Ode To Pete The Pelican
One morning in June 2024, a cute pelican paddled up to our pier. He was small and had a fluffy mohawk on his grey head which indicated he was still a very young pelican. Cary noticed the pelican had a red jig hook embedded in his right wing.
The pelican didn’t seem to be able to fly. It was either because he was still so young or it was because of his injured wing. For a few days he paddled over to our pier and Cary caught bait fish and fed him.
On the third day, I tossed fish to the pelican from the pier, so that Cary could capture him in a cast net to remove the jig head hook.
From that day forward the pelican became ours (really mostly Cary’s) and we named him, “Pelican Pete.” Pete comes by every morning and he and Cary hang out together on the beach and on the pier. After about a week, as Pete’s wing healed, he began to fly. He stayed about 3 feet over the water and didn’t seem to have much confidence to dive. It took him a few weeks before he built up his flying skills and was able to fly up on to the pier.
Each morning Cary goes out to the beach and whistles for Pete and Pete flys in for his breakfast. There are days that Pete hangs out most of the day on the end of our pier under the shaded roof, or sits next to his new buddy, the coyote (decoy), and there are days he flies in for his morning visit then leaves and often returns in the evenings. Although he remains somewhat cautious, he allows Cary to feed him by hand and sometimes lets Cary pet his back and beak.
Pete and Cary have become very attached to one another. When Cary walks down the pier, Pete waddles along beside him. When Cary walks down the beach, Pete follows along. It really is super cute.
In late September we evacuated for Hurricane Helene and we wondered if when we returned, would we see Pete again? The rising tide caused quite a mess to clean up. Under the house in our storage room/workshop we had about 2 feet of muddy, smelly water. It got into most of our storage containers and Cary’s workshop cabinets. But the worst mess to clean was our pool. It was filled with about 6 inches of sand, mud and debris. Cary rented a trash pump and spent two days vacuuming the surface of the pool while simultaneously pumping water back in.
We were so happy and relieved a few days after we began the clean up when Pete returned. I don’t know who was happier, Pete or Cary. Pete literally ran (waddling) so fast up to Cary he practically crashed into him. He was acting so weird though that I thought that maybe he had a nervous breakdown during the storm. He was running with his wings spread while bobbing side to side like he was dancing. I think he was overcome with happiness at seeing Cary! Cary’s dancing was even funnier. I wish I had gotten a video of the whole thing!
About a week later, neighbors called us to tell us that they saw Pete with a broken right wing. Animal rescue was called and Cary tried to get Pete to come to him so that the rescue guy could capture him. But Pete wouldn’t come. We flew up to MD that day for the General Ship Repair 100 Anniversary party, and we were informed by animal rescue they had captured Pete. They said they would do surgery on Pete’s wing and return him to us in about 6 weeks.
During the next 5 days I kept calling the animal rescue to ask how Pete was doing but wasn’t able to talk to anyone. They don’t answer their phones and their voicemail is full. We were getting sad and started to think we’d never see Pete again when suddenly, a miracle occurred! We were outside working on the beach and a pelican flew toward us making all kinds of purposeful swooping motions, flying back and forth by us and then landed on our pier. It was PETE! He was FINE!!! The injured pelican wasn’t Pete, after all…just an imposter! 😄
Our good friends from MD, Julie and Angie, came to visit during the 2nd week of October. We had an awesome time with them. The weather was perfect. They got to meet Pete and Julie even hand-fed him. A couple of days after they left, we think it was around October 16, Pete didn’t show up in the morning or the rest of the day. He’s done that before a few times, so we weren’t particularly worried. But sadly, that was 13 days ago. Pete has not returned. We’re hoping he found a girlfriend or a flock to attach himself to. Everyday, frankly all day everyday, I watch the pier and out over the water hoping to spot Pete somewhere out there. But as of this writing, we still haven’t seen him or know what happened to him. 😭
If Anyone Sees Pete or Knows of His Whereabouts,
PLEASE Let Us Know!
FOUND 10/29/24
Pete came home!!! Early this morning we looked out at the pier and there he was! Good ol’ Pete waiting for Cary as if no time had gone by! ❤️
