Seeing any animal hurt or in obvious distress is a disheartening situation that anyone could find themselves faced with. While domestic animals and friendly pets can usually be helped, it’s a different story when it’s a wild, untamed animal. There’s usually not much you can do to really help them out without risking your own health and safety or potentially aggravating the problem and making it worse.
Mother nature works in mysterious ways however, and sometimes there is something we can do for a wild animal in need. Such was the case for one woman when a wild raven called upon her for help. Gertie Cleary was at her home in Nova Scotia when she heard the black bird making a loud racket outside. When she went to investigate she noticed the young fledgling had perched on the fence in her yard, whereupon it screeched and squawked endlessly!
As much as she tried to ignore the noisy bird, after awhile she just couldn’t any longer. That’s when she decided to go outside to take an up-close look at the Raven. Her daughter went along with her and they slowly approached the distressed bird. As the pair drew close they could finally see what was bothering it, porcupine quills were stuck in the poor little bird’s body. They counted three in the side of his face, one in his wing, and knew that his survival depended on the quills being removed.
That’s when Gertie went into save the day mode. She grabbed a pair of protective gloves and slowly went about earning the Raven’s trust. The bird didn’t try to fly away or bite her and soon she was able to gently stroke its feathers. After a little more petting and cooing she moved in and managed to quickly pull one of the quills out of the Raven and then, going off her momentum, she extracted another one.
The second quill caused the poor Raven to cry out in pain. Yet even though it clearly hurt, the bird stayed perched on the fence and didn’t try to fly away or threaten her. Instead, it seemed to know or sense that Gertie was trying to help and meant no harm, which was a good thing because the last quill proved the hardest to get out. By that point the bird had already gone though enough, but with just a little more coaxing it was finally removed!
With all the porcupine quills out the Raven was now free to fly away without being hurt or hindered by sharp barbs poking into his body, and yet he stuck around. He remained close by for the rest of the day and Gertie and her daughter even ended up naming him Wilfred.
The next day when they went to check for Wilfred he was nowhere to be seen and had left. He must have recovered enough to head out and continue on his journey. This video of his rescue clearly shows just how quick witted and smart Ravens are. The bird knew exactly who to turn to for help and thankfully Gertie not only recognized the situation, but also took time to safely remove the quills.
Check it out. Hopefully some good can come from this and it will inspire more people to help or save an animal the next time they have a chance to do so! Note: If you are having trouble viewing the video Turn your Mobile device or iPad Horizontal.
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