Seagull Rescue

One evening while in Yarmouth Theresa and I drove to the waterfront and walked the boardwalk along the shoreline. This is a busy working area and many boats were unloading catches of herring and mackerel. As we arrived on the waterfront we passed a group of three boys who were yelling and appeared to be up to no good.

We stopped and approached the excited young fellows and they blurted out their problem. They were hyper and pointing to a fish unloading device saw the head and one leg of a seagull. The seagull must have gone down the chute to get some food and got caught.

The boys were frantic and tried to climb up to help the bird but could not reach it. They shouted encouragement and as the bird struggled it made some headway to freedom.One boy climbed a ladder and made a banging noise ant the bird struggled more vigorously and cleared a wing. These boys were fully engaged in the rescue and as the bird made a final thrust it fell about twelve feet to the pavement. The boys thought the worst but the seagull caught its breath and stood stunned but alive.

The boys moved closer and the bird ran away and finally flew to a nearby island. What impressed me was the concern shown and the compassion expressed for this seagull.

What we thought was a bunch of boys getting into trouble turned out exactly the opposite. This event made our walk on the boardwalk memorable and as we passed go we received a happy ending to a bird rescue.