It’s hard to look away when you see an injured animal, no matter how unprepared you are to help them. When Matt Gravelling, a reporter for BBC South, was driving to cover a story, the man thought he was having a regular day. However, it soon became anything but regular when Matt spotted an unconscious bird that seemed to be hurt.
Without any second thoughts, the Good Samaritan gently laid the bird on the seat of his car and took off. In just 15 minutes, Matt’s new passenger began to regain consciousness, catching the driver completely off guard. Scroll down to check out their unforgettable trip and let us know what would you have done in this situation!
More info: Twitter
A kind-hearted journalist Matt Graveling rescued an unconscious bird he saw on the side of the road
But almost immediately he was faced with some unanticipated difficulties
Twitter users pointed out the breed of the bird and were astonished by the incident
Some said it’s understandable why the bird was so terribly angry with the whole ordeal
People rushed to praise Matt for his act of kindness
Others shared similar encounters with birds who just need to chill out
Hopefully, this situation will teach us something
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I was once walking behind the Great Hall at the University of Newcastle (Australia) and I heard a rsutling in a steel-pipe chimney that rose from the ground next to the back wall, right up to well over the roof about 30m above. I assumed that it was a sparrow or a starling and I was a bit saddened to know that there was no way that the bird could ever get out. Then I notived that there was a plated bolted to the bottom, but it was risted on and painted over. I ran to my car but has no tools other than an old spanner (wrench) under my seat. It took about 15 minutes of struggling but eventually I was able to unscrew all the bolts, and pry the plaet off. Immediately a kooaburra flew out, clipping my ear and heading arrow-like into the bush. Startled me so much that I dropped the plate on my foot. But the satisfaction of knowing that the poor bird hadn't had to suffer a lingering death in a black pipe more than made up for it!
"...rustling..." "...noticed..." "...rusted..." "...had..." "...emu*..." Guess who didn't proof-read?! (*OK, that last was a joke - it really was a kookaburra!)
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i once saw a half eat rabbit leg laying on the ground at a college. i looked up and saw an owl look down at me. i decided to keep walking.
When I was a kid, lived with my parents on grandfather's ranch in the Central Valley. There was a large, very old cemetary down the road. Kids rode their bikes there, lots of winding roads and pathways. Lots of tall trees with nesting owls. When they had fledglings, they would dive bomb us; it was scary, as Owls can be fairly large. My Dad explained why they were upset, suggested we either stay away for a while, or avoid tree lined paths. We did a little of both. Owls are not to be messed with.
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This reminds me of when my parents moved house many years ago - about 600 yds distance. Their big black cat didnt take well to the move and kept going back to the previous house (next door neighbour was a butcher). Yet again we were called on to go rescue the missing kitty. Pitch dark - in a back alley calling "Charlie" - answering "miaoww" from just inside the old garden. Scooped up Charlie - back into the car and back to my parents cuddling it all the way . I was half way down the stairs at the house when I took a closer look --- Sh*t - I had kidnapped someone elses moggy - a very angry looking large black cat with FANGS
my excuse - black cat/black alleyway/answered to it's name -
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He did the right thing even if it did go rather awry! I saw a jackdaw get hit by a car on a country road a few years back. The other car and I both stopped but the other driver was too scared to pick the bird up as it was flapping and going in circles on the ground. So it was left to me as my husband wasn't keen either. Had to hold the bird carefully in my hands for the journey home - we went there first to get a box for it and to look up somewhere to take it. Got it into a box but my husband was so convinced it had just been stunned and insisted on letting it go in the garden. Where it just flapped around in a sad little circle. So I just ignored the husband after that! Fortunately have a wildlife sanctuary about 30 mins away. Turned out to be a very young jackdaw and it had a badly broken leg. People should try and help wildlife it they can - if they aren't putting themselves at risk or at risk of making the situation worse.
nowhere near as fancy, but when i was a kid we helped nurse a blackbird back to health, he needed a white bandage on his wing, so we called him harry whitewing. flash forward to a couple of years ago and it's time for me to write my son his yearly christmas story book (I do one every year and now also one for my daughter) so I chose to write about an abandoned bird called harry whitewing (thinks nobody likes him, santa crashes into his nest, presents everywhere, he delivers them to the village, they see his nest is destroyed so build him a house, they thought he wanted to be left alone, spoiler alert they all sing songs live happily ever after). so, erm, yeah.
