This evening, as I was taking Tania to get a mani and pedi for our cruise tomorrow, we witnessed a car in front of us hit a sandhill crane in front of Parkway Elementary School on Selvitz. The sandhill crane had just taken off and wasn’t high enough when it crossed the road. It was one of four birds that took off at the same time.

As I slowly drove past it, the bird was still alive, so I pulled off the road to see if I could help prevent it from being run over and killed. While I was getting out of the car, two vehicles pulling into the school drove overtop of the bird. At this point, I walked in front of the bird, in the turn lane, and made cars go around while I tried to contact FWC.

You could tell that one wing was broken, but I wasn’t sure of the extent of the rest of the injuries. Unfortunately, the numbers for FWC in Google were no longer in service, so I called 911 and let them know it was a non-emergency, but I explained my situation. They let me know that police and animal control were on their way.

While waiting for the police to show up, traffic was getting pretty backed up, and the bird started to panic more and moved more into the southbound lane, so at that point, I asked Tania to get me a towel from the car.

Once I got the towel, I tried to cover the bird’s head, which didn’t go too well at first. I didn’t realize how flexible their legs were, and it brought both legs up over their heads to get the towel off. To prevent the bird from hurting itself more by struggling, I grabbed it and got the towel over its head. I then proceeded to hold the towel in place. Once it settled, I picked it up and moved it to the east side of the road, where one of the other four sandhill cranes had been standing and squawking at me the entire time.

A Port Saint Lucie police officer showed up within 15 minutes of making the call. I was grateful she responded so quickly. I had several folks glaring at me, and a few folks shouted a few words at me while driving past as if I were the person who had hit the sandhill crane. This was a valuable lesson for me, as I could have been one of those passers-by who were upset because of the traffic caused by the incident. I pray I remember this lesson and am not so quick to judge others.

Shortly after the police showed up, animal control showed up and took the sandhill crane. She told us she would take it to a rehab facility. Hopefully, the sandhill crane fully recovers and can be reunited with the one standing by the entire time.

Once Tania and I started returning to the car, I realized the battle wounds I incurred while trying to help the sandhill crane. I have a scratch on my right shin and my right wrist. I also have punctures on the inside of my left elbow and multiple scratches on my left arm. Luckily, all the scratches were minor, and I cleaned them up well once we got home.

As always, Tania and I pray you all have a blessed weekend. Unfortunately, we will not be fishing as we are going on a cruise to the Bahamas. It was a last-minute Christmas gift for Tania! Next week, we should get back to our regular schedule, and hopefully, the weather will allow us to go fishing!