How to Kill a Pelican

Judging by the precautions the wealthy community of Anna Maria, Fl takes to protect their wildlife it wouldn't surprise me to see a poster on how to kill a pelican. I mean why not. They're just birds. They poop on the pier. They steal fish from people fishing. Who cares if a pelican dies?

Kenny and I were geocaching from Venice to Bradenton along the Gulf of Mexico today and found ourselves out on the pier at Anna Maria. The 600 foot long pier has a bar and a restaurant out on the end and there were well over 200 people on it this Saturday night including many people fishing. As we were walking off the pier an unmanned fishing pole snagged a pelican. Kenny grabbed the fishing pole - alerted the owner and demanded the guy understand the seriousness of the situation. "Oh that happens all the time" the guy explained. Now seriously annoyed - Kenny and I tried to make him understand that the hook had torn the Pelican's bill, the monofiliment was now tangled around the bird's wings and the treble hook had cut deeply in the bird's side.

We were able to get the bird onto the pier. As I distracted the Pelican, Kenny covered the bird's head with a reusable Publix shopping bag and grabbed the bill. Pelican's can turn their head in every direction and if they hook you they can shred you. We untangled the fishing line but the hook remained lodged in it's side.

The fisherman who hooked him helped us restrain the bird and after 30 minutes the bird was stressed to the point where it seemed to pass out. We were able to cut the hook loose and eventually the bird roused itself (and posed for the picture).

Another woman called 911 and asked for their assistance only to be passed along to Fish & Wildlife in St. Lucie County. I asked a local bartender who also said it happens all the time. Cut the hook and let the bleeding, injured bird go. A poster on Brown Pelican Safety explained how not to be injured by a hooked bird and to call a number (which is no longer in service). I called 411 while restraining the bird with the other hand. They gave me the number for Fish & Wildlife in Polk County. Where is Polk County?!?

Eventually we called Save Our Shorebirds - a bird rescue operation 30 minutes south of the Anna Maria Pier. Coincidentally when we passed it earlier in the day I explained to Kenny that my dad used to help rescue Pelicans back in the 70's and 80's and some of the Pelicans came here. Who knew we'd rescue one later?

We placed "Billy Bob" in a large pelican-sized Rubbermaid file folder and I drove while Kenny kept the know angry Pelican from escaping in the back seat of the car. We brought him to S.O.S. and dropped him off in an overnight hotel cage (the pelican not Kenny). Volunteers from S.O.S. will look after the poor pelican as soon as they can and I'll update his progress.

It was a frustrating experience and the lack of help from people passing by was disheartening. Had we not been there the Pelican would have died. And even after we had assisted the bird, the lack of information on how to rescue the bird is unconscionable. The really stupid thing is I ran to the car to get the container and when I returned another guy (who had helped us capture the Pelican) had snagged a Laughing Gull by the legs. By the time we had brought that bird in and restrained it, his feet were so bound up that it was not long from losing circulation in the feet and possibly losing those feet.

I'm sure things like this happen all of the time and sadly fishermen probably just cut the line and the animals die. Thankfully there are organizations like S.O.S. (941-388-3010) in Sarasota County that help rescue and rehab injured wildlife.

In Lee County C.R.O.W. (239-472-3644) does similar work for many types of wildlife.

For those that would injure an animal or pass one with little care? I would send them to the Anna Maria City Jail. But that probably wouldn't make much difference.

Prepare to Feel the Sting of the Scorpion

When Busch Gardens in Tampa unveiled the SCORPION roller coaster in 1980 it was a groundbreaking achievement in theme park engineering. The vertical loop was one of the greatest rides for thrill seekers back in the day but today, with competition from envelope pushing roller coasters like Sheikra, Montu and Kumba at Busch Gardens, it's easy to understand why park staff announce your launch on the ride with an unenthusiastic "Prepare to Feel the Sting of the Scorpion".

There's no roller coaster in the world that can get my adrenaline flowing as quickly as when I turned over a chunk of limestone to reveal a defensive and severely annoyed 4" long Hentz's Striped Scorpion.

Although the sting is nowhere near as painful (or lethal) as the Florida Tree Bark Scorpion, it still made me jump back a few feet when it flopped to the ground and scurried past my GPS unit.

I had been geocaching at Oleta River State Park in North Miami Beach and had been attempting to photograph an insect when this arachnid (note the 8 legs) popped out. The sizable pincers are used to seize prey and the stinger is used to kill prey before they eat it. I could be wrong - I often am, but I think this one was a gravid female which would soon give birth to young that will ride on her back until they can fend for themselves. She seems a little wider in the middle. She ambled across the trail and disappeared into the weeds.

I'll think twice before I flip over the next rock.

A quick thanks to Robert Sobczak over at the South Florida Watershed Journal for an assist fixing the glitch in Google's blogs. You can once again click on a photo to get a bigger view.

New England Rewind 2008

I can't be everywhere, but during my latest trip to Vermont and Massachusetts I feel like I tried. Regardless, I couldn't visit everyone, so a recap will have to do. The purpose of the trip was to fulfill my best man duties at Sean and April's wedding on 8/8/2008 in Bennington, VT. Followed by a trip to Sharon, MA for Tiffers big 40th b-day with the family. So with apologies to everyone I couldn't see, this is what I saw - in my New England Rewind 2008 The Bennington Monument in Vermont - site of Sean and April's wedding
It rained when MaLe and I arrived and rained all day Friday. Thanks to Mandy's magic, her gift to Sean was a spell to clear the sky for the 30 minute outdoor ceremony. It worked. The rain stopped and resumed shortly after heading inside.

