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Percy was found on New Years eve. My runner phoned and told me that she had a pelican. I told her she was mistaken, Pelicans were not here this time of year. She said it was too big to fit in the box, and she couldn’t drive it to me without help. The next thing I know, Atlantic City police department drives the bird and my runner to my house. My runner brought it inside, and I was shocked it was a pelican.
Percy was a young bird which contracted frost bite, and was effected by the cold weather. We concluded that either someone brought Percy up from Florida and set it loose, or the bird being young did not migrate when it should had and got stuck here when the cold hit. That year it had been aproximately 70 degrees until New Years Eve. When the cold set in, the bird could go no where.
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We fed Percy, and treated the frost bite. I was in touch with a facility in Florida which I had visited a few months before for extra training. One of the birds was pelicans. How ironic. Percy was on channel 40 news, channel 3, 6, and 10. AM 1400 talked about Percy. We needed to raise $170.00 to fly Percy to Florida. Percy was to be flown in a pressurized, temperature controlled cabin. After about a week on the television and radio, only one person donated the complete amount to send Percy home.
Percy was met by a rehabilitator at the airport. I have found that a few months later Percy was in perfect condition, and let back into the wild. I am so grateful to the center down south, and to the person who donated to send him home. It is so expensive caring for the birds, and time consuming. There are no extra funds to do these types of things needed for the animals. I am shocked that after all of that publicity the rest of the world didn’t care enough to send Percy home. Thank God for that one special person, and what a difference they made in my life and Percy’s life.
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