![\"\"](\"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/holly.jpg\" "\\"holly\\"")
<\/a>Holly, Raptor Rescue Man!<\/p><\/div>\n
Holly is a natural born adventurer.\u00a0 Additionally, he and his wife, \u201cMrs. Holly,\u201d have a couple of the biggest hearts I think have ever been possessed by human beings.<\/p>\n
One of the things I like about Holly is that he is also a pilot.\u00a0 Not a professional pilot, but one of those purist pilots who flies for sheer personal enjoyment and fun.<\/p>\n
OK, now that I have written enough great things about Holly, I must say he finally did something that left me scratching my head.\u00a0 I did not realize the man lacked the common sense to fear heights; I just have to come out and say it.\u00a0 He is a nut!\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe he did what he did.\u00a0 Then again, I was not surprised at all.<\/p>\n
There he was enjoying his late afternoon at work when campus security called (he works at another nearby college).\u00a0 It seems there was a problem down at the ballpark in need of his attention.\u00a0 (Whenever anyone has a problem needing fixing, they always call Holly, because he can fix almost anything and everything.)\u00a0 Holly jumps on his trustworthy little golf cart and heads off to the ball field.<\/p>\n
What he finds is campus security, state wildlife officers, and a bunch of onlookers.\u00a0 One of the wildlife officers is holding a canvas bag from a grocery store.\u00a0 In it is a red-tailed hawk chick.\u00a0 (For more on raptor nests, see Easter and the Decorah Eagles<\/a>).<\/p>\n Evidently, the chick had fallen out of its nest and now the assembled entourage was trying to figure out how to get the chick back into the nest, on top of the light pole, 75 feet above the ground.\u00a0 So, Holly, the fix it man, simply says, \u201cWell, climb on up the pole and put it back.\u201d<\/p>\n What followed next was pretty funny.\u00a0 The security officer says, \u201cNot me.\u00a0 Not in my job description.\u201d\u00a0 He turned and looked at the wild life officers.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t look at me,\u201d the first said. \u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t climb poles.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d said the second.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, I have to tell you I believe these men were very wise men.\u00a0 As one who suffers from acrophobia, I can also say I would have been one of those in the chorus chanting, \u201cNo!\u00a0 Not me!\u201d\u00a0 I may be a pilot, but I am still afraid of heights.<\/p>\n There was murmuring within the crowd.\u00a0 The discussion with the wildlife officers boiled down to a comment that if they could not get the bird back in the nest, it would die.\u00a0 Holly, always having a practical solution to problems and having raised birds himself before, takes the bird from the agents and says, \u201cLet me take it home and I will raise it myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh no,\u201d said one of the wildlife agents.\u00a0 \u201cYou have to have a Federal permit to even touch these birds.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean,\u201d Holly said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m touching the bird now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is different,\u201d the head agent says.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re with us now.\u201d<\/p>\n Holly rolled his eyes and handed the bird back to the agent.\u00a0 He grabbed his ladder off his golf cart so that he could reach the lower rungs on the light pole.\u00a0 Then he turned around and said to the agent, \u201cGimme that bird.\u201d<\/p>\n It was at this point Holly looked into the bag at the bird for the first time.\u00a0 What he saw, really was no \u201cchick.\u201d\u00a0 The bird may have been young, but it was big!\u00a0 <\/em>Holly would later explain the bird weighed about two and a half pounds and had a wingspan of about four feet.<\/p>\n Undaunted, he slung the bag over his left shoulder and started climbing.<\/p>\n Free climbing.<\/p>\n No safety gear.<\/p>\n The man has a lot of guts.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I could do what he did.<\/p>\n What Holly found at the top of his ascent was the nest, the bird\u2019s sibling, and mama.\u00a0 The two birds already in the nest started screaming!\u00a0 Mama was big, she was mad, and Holly expected her to attack him and throw him off the pole at any moment.\u00a0 What he remembers most about the hawks, were their lips<\/em>.\u00a0 They actually had lips.<\/p>\n Now he had a real dilemma.\u00a0 He had to hang onto the pole, take the bag off his shoulder, and somehow get the chick out of the bag and into the nest.\u00a0 All with mama and brother screaming.\u00a0 And flapping their wings.\u00a0 And baring their …lips!<\/em><\/p>\n Hawk Lips \/ Kfeanside, via Wikipedia<\/p><\/div>\n He finally got the bag off his shoulder and faced his next problem.\u00a0 Mainly, how was he going to get the bird out of the bag and into the nest?\u00a0 What he finally had to settle on, was essentially dumping the bird in the nest.<\/p>\n Something amazing happened a\u00a0few seconds later.\u00a0 When the mama hawk saw the feet and feathers begin emerging from the green bag, she stopped screeching.\u00a0 It seemed as if she knew what Holly was trying to do.<\/p>\n Moments later, after reuniting the baby with mom and brother, Holly was able to climb down the pole to the accolades of the onlookers.\u00a0 High-fives, back-patting and slapping, and congratulatory remarks flew around a little group.\u00a0 Until one of the girls looked up and yelled, \u201cLookout!\u201d<\/p>\n Luckily, everyone was able to get out of the way, successfully dodging the stream of hawk scat.<\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n \u00a9 2011 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have a friend, \u201cHolly,\u201d who is truly an amazing person.\u00a0 He is very well educated with college degrees, by trade credentials, and by serious self-education.\u00a0 He subscribes to my blog and not one grammatical or typographical error has slipped … Continue reading <\/a>