I rescued a baby jackdaw as a kid that was attacked by a cat and it broke its wing, I took care of it, however, since it was a baby it got tame and after I taught it how to fly and all, it just stuck around in the garden for quite some time, It was so tame it sat on our shoulders and could sit on our laps, I hope the dissappearence of it meant that it found some jackdaw friends and became wild, was such a cutie though, a nice little friend to have around.
I would have been scared out of my mind when that poor, frightened bird woke up. Being from the Hitchcock generation, I of course wouldn’t be there in the first place. He at least tried to do a good thing.
my dad rescuded a cat from a bush... that cat thinks my dad is his mother.
I rescued a cat from my dog - cat was so grateful it bit me right through my thumb nail. Shocked neighbours were crowding round worried about all the blood that cat had lost. It was my blood.
Load More Replies... I rescued a pigeon that had been hopping around my door for 24 hours - couldnt seem to fly. -- I actually had to cat ch it as it made its way up a flight of stairs to my flat door. And am thinking - what do i do with it now?? Stood in my kitchen -- OK - will find a box to put it in - as you do with birds. this involved getting a stepladder out to get hold of an A4 paper box from the top of my kitchen cupbords - one handed - all the time holding a very calm but confused pigeon in the other hand. Next step - I have a pigeon - in a box - in my kitchen. I phone RSPB - they dont want to know. I phone somewhere else - they ask if I can take it 50 miles (this was 1am by now and I dont drive). I give up (my landlord doesnt allow pets) I take it dowstairs to an outside secludec corner, with the box for shelter and some water and a few crumbs of food, and go to bed. Next morning it was gone - I always hope dit miraculously worked out flying - and still feel guilty
If anybody else should anybody else happen to get into this situation. If you have anything at your disposal to do so...swaddle the bird. With a towel, blanket, your jacket...anything you have handy. That way when the bird wakes up scared, he will be safe and YOU will be safe!
One morning a baby cardinal was apparently learning to fly but accidentally landed in the corner of our apartment patio that has a 6 foot fence. I knew he wasn’t going to be able to get out and dad was nearby squawking like crazy. My husband watched from inside the le living room slider as I ran out in a winter jacket, fire gloves and a baseball cap trying to scoop up this red ping pong ball with a beak while dad dive bombed my head. I wish we had smart phones back then because it would have been great video. I had never rescued a bite before but I was afraid if I touched the bird it’s parents would reject it and I had heard cardinals and blue jays can be aggressive protecting their young. Glad I had the protective gear! *assumed the baby lived because we kept an eye out to make sure it didn’t fall prey to a stray cat.
I once tried to pick up a bird at a nightclub. But this one wasn't passed out. I failed. Dismally. Kinda like this joke. Carry on.
Red kites are really common round the area where he found this one. As in more common and more visible than almost anything else. They also have a wingspan as wide as the car- there wouldn't be room for both of them if the bird decided to stretch. Beautiful birds.
I love how the red kite is holding on to the blanket with her beak. My parrot used to do that every time it was cold and we put him in bed with us.
l regularly have birds fly down my chimney to rattle around in the fire box (fire no longer used)..the other day l had three in a row..l swear, they must sit at the top, say to each other "ok, it's your turn..we'll time you to see how long it takes you to get down, attract her attention and get out the back door..OK, GO..!!"chuckle..it stirs up my dog something crazy trying to get at them, specially once they've been let out of the fireplace then fly around the room..l try to create a route to either the bathroom window or back door for them to get out.."follow the light you idiotic bird..
Rescued a baby seagull once - it was wandering and staggering around the driveway where I worked,. Took it in for safety - in an A4 paper box. Parents were around but it was at risk from foxes. Took it home 2 nights in a row. I finally had to let it loose on a very large low rooftop - close to parents. Within 2 hours it had fallen off onto the only small bit of ground that wasnt grass
Care must be taken when handling birds of prey like these. We see them as relatively small even with the huge talons and long wings, but many fail to realiize those same talons are designed to go completely through flesh and break a spine column. They will not struggle at all going completely through the flesh of your arm or other body part. Their feet, as pindly as they are, operate much like a hydraulic claw and have way more grip strength than we do allowing them to use their talons as scythes.
