Every day, police officers respond to reports of all sorts of events and nonevents, most of which never make the news. Here is a sampling of lesser-known — but no less noteworthy — incidents from police log books (a.k.a. blotters) in our suburbs.
TRAPPED OWL RESCUED
On Oct. 2, Southborough Police Officers Keith Nichols and Jake Woodford scored a nice save when they helped out an owl that was tangled up in a soccer net at the Trottier Middle School fields. Photos from their successful rescue mission were posted on the department’s Facebook page. “They assisted this beautiful owl with his soccer net entanglement, and we’re happy to report that he was able to take off in flight on his own after the rescue,” the post said.
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BABY VULTURE GETS ANOTHER CHANCE
And speaking of bird rescues ... over the summer animal control officers helped save the life of a baby black vulture in Westford. The officers came across the stranded chick while responding to another call of an injured fawn near a wooded area. The baby vulture was not old enough to have fledged and was sitting on the ground in the hot sun, surrounded by flies. Photos of the chick were shared on the Westford animal control Facebook page on July 25. “We immediately made contact with a federally licensed raptor rehabilitator as well as the state biologist to discuss the best course of action,” the post said. “It took several days of observation and planning, making sure a nest was available, accessible and that a parent was in the area. After being able to confirm a nest, the presence of a very attentive parent and even a sibling, plans were made to get this baby back where he belonged.” The animal control officers thanked the Westford Fire Department and Raptor Tales Rescue in Shrewsbury for their help during the renesting process.
SWAN SAVED
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Later on in August, Westford animal control responded to a report of a swan that was tangled up in fishing line at Nabnasset Lake. “ACO Kirsten Hirschler jumped into action and the water, and along with her partner Trudianne Mola, were able to rescue the swan,” police wrote on Facebook. “After being rescued it was discovered that the swan also had a fishing hook stuck in its mouth.” It turned out that the swan had swallowed a fishing line that got wrapped around his wings and foot, making the situation even direr. “When he was caught we were able to do an initial assessment to determine if we could unravel him and release immediately or if he needed more extensive care,” Westford animal control wrote on Facebook. “We found that the line was wrapped so tightly that every time he moved his body it would pull on the line he had swallowed causing even more damage so it was decided to bring him to a professional for sedated evaluation and care.”
The swan was taken to Tufts Wildlife Clinic in North Grafton for treatment and made a full recovery. He was later released back into the wild and was reunited with its mate. Westford police shared videos of the swan’s rescue and release.
AS THE CROW FLIES
At 1:44 p.m. Aug. 20, Medfield police received a call from a person reporting that a crow was stuck in a hallway of an apartment building on Gatehouse Drive. The animal control officer was dispatched to the scene and reported that he successfully escorted the bird out of the building.
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Emily Sweeney can be reached at emily.sweeney@globe.com. Follow her @emilysweeney and on Instagram @emilysweeney22.