May 7, 2008
A dramatic fall in the number of arsonists and car crashers has led to firefighters being deployed on some distinctly unperilous missions.
Guru was unfortunate enough to witness one such event recently, while sitting around a camp fire with a nice bottle of Chablis.
Much to his horror, the quiet hoots of the occasional owl were pierced by the ear-splitting cries of a frantic, yet exotic bird – of the feathered variety, naturally.
Wondering what all the squawking was about, Yours Truly took up his glass and wandered into the deep dark forest...
There he encountered a strange show of lights and rustling, with shadowy figures silhouetted against the impenetrable blackness of the woods.
The masked figures continued advancing towards him, and with one swift upwards sweep their massive torches all converged on one spot high up in the canopy (OK, high up in a birch tree).
There, not as plain as day at all – for it might well have been a Norwegian Blue (but not a deceased one) – was a parrot.
The masked men, it turned out, were a crack team of Sussex's finest fire and rescue service personnel, and they had been summoned by the 'owners' of the parrot – who were also camping in the woods – to 'rescue' their pet parrot 'Ghengis'... um... from a tree.
Trouble was, Ghengis wasn't coming quietly, and after several failed attempts using ladders and their super-big searchlights, the rescuers decamped back to their even-noisier-than-the-parrot fire engine.
Now, Yours Truly is no ornithologist, but even he knows that birds fly, and they tend to inhabit the upper reaches of the trees... because they can.
He also assumed that firefighters and 'rescuers' are there to put out fires and rescue... er... people. Not animals. However exotic they might be.
Of course, firefighters do carry out dangerous and rather-them-than-Guru tasks on a regular basis, but getting a parrot out of a tree just when the pubs are chucking out on a Saturday night, does not seem to be the best use of their time.
Needless to say, the polite firemen apologised for the noise and disruption and went on their merry way. But only after a passing tree surgeon had shinned up the tree and grabbed Ghengis gently by the neck.
Comments (2)
"car crashers"
... crashes?
"quite hoots"
... quiet?
"shadowy figures silhouetted against the impenetrable blackness"
... dark doesn't silhouette against dark
"getting parrot out of a tree"
... getting 'a' parrot, given that it is not proper noun
Posted by John | May 9, 2008 2:50 PM
Posted on May 9, 2008 14:50
Guru welcomes all grammatical corrections, as Mrs Guru usually runs her fine-tooth comb over the copy, but alas was busy fixing the car. However, on account of their enormous torches the shadowy figures had an eerie, Readybrek style glow about them as they swooshed through the jungle... er... forest.
Posted by guru | May 9, 2008 4:21 PM
Posted on May 9, 2008 16:21