Sandhill Cranes in Florida

johnhend wrote...

Hello,

There is a beautiful, Sandhill crane, about 4' tall that regularly visits the yard of a friend of mine that has fishing twine caught around her foot. My friend Barbara (she is in her late 60's) was able to hold the crane and cut most of the twine free from her legs when they were tied together, but Barbara didn't see that there was still a section that was wrapped around the crane's right foot. Now the poor bird's foot has become badly swollen about the size of a raquetball and she is desperately in need of someone who can cut the remaining fishing line from her foot and perhaps give her some first aid treatment. The bird comes regularly to Barbara's yard in Kissimme to eat the bird seed that she leaves out for it on a tree stump and the bird allows Barbara to get within a few feet of her.

Barbara has called several people asking for help and she has not had any luck finding anyone who can help. I was hoping that the Audubon Society would be a good place to start. The poor crane is obviously in a good bit of pain and she can't put any weight on her badly swollen foot. However she still looks pretty healthy at the moment so she is not beyond saving. She eats and drinks and can still fly with her partner.

If anyone has any information on what we can do or who we could contact to help this bird please let me know. I can give you Barbara's address and phone number and she can call when the bird is feeding in her yard (the bird stays for a good while and would be relatively easy to trap).

Thanks you ever so much,

John Henderson

Posted June 29, 2008