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Pelican believed to have been shot
By Advocate staff
Published: July 22, 2008 10:58 AM
Updated: July 24, 2008 6:13 AM
Red Deer Mounties combed the brush looking for a possible shooter at Three Mile Bend after a pelican was found badly wounded on Tuesday morning.
Police officers descended on the popular off-leash dog area after receiving a call that someone may have been firing a gun there.
Wody Bergquist and her mother were walking a dog when they thought they heard a gunshot around 9 a.m. Hurrying south along the trail adjacent to the Red Deer River, they found the injured American white pelican in the area’s lagoon. It was unable to fly.
They called RCMP, who dispatched a bike patrol to comb the area for someone with a gun. A police dog unit was on standby, while a number of general duty Mounties walked through the bushes and along the trails.
Other officers questioned motorists leaving Three Mile Bend onto Riverside Drive.
“Because of all the people out here and all the dogs and everything else, we have to treat this as a serious incident and investigate it as such,” said Red Deer RCMP Const. David Davis.
Davis said police won’t know for sure what happened to the bird until it’s thoroughly checked over.
Police will want to know if any pellets are found inside the bird.
Davis said they must also consider the possibility it flew into a smaller power line in the bush area.
The pelican had been flying near an osprey nest.
“The (osprey) was chasing it when it got zapped (or shot),” Davis said.
The Medicine River Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre was contacted and a volunteer in a kayak helped police officers catch the bird.
An examination by the volunteer and an officer revealed a small hole beneath the bird’s right wing and extensive damage to the wing and breast muscles. The bird was taken to the Spruce View-area wildlife centre for treatment.