Red Kites are becoming a lot more common in recent years after they were reintroduced. If you drive on the M40 out of London through Oxfordshire you're guaranteed to see loads.
Red Kits are very common in most rural areas of the UK, growing up in the cotswolds I saw them most days. Beautiful birds.
Common birds where I live, and very majestic. Should have contacted a rescue though, the RSPCA have a bad track record with caring for wild animals.
I was once walking behind the Great Hall at the University of Newcastle (Australia) and I heard a rsutling in a steel-pipe chimney that rose from the ground next to the back wall, right up to well over the roof about 30m above. I assumed that it was a sparrow or a starling and I was a bit saddened to know that there was no way that the bird could ever get out. Then I notived that there was a plated bolted to the bottom, but it was risted on and painted over. I ran to my car but has no tools other than an old spanner (wrench) under my seat. It took about 15 minutes of struggling but eventually I was able to unscrew all the bolts, and pry the plaet off. Immediately a kooaburra flew out, clipping my ear and heading arrow-like into the bush. Startled me so much that I dropped the plate on my foot. But the satisfaction of knowing that the poor bird hadn't had to suffer a lingering death in a black pipe more than made up for it!
"...rustling..." "...noticed..." "...rusted..." "...had..." "...emu*..." Guess who didn't proof-read?! (*OK, that last was a joke - it really was a kookaburra!)
Load More Replies... i once saw a half eat rabbit leg laying on the ground at a college. i looked up and saw an owl look down at me. i decided to keep walking.
When I was a kid, lived with my parents on grandfather's ranch in the Central Valley. There was a large, very old cemetary down the road. Kids rode their bikes there, lots of winding roads and pathways. Lots of tall trees with nesting owls. When they had fledglings, they would dive bomb us; it was scary, as Owls can be fairly large. My Dad explained why they were upset, suggested we either stay away for a while, or avoid tree lined paths. We did a little of both. Owls are not to be messed with.
Load More Replies... This reminds me of when my parents moved house many years ago - about 600 yds distance. Their big black cat didnt take well to the move and kept going back to the previous house (next door neighbour was a butcher). Yet again we were called on to go rescue the missing kitty. Pitch dark - in a back alley calling "Charlie" - answering "miaoww" from just inside the old garden. Scooped up Charlie - back into the car and back to my parents cuddling it all the way . I was half way down the stairs at the house when I took a closer look --- Sh*t - I had kidnapped someone elses moggy - a very angry looking large black cat with FANGS
my excuse - black cat/black alleyway/answered to it's name -
Load More Replies... He did the right thing even if it did go rather awry! I saw a jackdaw get hit by a car on a country road a few years back. The other car and I both stopped but the other driver was too scared to pick the bird up as it was flapping and going in circles on the ground. So it was left to me as my husband wasn't keen either. Had to hold the bird carefully in my hands for the journey home - we went there first to get a box for it and to look up somewhere to take it. Got it into a box but my husband was so convinced it had just been stunned and insisted on letting it go in the garden. Where it just flapped around in a sad little circle. So I just ignored the husband after that! Fortunately have a wildlife sanctuary about 30 mins away. Turned out to be a very young jackdaw and it had a badly broken leg. People should try and help wildlife it they can - if they aren't putting themselves at risk or at risk of making the situation worse.
nowhere near as fancy, but when i was a kid we helped nurse a blackbird back to health, he needed a white bandage on his wing, so we called him harry whitewing. flash forward to a couple of years ago and it's time for me to write my son his yearly christmas story book (I do one every year and now also one for my daughter) so I chose to write about an abandoned bird called harry whitewing (thinks nobody likes him, santa crashes into his nest, presents everywhere, he delivers them to the village, they see his nest is destroyed so build him a house, they thought he wanted to be left alone, spoiler alert they all sing songs live happily ever after). so, erm, yeah.
I rescued a baby jackdaw as a kid that was attacked by a cat and it broke its wing, I took care of it, however, since it was a baby it got tame and after I taught it how to fly and all, it just stuck around in the garden for quite some time, It was so tame it sat on our shoulders and could sit on our laps, I hope the dissappearence of it meant that it found some jackdaw friends and became wild, was such a cutie though, a nice little friend to have around.
