A goodhearted motorist who stopped to rescue an injured bird of prey had to evacuate his vehicle after the ruffled casualty woke up.
Matt Graveling, a journalist for BBC South, was driving towards Henley on Thames in Oxfordshire when he spotted the injured red kite on the road, leapt out and laid the unconscious bird on his passenger seat.
“Then all of a sudden it stands up on its legs on my passenger seat – this bird came up to my shoulders and looks over at me.”
At this point Matt realised driving at 60mph with a bird – with a beak and talons that “looked like they could do some damage” and large wings that could obstruct his view – was a bad idea, so pulled over and got out.
“One of the bird’s eyes was injured due to being hit,” added Matt. “And that could well be its downfall because they need perfect vision in order to hunt.”
2:30pm – Driving to filming location
2:45pm – Pick injured bird off the road and put in car.
3:00pm – Unconscious bird wakes up.
3:01pm – Escape from car
3:02 – 6:29pm – Unable to get back in car.
6:30pm – RSPCA turn up to take away the angry, injured bird.
Just another day pic.twitter.com/XRkN2daaZ7
— Matt Graveling (@mattgraveling) April 12, 2018
“I think my favourite thing to come out of this is how many other people are posting their own animal car share stories,” Matt said.
Excellent! Friend once popped stunned owl from roadside into car and headed to wildlife sanctuary, owl came round and insisted on clinging onto his left arm with force & preventing his changing gear the whole journey…
— Darty’s back on the farm… (@darty_sp) April 13, 2018
Mate of mine once had this late night with an otter he’d clipped. Panic, flailing, total bitey destruction of passenger seat.
— Lou Kellett (@LouKellett) April 12, 2018
“It’s nice to know there are still those who would welcome an injured animal into their car, even if they know it will most likely end up pooing on their seats,” said Matt.
