To the Rescue!

Sunday afternoon we had an exciting surprise. When we got home from church the kids saw a rainbow lorikeet in our front yard. We see them often as our next door neighbor has a bottle brush tree that they like. They are such beautiful birds! Well, when the kids went to see the bird and it didn't fly, but hopped, away we knew there was something wrong.


I called the RSPCA and they said to take it in to a local vet and they would send it to the right place. Mike got some gloves and caught that feisty thing after our neighbor tried first and was bitten. We put the lorikeet into a diaper box, but forgot to tape down the handle holes and he immediately climbed out. Mike had to grab him again. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the kids bounding around and squealing! It was so exciting! I also would have loved to have taken a picture with the kids by the bird, but Mike was lucky to get that thing in the box in the first place!


Once the bird was securely in the box, we took a nice drive to the one vet in the area that was open on Sunday, with the box in my lap. The vet had us fill out a "Good Samaritan" form, thanked us and took the box. I guess I wasn't expecting them to take us in for the examination or anything, but it seemed a little anti climactic after all the excitement. The next day I called to find out what happened and it had been taken to a bird carer until it could be released back into the wild.

Usually, I'm not overly concerned about injured wildlife, even as a biologist. It happens. Circle of life. I wouldn't have taken a robin or a wild rabbit to a vet, but there's something about lorikeets that are just so exotic and beautiful. Even before this excitement Evelyn has been crazy about lorikeets! Out of no where she told me she wanted a "bird birthday" (she turns 3 in less than a month). She wants a lorikeet cake (still trying to figure that one out). But it is refreshing to have her into something so original, instead of a princess or fairy birthday. Maybe she'll be my little biologist!