The lovely bride and groom
If you're going to do a best man toast, do it right. With the Bee Gees in the background and me with sassy pose (and one too many drinks in me), I gave my off the cuff speech which drew one audible gasp but thankfully ended with laughter and applause. I have no idea what I said. The bride made me wear pink.

But the bride may have said something to the groom a bit later about the speech.There's no intended innuendo in this picture of the monument.I'm genuinely happy for Sean and April and I meant all the good stuff I said. I miss the old days, but wish you well on the new days ahead. Hopefully it won't be another 15 months till we see each other again.

Got to spend a little time with Bill. Not enough time. He was nice enough to come get us in Bennington and travel with us east to visit Tara, Peyton and Carter.


Is Peyton not the cutest?

A trip to visit Tiffer and family is rarely without mischief. Why an 11-year old knows when to hold'em and when to fold'em is beyond me. He also knows when to run.
This is how you rock out on Guitar Hero"
Jim cookin' the dogs and burgers for the brood.
Aunt "Ga" and baby Carter
What's the problem Peyton? Why the face? (Hi Stelly - you made the blog again!)

More mischief with Abigail.
Poor Peyton - your brother gets to have birthdays too....
Nighttime geocaching with Cubbie and Little SmileyLion
The whole nighttime caching crew.
Aunt Mandy with baby Carter. Super Cheeks!

And back home on JetBlue. Only 30 minutes late this trip. Miss the family already.

New England Rewind

How often do things go according to plan? And when they do are they worth reading about? Depends on what you planned, but my trip to Massachusetts and Vermont to visit friends and family was fantastic. I'm sorry I missed out seeing a few of you - but I have the perfect destination for any of the New Englanders once winter comes. Come on down to Florida!

Since a previous post had the baby making a "fiend" face - I felt I needed to put a nicer one. 2 1/2 year olds are fun and learn many bad things from uncles.

This is not one of them. This makes me tense but the baby likes doing the Shake-n-Bake on the beach in Mass!

One of my obsessions during the vacation was to find a geocache each day. These are "treasures" hidden around the globe. You can find out where there are on http://www.geocaching.com/ and then use a GPS to find them. Here Brian and I search the rolling hills near Newburyport (with success).

Since she could walk, Peyton has marveled at the Turkeys that live outside her window. They roost in the pines nearby and when they feed in the lawn, she'll go from window to window to see what they are doing.

And sometimes she plays "Babyzilla".

Back out at Rockport, we check out the lighthouse and the old quarry 1/4 miles from the ocean. We're as high up as it looks.

New baby is thinking "Please don't blog this". Poking the baby does not make him crawl. It's been 10 days since he was born. Do something exciting!

Jacob, Abigail, Tiff and I went geocaching to find Abigail's birthday cache. The fun is going to places you might not ever know about otherwise.

I rented the Ford "Funion" in Mass to get me to Vt. I dunno what it is really but the kids got a kick out of me driving around in a pumpkinmobile. It was so energy inefficient that even the picture drains the amount of space I have on this blog for photos.

In the hills of Grafton, VT is the Starry Mountain Alpaca Farm run by friends John and Kim. It's the most ideal spot I can think of. They grow their own food, raise the Alpacas for wool, live off the grid using solar and they have DSL! The animals are beautiful if not territorial as I found out while feeding one of them. She made a cute little squeaking sound which I thought was a happy noise until she sneezed/spit the food back in my face and all over my shirt. I was lucky, as it was recently swallowed and had not been dredged up from the rumen where it would have come out hot and gooey - which is how I like Krispy Kreme Donuts - not Alpaca spit.

I love this picture. It's even better in person.

Bill, me, John, Kim and Sandy the barkless dog (thanks to a deterring citronella spray)

Had a nice 2 day visit with Bill who darted around Vermont with me. We even went antiquing (for Smurfs - kids lov 'em...) Bill and I visited my old stomping grounds. The view is from the edge of Lowell Lake in Londonderry where I was the Park Ranger for 6 years.

There's a beautiful log cabin at the state park with requisite Moose head. I do miss the place.

The gang gathered at the Inn at Long Trail in Sherburne where everyone seemed to have a Guinness - but I a Margarita. From left to right (Benjamin, Amy, Annie, Lisa P, Mrs. S from the witness protection program, Debbie, Steve, Sharon and Survivalman Mike. Bill and Pete in the front.

I don't know what i did wrong, but click on the picture and it looks like I am getting a serious scolding from Lisa.

I always said "Home is where the mom is" and these days I sometimes feel a little homeless. But here in Plymouth, VT, where mom worked for 6 years is where she is in spirit to me and I can't help but associate her with this quintessential Vermont scene. Mountains, rolling hills, pasture and gigantic Swiss Rolls.

Back in Mass to visit Lil Sister in Plymouth, Ma where husband Josh and Estelle are searching for frogs.

Found one.

And Stelly and I rounded out the week with another cache on the 9th straight day. Fun little spot and cool little walking bridge!

And just to come full circle - My final evening at Brian and Tara's before heading home where I was treated to the Boot Scootin Boogy.

Can't wait to come back. Can't wait for you to come down.