The Odd Couple

In the beginning.....

(This is the real color of the clouds.)

On July 14th, one of many thunderstorms rolled into the Devils Lake, ND area. I watched in awe of Mother Nature's beauty and formidability.

The birth of a tornado right overhead.

The sun was shining on us. The cloud line was literally right above. The yellow crop is canola (rapeseed in Canada). This storm front brought us 70 mph winds, 3 inches of rain in half an hour and grapefruit sized hail. It lasted about an hour and went to the SE towards Fargo, ND.

The next day, this fellow showed up in our yard.

We scared him off. He flew away kind of wobbly and ungracefully landed in the canola.

He showed up for 2 more days and we chased him off. On the third day, we had a pretty lethargic pelican on or hands. I called the Sheriff's Dept., who told me to call the North Dakota Game and Fish Dept., who told me to call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Dept. Naturally, no one believed me. Finally, I was taken seriously and was told that a team would be sent out to see what was going on.

Three guys showed up about an hour and a half later. I was worried that we might not find him because he would waddle off into the field occasionally. The looks on their faces when the big guy was sitting 5 ft. from our deck with his new found fuzzy friend was priceless. They said they had NEVER dealt with a LIVE pelican before. So, we kind of corralled him and one of the guys threw a blanket on him and we unceremoniously (and VERY gently) convinced him into a travel crate. (Did you know that these suckers snap at their "opponents"? I'd hate to be on their bad sides!) The men took him to a federal wildlife preserve about 4 miles from us and released him. They kept an eye on him for a few days and then he flew away. So, I guess we did a good deed and have a great story to tell.

Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican!
His bill holds more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week.
But I'm darned if I know how the helican.
Humorist Dixon Lanier Merritt, 1910

By the way, Buddy was his companion while he was our unexpected guest.