I would have been scared out of my mind when that poor, frightened bird woke up. Being from the Hitchcock generation, I of course wouldn’t be there in the first place. He at least tried to do a good thing.
my dad rescuded a cat from a bush... that cat thinks my dad is his mother.
I rescued a cat from my dog - cat was so grateful it bit me right through my thumb nail. Shocked neighbours were crowding round worried about all the blood that cat had lost. It was my blood.
Load More Replies... I rescued a pigeon that had been hopping around my door for 24 hours - couldnt seem to fly. -- I actually had to cat ch it as it made its way up a flight of stairs to my flat door. And am thinking - what do i do with it now?? Stood in my kitchen -- OK - will find a box to put it in - as you do with birds. this involved getting a stepladder out to get hold of an A4 paper box from the top of my kitchen cupbords - one handed - all the time holding a very calm but confused pigeon in the other hand. Next step - I have a pigeon - in a box - in my kitchen. I phone RSPB - they dont want to know. I phone somewhere else - they ask if I can take it 50 miles (this was 1am by now and I dont drive). I give up (my landlord doesnt allow pets) I take it dowstairs to an outside secludec corner, with the box for shelter and some water and a few crumbs of food, and go to bed. Next morning it was gone - I always hope dit miraculously worked out flying - and still feel guilty
If anybody else should anybody else happen to get into this situation. If you have anything at your disposal to do so...swaddle the bird. With a towel, blanket, your jacket...anything you have handy. That way when the bird wakes up scared, he will be safe and YOU will be safe!
One morning a baby cardinal was apparently learning to fly but accidentally landed in the corner of our apartment patio that has a 6 foot fence. I knew he wasn’t going to be able to get out and dad was nearby squawking like crazy. My husband watched from inside the le living room slider as I ran out in a winter jacket, fire gloves and a baseball cap trying to scoop up this red ping pong ball with a beak while dad dive bombed my head. I wish we had smart phones back then because it would have been great video. I had never rescued a bite before but I was afraid if I touched the bird it’s parents would reject it and I had heard cardinals and blue jays can be aggressive protecting their young. Glad I had the protective gear! *assumed the baby lived because we kept an eye out to make sure it didn’t fall prey to a stray cat.
I once tried to pick up a bird at a nightclub. But this one wasn't passed out. I failed. Dismally. Kinda like this joke. Carry on.
Red kites are really common round the area where he found this one. As in more common and more visible than almost anything else. They also have a wingspan as wide as the car- there wouldn't be room for both of them if the bird decided to stretch. Beautiful birds.
I love how the red kite is holding on to the blanket with her beak. My parrot used to do that every time it was cold and we put him in bed with us.
l regularly have birds fly down my chimney to rattle around in the fire box (fire no longer used)..the other day l had three in a row..l swear, they must sit at the top, say to each other "ok, it's your turn..we'll time you to see how long it takes you to get down, attract her attention and get out the back door..OK, GO..!!"chuckle..it stirs up my dog something crazy trying to get at them, specially once they've been let out of the fireplace then fly around the room..l try to create a route to either the bathroom window or back door for them to get out.."follow the light you idiotic bird..
Rescued a baby seagull once - it was wandering and staggering around the driveway where I worked,. Took it in for safety - in an A4 paper box. Parents were around but it was at risk from foxes. Took it home 2 nights in a row. I finally had to let it loose on a very large low rooftop - close to parents. Within 2 hours it had fallen off onto the only small bit of ground that wasnt grass
Care must be taken when handling birds of prey like these. We see them as relatively small even with the huge talons and long wings, but many fail to realiize those same talons are designed to go completely through flesh and break a spine column. They will not struggle at all going completely through the flesh of your arm or other body part. Their feet, as pindly as they are, operate much like a hydraulic claw and have way more grip strength than we do allowing them to use their talons as scythes.
Red Kites are becoming a lot more common in recent years after they were reintroduced. If you drive on the M40 out of London through Oxfordshire you're guaranteed to see loads.
Red Kits are very common in most rural areas of the UK, growing up in the cotswolds I saw them most days. Beautiful birds.
Common birds where I live, and very majestic. Should have contacted a rescue though, the RSPCA have a bad track record with caring for wild animals.
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