Minnesota Fire Department Rescues A Parrot From A Tree

Every now and then you see a photo on social media that makes you wonder what the back story is. Over the weekend I saw on the Humane Society of Freeborn County's Facebook page that there was a request for community members to help locate an escaped parrot. Well, Monday there was good news in Albert Lea, the parrot named Patriot was reunited with his owners after spending a cold rainy night away from home. 

Wendy Rivera owns Patriot with her husband and family in Albert Lea, she said it all began harmlessly when her husband took the young parrot outside. Patriot was able to fly to a nearby tree and come flying back to Wendy's husband's shoulder. Much like younger humans, it seemed like Patriot wanted to test his flying abilities and ended up going too high up in a tree and according to Wendy "just couldn't or know how to land back on the ground" from being so high up.

Cue some minor panic as Patriot ended up going from as Wendy put it "one tree to the next until we lost sight of him." The last time the Rivera's saw Patriot was around 3 pm on Sunday.

Thankfully Patriot was found on Monday around 3 pm, but he needed some assistance in getting back home. That's where the Albert Lea Fire Rescue came into this rescue story. ALFR arrived and up when the boom on the bucket truck to retrieve our feathered friend Patriot. You should see the video that was shared with us!

After being rescued Patriot was taken to the families vet and given a clean bill of health, which is rather amazing since the young bird braved a wet and chilly night outdoors, most likely for the first, and hopefully the last time. You can find some of the rescue pictures below that the Albert Lea Fire Rescue and Wendy allowed us to share.