A Harrogate woman found a sick pigeon on James Street and instead of walking by decided to rescue it and nuture it back to health.
Hayley Norman, who works for local charity Carers’ Resource, was moved when she saw a rather sad looking young bird on James Street.
At first she decided to leave the bird with the assumption that its parents would come back to care for it.
Three days and plenty of rain later Hayley decided to go back and see if the pigeon was still there. It was and looking in a worse state.
Armed with a shoe box Hayley managed to scoop up the young pigeon, who she has named James after the street where she found it, and took it home.
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With days of hand feeding and keeping James warm, Hayley managed to find him a professional in Pickering to help eventually release it. She told the Stray Ferret:
“I rang a vet for some advice. They said that I could bring it in and they would put it to sleep. That’s not what I wanted to do so I decided to take on its care myself. When I rescued it I am sure some people thought I looked crazy. Normally I would just walk past but I couldn’t this time.”
Would Hayley do it again? Absolutely. It might not be for everyone but there are plenty of groups online dedicated to pigeon rescue.
The RSPB’s advice tells people that it is rarely possible to catch injured birds and warns that careless handling may cause further injury.
