A 13-year-old girl touring Fenway Park on a school trip was attacked by a resident red-tailed hawk that drew blood from her scalp Thursday.

The hawk was perched on a railing in the upper deck behind home plate while the group toured the stadium. The hawk flew at the girl and swooped with its talons extended, scratching her scalp.

According to workers at Fenway, there are three hawks that live in the park, often seen eating rats and mice.

A single egg lay in the hawk's nearby nest in an overhang near the stadium's press booth.

The nest and egg were removed at the direction of state wildlife officials.

Nests have reportedly been removed both in 2002 and 2005.

In March 2002, a female hawk attacked three people while trying to protect her nest, sending two of them to the emergency room.

The girl was taken away in an ambulance. Some people question the response of the ambulance.

The ambulance was necessary because it was a school outing, and the school was anxious about liability issues.

Other thoughts:

• Even if it was a scatch, any cut on a person's scalp is known to bleed profusely, no matter the size of the cut. At my Governer's Cup competition, a girl was playing in her room and fell. She got a small cut on her scalp and it kept bleeding for hour. Then, we finally took her to the Hospital where she was treated... This is no exception: Any cut on someone's head is bound to bleed for hours... which can case great amounts of blood-loss... that's why she was taken to the hospital... poor girl.. and poor hawk.. she was probably near it's nest or something... I hope this all turns out well...
• People want to link George Bush with what the hawk did to the girl at the ballpark
• those of you who are saying it was a scratch should learn a little about how sharp the talons of a bird of prey are, how quickly they can strip their meal, or maybe experience having a chunk of hair pulled out by a bird. it ain't fun, folks. i hope she isn't so traumatized that she doesn't enjoy the beauty of birds in flight... but i also hope she learns to wear sunglasses and her hoodie up sometimes. they do go for the eyes when they are battling us humans.