[Palaeno's been avoiding the badger head for the most part, but apparently there's a debate going on right now. ...A debate about ladders. Huh.]

That's an interesting way to look at it, but simply because a hawk would use it as a perch doesn't mean it was intended to be one. [Just like how Myriam's box didn't magically turn into a toilet. By all accounts, it's still a box.]

Going by its actual purpose, it's a stepladder.