A sickly hawk took a cab to the Miami Uber driver had precious cargo Tuesday after the call came in from the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, a wildlife rehabilitation center on the 79th Street Causeway.
Gary Klemme, a ‘bird aficionado’, discovered the bird of prey while riding his bike near his Miami Lakes condo in Florida on Tuesday morning, the Miami Herald reports.
The red-shoulder hawk appeared to have been poisoned and could barely lift its own head or wings.
This red-shoulder hawk was found in dire health in Miami Lakes after eating a poisoned rat
Klemme believes the hawk may have consumed a poisoned rat.
The Miami Lakes area has been overrun by rats in the wake of Hurricane Irma and many locals have used poison to try and cull them. But the result is that they can end up killing the rodents’ natural predators.
The 63-yer-old retired postal worker snapped a photo of the hawk and sent it to the Pelican Harbor sanctuary, before wrapping the bird in a towel and putting it inside a cat carrier.
But when the center got back to him, he was surprised to hear they wouldn’t be coming out to pick up the bird. Instead they called the bird a cab.
The Pelican Harbor center says it receives around 20 per cent of its patients via Uber (pictured is an unidentified Uber driver dropping off a Pelican)
The center has already spent more than $4,000 on around 250 Uber rides this year, which they say saves time for staff to stay at the center and treat the birds.
‘Roughly 20 percent of our patients arrive to us via Uber,’ Pelican Harbor executive director Christopher Boykin said.
‘We use it a lot. It keeps our staffing at the clinic, caring for the animals. Cuts down on patient’s treatment time. The animal gets treated in half the time. We include Uber in our grants [requests.] We ask the foundation to help fund Uber transport.’
‘In the past, we’ve seen Uber used to help out in different ways during difficult circumstances. We’re grateful our service has helped these injured animals get assistance when they need it the most,’ said Uber spokesman Javier Correoso.
While the center is primarily for birds, they have accepted a variety of animals over the years, including an eight pound piglet that arrived in an Uber on Christmas Day 2014.
Pelican Harbor Seabird Station Wildlife Rehabilitation Manager Yaritza Acosta accepts a sickly animal from an Uber driver
They ended up naming the boar piglet, Uber. After it grew to around 25lbs they shipped it to a no kill center.
Sadly, it wasn’t a happy ending for the hawk which died a few hours after being brought in.
Klemme was devastated.
‘I knew the bird was struggling so it’s depressing. We thought we might be able to save her. But Pelican Harbor stepped up. They are awesome.’