So I had to drive to town the other day to do some shopping, errands, etc. There's a busy 4 lane highway going into town. Brockville in on the St. Lawrence river so there's always gulls around....and restaurants mean there's always gulls killed on the highway.
I was nearing this super busy intersection and saw him (her?) in the road. Thought it was another casualty...until...I swear as I was driving by, in slow motion, he looked right at me!!
sigh...being me I jammed on the brakes, pulled into the closest lot, did a quick spin around and flew back out into traffic.
Flipped on the 4-ways and dove out...dodged a few cars and a tractor trailer...grabbed the gull and dodged back to the relative safety of my car amid blaring horns and middle finger waves.
There I was sitting in my car holding a Gull. A Ring Billed Gull. I looked at him and he looked at me. More honking woke me up and I plopped him on the passenger seat so I could drive out of the way.
The gull promptly deposited his last meal on my cloth seats. I shook my head in disbelief...I had a Gull in my car for crying out loud!
I had a bunch of stops to make so I threw my sweater over him while I ran into multiple stores to do my errands. Shared my bottled water with him. Had no idea what I was gonna do with him. I headed home.
When I got home I stopped at a friends house...asked if I could borrow his empty pond. I floated the Gull on a pond, it's fenced in to keep kids out but also keeps predators out. My friend is feeding him when he feeds his ducks.
He can't stay there...Gulls are a protected species and it's illegal to keep one in captivity...broken leg or not.
I'm looking for a rehab place reasonably close to home....and my car still smells like Gull poo. ^_^
There's a Gull in my car...
Thank you for caring to give this poor bird a chance at life. Not many people would go to all that trouble and I for one appreciate your efforts.
Bravo to you threegardeners! I believe that when someone goes out of their way to help someone or something that it was simply destiny and already set in place. Good luck with the rehab facility and the poo. ;)
Wow that was great of you 3g's. Have you found a rehabber yet?
I found one...in Nepean, a little over an hour away. Will take him up there tonight....not going to be so easy to catch him this time :)
Mr. Gull's new home :))
They had a bit of everything. Crows, geese, gulls, a few assorted finches, lots of robins, a couple of ducks and pigeons, blue jays, etc.
The biggest culprit they see is cats, followed by windows and then cars. They have a 70% success rate. They fix broken legs and wings. They have a full time paid staff.
That is great news! Thanks for taking him there and telling us about it. :-)
Great outcome, TG and good on you for being a traffic stopper.
Well Done Three G's!
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