Flagler Beach- For the past two years, Jean Sbertoli of Flagler Beach
has had a special caller every morning about 5 a.m. and many evenings at
dusk. Her visitor is a Great Blue Heron she named Evenrude.
    "He would be here every morning, as if he were waiting for me to wake
up," she said in a telephone interview.
    On Dec.15, as Sbertoli had her coffee, she noticed Evenrude appeared to
be eating more fish than usual. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that he
wasn't eating at all. All of the fish he grabbed up in his beak were falling
out of an eight-inch gash in his long neck.
    "I called everyone I could think of for help," she said. "When I called
the humane society, they gave me Lora Smith's phone number."
    Smith, a member of the St. Johns Wildlife Care group, is licensed to
care for sick, injured and orphaned animals and birds.
    By the time Smith reached Sbertoli's home, the heron was gone.
    In the days that followed, the heron returned to Sbertoli's home, but
was elusive and outsmarted those who tried to lure him into a dog crate.
    Smith got assistance from Rick Kinard and Donna Doud, the animal
control officers for Flagler County. As animal control officers, their
duties involve domestic animals, not wildlife.
    "We don't normally do these types of cases," said Kinard, who added
that it took three days to finally trap the bird.
    During their off hours, the two sat on Sbertoli's porch and patiently
waited for the bird to take the bait-a fish tied to a string in a dog crate.
    "We did it because we wanted to help the bird. It makes you feel good
to do something like that," he said.
    Kinard believes that the bird hurt itself after it went after an
unattended fishing line.
    "The birds will go for the bait and swallow the hook. Then they will
back off and, in this case, the hook may have cut its throat."
    Once Evenrude was captured, the bird was taken to Dr. Steven Covert, a
veterinarian at Flagler Animal Hospital. Dr. Covert closed the gash by
stapling it and sent the bird home with Smith to recuperate. During a
follow-up visit, Dr. Robert Tate was showing Smith the best way to
"tube" (force feed) the bird, when he detected a leak in the bird's
esophagus. The bird was operated on immediately.
    Smith watched the bird carefully over the Christmas holiday weekend,
cutting small bits of fish up to make it easier for it to swallow. The
following Monday, she took it back to Dr. Covert, after having had two
surgeries to repair its torn neck, to have the staples removed.
    Dr. Covert was pleased with the progress the bird had made.
    "He is really a good healer," he said, indicating that the bird was
healing so quickly it would probably be ready to be released back inti the
wild in a week.
    "I am so pleased with this woman's (Sbertoli) persistence," said Smith.
"She kept at it until she found help for the bird."

You can read about Evenrude in the 'Stories' section " The Story of a Great Blue Heron Named Evenrude".
You can read about Evenrude on the page "The Dangers of Monofilament and Other Items".
Graphic photos of Evenrude's surgery.