Jade Jungwirth
Fire Rescue Victoria was called to assist Maldon Fire Brigade in a remarkable bird rescue on Sunday.
The previous night, a two-year-old blue macaw, fondly known as Bruce, flew into an enormous gum tree at the back of the property.
Bruce, a well-known identity in Maldon, resides beside Maldon Takeaway with his love interest and fellow macaw Brenda, and his mate Bird, a native cockatoo.
During the previous evening the three friends noticed the latch on their cage had been left ajar. Brenda and Bird took the opportunity to climb onto the outside of the cage and watched with interest as Bruce flew to freedom.
On landing in one of the highest trees in Maldon, Bruce (who is currently undertaking a 10-week course in free flight) suddenly realised his mistake, he had not yet completed the descent component of his training!
His owners, Melitta Lee and Adam Isaacs, spent hours searching for their beloved bird, pleading with him to return home. Once the pair located Bruce in his precarious situation, Melitta and Adam became increasingly concerned but had no alternative but to leave him perched in the gum overnight.
Melitta returned at 5am with a bag of treats to entice the blue bird from the branches, finally placing a call to the local CFA.
Seeing no alternative, the brigade called in Fire Rescue Victoria and their enormous ladder platform (the only vehicle of its kind in the north west region).
As Melitta shakily stepped into a safety harness she told the Express that she was terrified of heights and had even had to stop a child’s Ferris Wheel because she was so scared.
Heroically, she stepped into the enormous cherry picker with the assistance of the member from Fire Rescue Victoria and began her ascent.
Locating Bruce amid the highest branches, Melitta tried to entice the terrified bird into her arms, to no avail. The enormous ladder moved closer and closer until she was able to reach her hand out to Bruce who tightly gripped her finger and was brought safely to the ground, held tightly in his owner’s arms, thirsty, tired and hot, but unharmed.
Bruce was returned home to his love Brenda and his mate Bird. He has made a full recovery from his ordeal and will be commencing his descent training as soon as possible.
