Injured Crane Captured Near Treatment Plant
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Animal rescue wasn't initially on the agenda for workers Thursday as they clocked into Warsaw's new wastewater treatment plant.
"You never know what's going to happen out here," Ken Murphy, wastewater engineer, said. "It's never a dull moment."
Plant employees called the Warsaw Police Department at 1:15 p.m. to report that two sandhill cranes were loose inside the plant. An officer was requested to capture one of the animals.
Sandhill cranes, large birds with features similar to blue herons, are not native to Indiana, but have been spotted in the area during periods of migration.
One of the 3-1/2-foot-tall birds in the plant had a broken wing and could not fly over the fences to leave the premises. Fearing for its safety, Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation, in Fort Wayne, was called in hopes that the crane could be saved.
Jeanie Seel, of SCWR, instructed the wastewater works employees to secure the bird and agreed to meet in Columbia City to take responsibility of animal if it could be caught and transported.
WPD officer Steve Brown and three wastewater works employees then tracked down the birds and attempted to subdue the injured animal.
Upon seeing the rescue crew, the healthy bird flew outside the plant, and, after a few minutes of herding the grounded animal, Brown was able to place the bird in a large cage in the back of a police van.
"That was easier than trying to catch those escaped pygmy goats," Brown said.
The birds had done no damage to the plant, and it is unknown if the bird's injury occurred inside the premises.
"We're lucky our friend didn't end up in one of the tanks," wastewater department head Dave Henderson said. "That could have been bad."
Once the bird was transported to the hands of SCWR, it was held until a veterinarian could look at the animal. If the wing can be healed properly, the bird will be released back into the wild.; however if the wing fails to heal properly, the bird will be donated to a zoo or put to sleep.
"We're all hoping for the best," Seel said. "But for now, all we can do is wait and see." [[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
Animal rescue wasn't initially on the agenda for workers Thursday as they clocked into Warsaw's new wastewater treatment plant.
"You never know what's going to happen out here," Ken Murphy, wastewater engineer, said. "It's never a dull moment."
Plant employees called the Warsaw Police Department at 1:15 p.m. to report that two sandhill cranes were loose inside the plant. An officer was requested to capture one of the animals.
Sandhill cranes, large birds with features similar to blue herons, are not native to Indiana, but have been spotted in the area during periods of migration.
One of the 3-1/2-foot-tall birds in the plant had a broken wing and could not fly over the fences to leave the premises. Fearing for its safety, Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation, in Fort Wayne, was called in hopes that the crane could be saved.
Jeanie Seel, of SCWR, instructed the wastewater works employees to secure the bird and agreed to meet in Columbia City to take responsibility of animal if it could be caught and transported.
WPD officer Steve Brown and three wastewater works employees then tracked down the birds and attempted to subdue the injured animal.
Upon seeing the rescue crew, the healthy bird flew outside the plant, and, after a few minutes of herding the grounded animal, Brown was able to place the bird in a large cage in the back of a police van.
"That was easier than trying to catch those escaped pygmy goats," Brown said.
The birds had done no damage to the plant, and it is unknown if the bird's injury occurred inside the premises.
"We're lucky our friend didn't end up in one of the tanks," wastewater department head Dave Henderson said. "That could have been bad."
Once the bird was transported to the hands of SCWR, it was held until a veterinarian could look at the animal. If the wing can be healed properly, the bird will be released back into the wild.; however if the wing fails to heal properly, the bird will be donated to a zoo or put to sleep.
"We're all hoping for the best," Seel said. "But for now, all we can do is wait and see." [[In-content Ad]]