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Magpies' habit of adding man made items to their
nests reminds me of an incident that happened a couple of years ago. One
of my staff reported that she had seen a young magpie tied to a tree by its foot
in the Eprapah Creek area at Victoria Point, a southern bayside suburb of
Brisbane.
We contacted the council wildlife officer, and I
sent the staff member out to show them where the magpie was, and a whole chain
of rather hilarious events took place. First council sent a cherry picker,
which got bogged crossing a creek. I sent another staff member to find the
original, but neither came back. A backhoe came to pull the cherrypicker
out and nearly got bogged itself. By this time, most of my staff were watching
the drama, and I was stuck in the office answering phones.
Meanwhile the poor magpie was hanging upside down,
suspended by a piece of string. Eventually the council wildlife officer
employed a "tree climber", who put on all his gear, asserted he was a New
Zealander and hated magpies, climbed the tree and cut the magpie free, and
captured it.
The young magpie was entrapped with a piece of
string which was woven into the nest. He was treated by a vet, lost a
couple of toes, but was eventually returned and reaccepted by his
parents.
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