A MARVELLOUS BIRD

One day a fellow and his son came to my door and asked could I take a bird for them.  They had found it on a lake nearby (named Windamere), and it had been wound up in fishing line and hooks, some of which were still embedded in its skin and feathers.  I wasn’t quite sure what was coming, so I was a bit surprised when they brought a pelican onto the front verandah.  He was indeed wound up in fishing line and hooks, and it was just as well this man had found him, or he would have starved to death.  Pelicans are fairly large birds, with a wing span of around 7 or 8 feet, and a bill that can take your eye out ( nearly 2 feet long), so we handled him with care.  I got the job of holding him (I’m insured in case of injury) and the fellow cut each hook and removed it, and unwound yards of line.  Most of the hooks were only superficially embedded, but one had torn a nasty rip in the underside of the bird’s bill, so we reckoned veterinary assistance was a must.  So we packed this bird into the largest box I could find, which actually had a tv in it at one stage.  We put him in diagonally, and secured the box round his body, leaving his head and bill poking out one end (and up into the air) and put a long sock over his bill and head, so he wouldn’t be frightened by the long car trip ahead, and also to protect the driver (me), in case he lashed out, then I rang ahead and told the vet we were coming.  When we got there, the vet was quite in awe of this bird, it’s not the sort of patient he has every day, and decided the rip under his bill called for something a bit different to a bandage.  So out came the veterinary equivalent to super glue.  He was able to do this with the bird still in the box, with just some assistance to hold his bill steady, and that took some doing I can tell you.  The glue dried quickly (thank goodness) and the bird was ready for release immediately.  I can tell you I wasn’t relishing force feeding this guy.  He would need large amounts of fish, and the idea of poking them down his rather large throat definitely did not appeal…..

So back on with the sock over his head and bill, and back into the car for another not quite so long trip back to near where he was found.  I had another carer with me for the release, we reckoned that might be safer, and we managed to get him out of the box, and remove the sock with no injury to ourselves.  As soon as he was released, he flew the short distance to the water, and did the most graceful landing, they always remind me of waterskiers, and settled down to swimming away from us as fast as he could.  He swam to the other side of the lake, then waddled up onto the shore, and stood there for a while with wings extended as they dried. 

We left him to it…..