All Creatures Big and Small

Yesterday before Mass Matt noticed that there was a pelican acting kind of strange near one of the old pier posts. He thought he might be hooked but couldn't tell right away. Sure enough when we got back home, the poor little guy was in the exact spot and once we got closer, we could see he was definitely hooked...

Matt and Henry waded in and were able to cut the fishing lines but his one wing looked bad and he just looked really punky. We tried to get him to the shore thinking that maybe he would find his footing and then fly away, but he couldn't do either of those things. 

We ended up calling Fish and Wildlife in Okaloosa County who directed us to the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge in Navarre. Thankfully they were open on a Sunday and told us how to transport him to their facility. Grab his beak with one hand, football hold him with the other, throw a towel over him and just like that, you've got a bird in a box. Henry was all over it...

Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge

Once we got to the rehab center he was quickly evaluated. The workers there said that he was in pretty bad shape with multiple line entanglements and a respiratory infection. Stormi said that we could call and check on him today, and I'm happy to report that he made it through the night. He's still very sick but his wounds have been cleaned up and he's on medication for his infections but he's alive. We'll take that for now! 

So, here's your friendly reminder...as much as we need to take care of each other, we need to take care of our world and all the creatures in it. Big and small.