Hawk mauls bears, snake (5-7)

I believe the answer is:

sabre-rattler

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'hawk' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'mauls bears snake' is the wordplay.
'mauls' indicates an anagram (I've seen 'mauled' mean this).
'snake' becomes 'rattler' (rattler is a kind of snake).
'bears' with letters rearranged gives 'sabre'.
'sabre'+'rattler'='SABRE-RATTLER'

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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