(FL/PA - US) Cattle egret unintentionally hitched ride from Orlando, FL to PA

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

>From the Beakly News:

Morning-after egret: A cattle egret that unintentionally hitched a ride from 
Orlando to Pennsylvania in the bumper of a minivan, was returned to FL by Lear 
jet. The bird, which had been struck by a minivan driven by a family from PA, 
had managed to survive in the van's bumper for six days before its discovery 
and rescue. Ralph Heath, founder of the Suncoast , retrieved the bird from a 
wildlife center in Harrisburg, PA and returned it to Tampa Bay. The PA family 
were certain they'd struck a large white bird while on US 27 headed for a 
day-trip to Disney World in April but a search of the area failed to find it. Days 
later, back at home, a mysterious thumping sound coming from the bumper 
prompted further investigation and found the bird, miraculously alive. It took a 
body-shop repairman to take the bumper apart and extricate the egret (which 
promptly bit its rescuer). Ultimately the cattle egret, with a compound fracture of 
its upper leg bone, was treated with a splint, by Dauphin County Wildlife 
Rescue folks, returned to FL by Mr. Heath, and is apparently on the road to 
recovery. Heath noted, "Forget those contestants on "Survivor." You want to talk 
about survival, this bird is the real thing." The story was featured in an 
article by Dave Schreiber, in the St. Petersburg (FL) Times.


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