldered hawk was found unable to fly away from a Virginia driveway, KTLA reported.

After checking the bird -- named RSHA 26-2599 -- for trauma, bruising, broken bones and other possible explanations, veterinarians finally figured out why the hawk couldn't take flight.

According to a social media post by the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center, "The diagnosis: At over 910g in weight, she was too darn fat to fly!"

Experts say obesity in wild animals is rare, so they launched an investigation and found that a neighbor's chickens had been disappearing at a shocking rate in the area the hawk was found.

The wildlife center said, "This queen was picking off the buffet of easy prey set out before her, eating her fill, and then snoozing in the trees nearby until she was ready to eat again."

Experts point to this story as an example of why people should not feed wildlife, intentionally or unintentionally.

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