WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina |Osprey rescued by Midlands man recovering at 'bird rehab'

Osprey rescued by Midlands man recovering at 'bird rehab'

By Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield - bio | email

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - It's been two weeks since Don Pittman found an osprey with a wounded wing, and two weeks since your calls and emails helped get the bird into emergency care at Riverbanks Zoo.  
    
They told us his only chance for survival was if a rehab center took him in. We found one that did just that.

A baby barn owl is learning to drink, and a vulture is training to fly once again.

It's the Carolina Raptor Center, rehab 101 for birds of prey. There's even an intensive care unit, and nestled in the back is where you'll find the osprey.

He will never be out on his own again, but he's already come farther than anyone expected.

"In fact, getting him when we did saved his life, a couple more days who knows what would have happened," said Dr. John Scott, who specializes in critical care for birds.  

Last week they operated. Scott says he barely has anything but a nub left. Because he is so fragile, the only time they uncovered his cage was for us to get a quick shot while he ate his dinner.

"So far the stump looks well, sutures are intact, the bad thing is he is very stressed, he's having a hard time balancing," says Dr. Scott.

The doctor says he's cautiously optimistic. He will never fly again because of that wing, but if he can walk and keep his balance, he can live there and become an education bird. Though his future is still uncertain, one thing is not.

"Oh, oh, [Don Pittman] saved his life, no doubt about it," Dr. Scott said.

Pittman rescued the bird, covered it so it wouldn't get nervous, and fed him by hand. So it was only right we gave him the news first.

"It's hard to understand how this bird was alive to this point. That man clearly saved his life, he could not have survived for very long," says Scott.

"[Scott] is talking about 'that grouchy old man from Gilbert,'" says Pittman.

Kidding aside, he says rescuing the osprey was just instinct.

"Me, knowing what to do is just me being a country boy knowing wildlife all my life," Pittman said.

And so the bird he saved with his own two hands is now in someone else's.

"Hopefully, his wound will heal in the next few days," says Scott.

The future is still up in the air for the osprey. It all hinges now on one wing and a prayer.

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