OREGON -- Police officers from the St. Helens Police Department responded to a June 14 call regarding a bird blocking the intersection of N. Second Street and Columbia Boulevard.
When Officer Anthony Miltich and Sgt. Joe Hogue arrived at the scene, they discovered a three-foot tall blue heron standing in the roadway.
According to officials, the bird was behaving like it was injured and would not leave the road when the officers attempted to startle the bird to the safety of the sidewalk.
Miltich wrapped the bird in burlap, and the heron was transported to Dove Lewis Animal Hospital for assessment. Dove Lewis kept the bird overnight before giving it to the Audubon Society of Portland for monitoring. The blue heron has a bacterial infection in its eye that is preventing it from flying.
According to Deb Schaffer, a veterinarian for the Audubon Society, the heron is doing somewhat better although she said the bird was not out of the wood. Along with the continuing eye infection, Schaffer said the heron also had parasites that it is now being treated for.
The Audubon Society will continue to monitor the bird until the infection has cleared. It is hoped that the heron will be released back into the wild once its medical issues have been resolved.
(St. Helens Chronicle - Jun 26, 2013)
