Rescue Me

Saying yes equals leaving your comfort zone, taking risks and getting involved.

Monday I spotted a seagull standing in the still-matted-from-winter grass field behind our building at work. A flock of gulls is not as unusual as you might think in Augusta, Maine, but this particular gull was alone and as I continued to glance out the window at it every 15 minutes or so, I noticed it wasn't moving much, though its head was held high and he was looking around. On one glance I noticed him hobbling to a patch of mud spattered snow with one wing hanging low. He plunged his beak into the snow a couple of times presumably to get some water. My heart sunk at the sight.

Most everyone has experienced a bird slamming into their picture window. It usually sits for a moment or two at most, shakes off and then takes off. I watched this gull hop, shake, hop, shake, then sit for a long period. It wasn't going anywhere with what I thought was a broken wing. My work garnered my attention and after an hour or so I noticed the gull had hopped next to a high clump of dried grass. To its right were two crows bopping and dipping at something on the ground nearby. I watched intently as the gull hunkered down into the grass, but the crows apparently did not see him. I thought it might have died, but after the crows flew off, the gull lifted his head from the grass clump to survey his surroundings.

In the past I might have let nature take its course. Sure I'd feel guilty, but I'd tell myself that humans can't save every injured animal. This time I heard myself say, if this was my year of saying yes, wouldn't I like to help this gull?

Yes.

My first thought was food. I needed to feed him. I did what any good seagull mother would do; I went through the kitchen trash and found some french fries thrown out that morning. With my little navy blue flats on my feet, I slopped through the half frozen mud and ice to toss the food near him. He hopped away a few steps and I went back to my warm office to watch and wait. Nothing. He either hadn't seen it or didn't want it.

Now, how much did I want to get involved?

Since I first saw the gull that morning, the memory of DP and I taking an injured bat to a bat rescue had been running through my mind. So...I called DP. After a few calls back and forth between DP, me and a local bird rescue, we had a plan.

DP arrived at my work within 30 minutes. We herded the gull away from the road, closer to the building then I tossed a blanket over him. DP gingerly picked him up and placed him in a cardboard box as we were instructed to do. We loaded the box in the back of our pick-up and got on the road to Freedom, Maine and Avian Haven. A half hour later the boxed gull was handed off to kind-hearted gentleman with a pony-tail and cowboy hat. At Avian Haven, Tilty (the name we gave him) will be given free medical care. I can call them in a couple of days to find out his progress.

That’s what I call yes.