The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Police officer rescues fledgling owl from roadway

SAGINAW, MI (WNEM) - A local citizen is drawing attention to the act of kindness shown by a local law enforcement officer after he rescued a young owl in peril.

Sandy Miner, a volunteer with the Wild Life Support Team, stopped by the Saginaw police station to express her gratitude for Sgt. Mark Scott's rescue of a screech owl.

Miner said that two nights ago, Scott was working in the southeast side of the city when he came across a fledgling owl in the roadway. He scooted the owl away from the road so that it wouldn't become road kill, only to come back and find it in the roadway again the next night.

Scott then contacted 911, who reached out to Miner's organization and sent her out to help the bird.


"I think it's important for people to understand that police officers are compassionate too," said Minor. "Sgt. Scott didn't have to stop. This owl would have died if Sgt. Scott had not come to the rescue. It hasn't been eating and that's why it couldn't fly away."

The Wild Life Support Team has been in operation for 33 years and has a facility to house and help the animals they rescue - but it is not open to the public. The group does not rescue mammals. Miner said she specializes in the rescue of big birds and is state and federally certified to do so.

[kuhio98]

The Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism Book
This touching book was a passion project for Kate Winslet and her friend, Margret Ericsdottir, whose son is living with nonverbal autism. The book features candid portraits of celebrities and their answers to the question, "What is important to you to express?"

Proceeds from the book go to building innovative living campuses for people with autism and raising public awareness of their talents and intellectual capabilities.

Buy it now at shop.goldenhatfoundation.org, $30

[kuhio98]

WILDLIFE SUPERVISOR ART YERIAN, 42
Olga the Otter's brave savior

Just past noon on New Year's Eve day, staffer Art Yerian was making his rounds at the Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park on Florida's Gulf Coast when he noticed something amiss in the alligator pond. There, where 17 of the carnivorous amphibians are kept, "I could see bubbles," says Yerian, "like a little submarine." Scanning an adjacent pen, Yerian quickly realized what had happened. Olga, an 8-year-old sea otter, had pried loose a grate in her enclosure and paddled through a 6-ft. barrier into the gator pond. As a crowd of visitors gathered, Yerian grabbed a net and ladder, hopped a 4-ft. fence (catching a shoelace and crashing onto his back) and waded into the knee-deep pond. "There was no way I was going to let Olga get munched in front of 3,000 people—not to mention kids," says Yerian, the father of two. Struggling for footing on the slippery bottom, he used the ladder to sweep the water for Olga and to keep the alligators at bay. But in churning the water, Yerian got the attention of a 15-ft. gator, which rushed him, mouth wide open for the kill. Scrambling to safety, Yerian asked for a long pole to ward off further attack. "Since he came after me," he explains, "I was going to go after him so he wouldn't charge again." Finally steering Olga back onshore, Yerian scooped her into his net, to the cheers of the crowd, and hauled her to safety. How to explain the risk he'd been willing to take for an otter? That's easy, says colleague Susan Lowe: "He treats every one of the animals like it's his own."

[Karen]

Awww, cool! Yay for the otter friend!