Davey Tree Flipbooks

September/October 2015 | 13 Bird Rescue No. 1: Chicago, Illinois Idea submitted by: Bill Whitmire, vice president, north central operations, R/C services Dawn Keller, founder of The Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Chicago, received a call about a baby owl authorities found on a resident's driveway. When she arrived on the scene, Keller found the baby owl that fell from its nest during a dangerous wind storm the night before. She didn't have the tools to re-nest it, so she called The Care of Trees' Lake Bluff office, whose crew assisted her in a bald eagle rescue a few years ago. Tom Ginnow, district manager of The Care of Trees Lake Bluff office and Jason Austin, production coordinator at Davey's North Chicago R/C office, responded to the call. "When we got there, we heard interesting clucking noises," Austin says. "Within 15 minutes we found a second baby owl hunkered down between some tree trunks and a fence." Keller worked with Austin and Ginnow to create a new home for the owls utilizing a hanging basket and leftover material from the original wind-damaged nest. After Austin securely fastened the newly crafted nest to the tree, he then individually carried the 10- to 12-inch tall great horned owlets up the bucket truck to their new home. Ginnow went back a few days later to check on the owlets and said the mom returned— making it a successful re-nest. Bird Rescue No. 2: Naples, Florida After an intense storm, two baby osprey took a 50-foot plummet from a Norfolk pine in Naples, Florida. The ospreys were safe and unharmed but needed to be re-nested. That is when the Conservancy of Southwest Florida called Davey to step in. "They rely on us to do these rescues because nobody has the equipment to get the job done," says Dan Powell, district manager of Davey's Naples R/C office. Powell brought the following Davey crewmembers along to assist with the rescue: Foremen Marcos Camacho and Derek Harris, Sales Arborist Rich Wiland and Trimmers Aaron Jaques and Dylan Jaques. Because the crew encountered two power lines obstructing the original nest's tree, Davey worked with the conservancy to find a new home and quickly discovered the perfect slash pine one block up the road. "The cool thing about this rescue is that we actually built a nest by hand," Powell says. "We tried to duplicate the original the best we could using a baby pool and pine needles." After three days working with the conservancy, the ospreys were finally safe and sound in their nest, feeding on fish from their parents. "The re-nesting was a success," Powell says. "It's definitely a gratifying feeling; the Davey workers get pumped to help out." From Trees to Birds to Kittens One of the rescued baby ospreys after falling 50 feet from a tree during a storm. Kitten Rescue: Brookline, Massachusetts Idea submitted by: Russell Holman, sales and service technician, Hartney Greymont Russell Holman was experiencing a pretty typical day on the job when they heard meowing beneath a hedge. "I looked down to find a tiny kitten in a wooden box full of logs," says Holman, sales and service technician at Hartney Greymont. After he safely retrieved the kitten from the hedge, Holman immediately asked the client whether they had lost a kitten. The client didn't know who owned the kitten but offered to feed it and bring it to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA). Later that day, Holman posted a photo of the kitten on Instagram, which led the MSPCA to reach out and tell him the kitten was in a foster home and had been named Shrub. Perch Perfect Idea submitted by: Natalie McNeill, district manager, Fort Collins R/C While pruning trees for the City of Fort Collins contract, Trimmer James Harmon received a surprise visit from a small bird that decided Harmon's shoulder made the perfect perch. Harmon works at Davey's Fort Collins R/C office. One of the baby great horned owlets before being returned safe and sound to its home. A kitten named "Shrub" that Russell Holman saved on the job.

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