today's good deed...

Husband of feitpingvin and I had just finished a workout at the gym. When we were going to cross a rather busy road to get home, we saw a young gull - one of this year's chicks - on the other side. Something wasn't right about it; it was holding its left wing in an awkward position, and it wasn't flying away when people walked by it. When we crossed the road and approached to take a closer look, it was quite apparent that it had an injured wing. By then, several people had come to take a closer look, and the poor thing freaked out and ran out into the busy street. As it didn't have the "green man," it nearly got hit by the cars driving by. Luckily, the drivers were paying attention and avoided the gull...

We had to do something, and I ran out and picked up the gull (for a good-sized bird it was very light!) and decided to take it home with me. Well, not inside the shoebox, but outside in our back yard area, where it would be a lot safer than on a busy road. (And damn, it bit me! Hard! Several times! Until I managed to hold its beak shut while carrying it carefully to the safe haven.) While husband of feitpingvin kept an eye on it, I first called fuglehjelpen and asked what I should do. I was given another number to call, and I waited for around an hour and a half for the guys to come and pick up the injured gull...

I suppose I could have waited in my warm, cozy apartment while waiting for the guys to come. But there were kids outside, and I didn't want the kids to find and pester the bird. There were also a bunch of magpies that would try mobbing the poor gull from time to time. And I just wanted to make sure it was OK in general; I could see that it was frightened and not doing so well. It stood under a picnic table most of the time, its injured wing shaking...

When the guys finally showed up, they approached the gull, who flapped its wings and tried to fly away, but couldn't get the required liftoff. One of the guys caught the gull by approaching it from behind and grabbing it by the neck; the expression on the poor thing was of shock. I wish I had a photo of that moment. It was priceless! The gull was packed up in a cardboard box, and it was taken away to a veterinary central...

It didn't seem to be a very serious injury, so the little thing should (hopefully) be out and about in the near future :-)