I received my new Kodak digital camera yesterday and thought I’d take it out and photograph some beautiful images of spring in Canada…Sadly today’s weather is freezing rain and heavy winds. Nevertheless I dared to venture outside, mainly because the house was low on food, so I figured I’d take the camera along in case.
A few minutes into the walk my father and I came upon a seagull. It was waddling slowly right by us. Strangely enough it had its left wing up against the wind. I thought it was almost funny because the first thought was it was the wind, the same way a dog’s ear would fly and flop over inside out when it’s windy outside. So I grabbed my camera and started shooting what I thought might just be a Pulitzer prize winning moment. A few photos in my father noticed that the bird’s wing was attatched to a black string which appeared almost invisible in the air if it wasn’t for the fact that it contrasted with the seagull’s white wing, which it had tangled around it quite messily.
The string was not sewing string material, much stronger. Perhaps between fishing wire and a very thin rope-like material. But on closer examination it was incredibly long and twirled all around the place. The sad part was, the part of string wrapped around the seagull’s wing originated from the top of a large tree, and so the bird, upon struggling, would be float in the air and twirled around the tree like a tether-ball in a school yard. The more it struggled the tighter the rope pulled on it’s wing to the point it could not spread them. The more it attempted to fly the more the string wrapped around the tree and got shorter and shorter, to the point that had we not come along the bird would’ve hung himself from a tree and eventually died.
So I grabbed the string, quite heroically I might add, and tried to cut it loose. Now there are several things to remember if any of you should happen to face the situation of a seagull tied to a tree while the wind is getting stronger and you are blinded by freezing rain. First, always carry a Swiss army knife. I know everyone has one, but it’s times like these you wish you had one. Second, avoid coming close to a seagull who perhaps in the rage of the situation is not so keen on having two giant mammals approach it in its state of despair, it will peck at you, it will make you bleed.
Luckily though I had some keys and it took me about a full minute or two to get through the string because it was so strong and the seagull kept trying to get away and peck at me. But I got it loose and it just stood there unable to fly, but perhaps still not realizing it was free to do so.
Anyways we left it, seagulls can be vicious and there’s not much I can do for it other than call the humane society. I decided to do so if I came back and found it still laying there. Upon returning home however it was long gone, so I’m guessing it realized the string was loose and it shook it off.
And now…I await my Pulitzer.
Wouldn’t this story suck without some visuals?
Posted In: Canada