[NatureNS] Ralph the Pelican- still in Canada - Update

From: "Elizabeth Doull" <edoull@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
References: <AANLkTi=GqNGV9jJ1O2Uvu0fm_WS4WcuLs7hjq00gDpPa@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:09:27 -0400
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Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

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A pelican passport would fit the bill

Off course, this bird awaits permit to U.S.


By PAT LEE
Chronicle Herald,  A1-A2
Staff Reporter
January 24, 2011

A wayward pelican named after a Dartmouth strip club, blown off course 
during hurricane Earl, is hav­ing a bit of an emigration problem.

Wildlife rehabber Hope Swinimer has been unsuccessfully trying to get Ralph 
sent to a bird sanctuary south of the border since he was spotted on the 
roof of Ralph's Place a couple of days after the Sept. 4 storm.

Swinimer, founder of Hope for Wildlife in Seaforth, said she can't get 
wildlife officials in the United States to return her calls about getting an 
import permit for the brown pelican.

Nova Scotia's Natural Resources Department has issued the required export 
paperwork.

Needless to say, it's a bit cold for Ralph these days.

"A pelican is used to the warm­er climate," she said Sunday.

"But we keep it warm enough in his room so that his water never freezes, and 
he seems to be cop­ing with it quite well."

Swinimer said Ralph's bit of bad navigating in the fall was brought to her 
attention while at her job as manager of the Dart­mouth Veterinary Hospital 
on Tacoma Drive.

Someone called to say a pel­ican was on the roof of Ralph's Place on nearby 
Main Street.

"I kind of thought it might be a joke, or sometimes people get their birds 
mixed up," she said, but she wandered over with a blanket, just in case.

Sure enough, it was a pelican, but the good folks at Ralph's thought she was 
"crazy" and wouldn't let her on the roof.

"They basically escorted me out," she remembered, laughing. As Swinimer was 
leaving the strip club, Ralph decided to head up Main Street for a bite to 
eat at the Golden Arches.

Unfortunately, by this time he had drawn an audience and created a bit of a 
traffic jam, almost being hit by a car a cou­ple of times.

He flew away from McDon­ald's with a crowd in tow and ended up over at the 
plaza on Tacoma Drive. There, he smashed into the front window of the Dollar 
Store and knocked himself a bit senseless.

Swinimer said she was able to toss a blanket over him at that point and rush 
him across the street to the vet clinic for X-rays and a checkup.

"He had nothing broken, thank heavens," she said.

Since then, the 3.3-kilogram pelican has been cared for at her wildlife 
sanctuary, living in a barn and fed a steady diet of herring. Swinimer said 
the barn is unheated but a heat lamp keeps him relatively comfortable and he 
has a big tub for a daily dip.

Ralph's age is unknown, but he's thought to be young as his adult colours 
haven't come in yet. It may also explain why he got confused and off course 
dur­ing the hurricane Swinimer said she tries to keep animals in her care 
wild in prep­aration for release, but it's been difficult with Ralph as he 
has to be hand-fed - or hand-tossed, as it were, as he likes to catch fish 
in the air - several times a day by staff and volunteers.

They tried putting his fish in a bowl so he could feed himself, but he 
refused.

"He's just got used to hanging out with us and following us around."

Several years ago, Swinimer sent another pelican to Florida without a hitch 
and she thought Ralph would get the same treat­ment.

A bird sanctuary in Florida was set to take him, but no one from the state 
ever responded to her calls about a permit. She's looking at a sanctuary in 
North Carolina, but is having the same problem.

She said there are Canadian zoos that will take the pelican, but she prefers 
to see him sent to a sanctuary for rehabilitation and eventual release back 
into the wild.

"We just need a yes or no from the U.S. government."

......
Ralph, a pelican blown off course by hurricane Earl in September and rescued 
in Dartmouth, is having trouble getting back into the United States. He's 
being cared for at Hope for Wildlife in Seaforth. 

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