None of us first on the scene knew quite what to do, but in the end the bird is now being cared for by a state wildlife rehabilitator and I’m told he should survive. When we first happened upon the bird, one of the men who stopped (who was riding a motorcycle) had heavy leather gloves on (and apparently no fear of large birds) and carefully picked the bird up and got him to the side of the road. After having no luck getting through to a live person at Animal Control, we called the Sheriff’s Department. As usual, they were responsive and extremely helpful. Apparently they made a call for us to Animal Control and shortly after that two animal control officers arrived and transported the bird to a wildlife rehabilitator.
Thank you to the people willing to step up and help and do the right thing: the two men who stopped, my dad (who I called with a crazy request for a large cardboard box & he dropped everything to bring one), the wildlife rehabilitators we called for advice (thank you, Jennifer Burginand others), and Sheriff David Mahoney and the Transylvania County Sheriff Department. As always, Sheriff Mahoney and the TC Sheriff’s Department are there when anyone needs help… they were certainly there for me and my son in the past and protected us when we needed help… thank you and keep up the good work! To all the people mentioned above… you’re good people and solid citizens who step up to help and do the right thing. Thank you!