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Extraordinary
Rescues
In May, Leslie Johnson responded to a rescue in the downtown
area of Orlando. A water bird was stuck on the top of a building, which
Leslie realized was out of her reach-but not for long. She called upon
friends at the nearby Fire station she had responded to their calls
for help with animals in the past. A full sized hook and ladder truck
was able to reach the bird by using the extending ladder with which
such trucks are equipped.
Also in May, we received calls every evening for some days because baby
water birds (primarily anhingas) had been swept from their nests by
high winds. The nests were located 80 or more feet in the tops of
cypress trees, and there was no way to return the babies to their
nests. Tragically, some had died in the tremendous fall, but most
survived, thanks to Lindy Williams and her daughter, Lindsey. Lindy had
told me that I could refer evening and late night calls to her, and she
gladly made the drive each night that the birds were reported down.
What a relief it was to Ron and me to know that a dependable volunteer
was responding to the rescues. Lindy also took care of contacting the
Sea World avian department the next day after each rescue, and
transported the babies there as well for continued care.
Lindy also helped to rescue, of all things, a poisonous coral snake,
which had been captured and contained by a security guard. I called the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to determine whether or not there
were any specific laws governing his transport and release, and there
was nothing to preclude our rescue of the snake, which was released on
private property well away from human habitation for the safety of all.
I wish that we had a fitting award for Lindy, something like, "Bravest
volunteer award" or perhaps, "Best snake handler of the year".
Yet another rescue occurred when a mother mallard duck had been hit and
killed by a car. One of our members called because there were four
babies in the nearby pond, which were too young to survive without the
mother duck. I explained that the people in the area would have as
great a chance at rescuing as Center volunteers, and the caller agreed
to attempt to round them up. The next evening, we received the call
that the baby ducks had, indeed, been captured, and that many concerned
people had pitched in with rafts, wading through the water, and even
swimming in the pond to capture the elusive ducklings. To everyone's
relief, the babies will be just fine, and we thank the neighborhood
group for their valiant efforts.
And on the lighter side, I spin the tale of a humorous rescue to which
I failed to respond: One Sunday morning this spring, I could hear a
woman leaving a message and sounding extremely distressed. I rushed to
the telephone and asked how I could help her. Hysterically, she
explained that her toilet was overflowing and that water was "going
every where". I told her that she was calling the Wildlife Center and
that I did not understand why she was calling us for an overflowing
toilet. She said that when she called the 911 emergency number saying
that the water was
overflowing, they gave her our number. Because she spoke with an
accent, I think that the emergency personnel heard "water" and
wrongfully thought that the call was concerning waterfowl, thus
providing our wildlife rescue number. When I explained to the lady that
we rescue wild animals and that she would have to call a plumber, she
saw the humor in the situation. I sure hope that she was able to obtain
help on a Sunday morning for her problem!
And, speaking of overflowing toilets brings to mind a story from quite
a few years ago when we received a call at 8PM from an hysterical woman
stating that a raccoon had just fallen through her bathroom ceiling
onto the floor. At that time, our friends and WRC volunteers, Jill and
Joe Roselek, lived in the general vicinity; so we referred the call to
them. They later called us to relate the entire rather comical episode.
When Joe and Jill arrived at the address, the entire family was sitting
in their automobile with the doors locked and windows rolled up, and
appearing to be terrified. The lady of the house informed our friends
that she was actually sitting on the toilet when the full grown raccoon
came through the ceiling, landing in an angry heap before her. Her
business in the restroom was prematurely interrupted as she leapt
through the bathroom door, quickly slamming it behind her, screaming
all the while at the top of her lungs. She stopped only long enough to
call the Wildlife Center and give the Rose1eks directions, after which
she and the remainder of the family escaped to the apparent safety of
the car where they remained awaiting the forthcoming rescue.
Jill and Joe were experts at capturing animals in confined spaces or
otherwise and were able to efficiently contain the startled raccoon
much to everyone's relief.
On July 12, Leslie Johnson rescued a juvenile river otter as our
newsletter goes to print. Though injured, the otter appears to be
viable, and we will be working to help it make a full recovery.
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