A five-square-metre spill of thick epoxy resin has inadvertently trapped a pair of thirsty magpies after mistaking it for a puddle on a hot day.
The scene in a car park, behind a fast-food restaurant in Melbourne’s north, was reminiscent of Roald Dahl’s children’s book The Twits, when his antiheroes would use glue to trap birds and then bake them in pies.
But luckily for the two birds in Campbellfield, expert help was called in to try to save the pair. And a vet nurse’s incredible solution appears to have given them a second chance at life.
When wildlife rescuer Leonie Sorrentino arrived on Friday, feathers had been torn off, and there was blood on the ground — signs the birds had attempted to free themselves.
The birds were stuck around two metres apart and unable to reach each other for comfort.
“They’d got to the stage where they were completely exhausted. They didn’t want to bite or anything,” she told Yahoo News.
“They’d just completely collapsed onto their stomachs, it was just horrible.”
The birds’ wings, feet, chest and beaks were all coated in the glue and feathers were scattered on the ground.
“It was like playdough, but sticky,” Sorrentino said, describing the incident as “disgusting”.
Rescuers become covered in glue
Before she knew it, she too had been affected by the spill, with her hands and gumboots all coated in the substance.
How the glue got there remains a mystery, but it’s suspected it may have leaked from a truck that had been parked there earlier.
The scene was so shocking, and the birds had lost so many feathers that Leonie feared they’d be euthanised.
She used olive oil to free them, and then placed them inside carriers so she could transport them to an animal medical centre.
The two magpies are now recovering in care. Source: Wildlife Rescuers
Magic solution cleans feathers of glue
But luckily, the vet nurse knew exactly what to do. He spent three hours using a specialised mixture of acetone and detergent to break down the glue compounds and clean them.
“They are two things I’m going to need to carry in my rescue kit from now on,” Leonie said.
The male sadly looks now a little bit like a plucked chicken, but both birds are recovering well and eating.
It’s hoped they will soon fly well enough to be released back into the wild.
Love Australia’s weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week’s best stories.
