There’s a scene from a popular Christmas movie that features a young boy who gets triple dog dared by his friends to lick a frozen flagpole. The moisture from his tongue instantly bonds him to the metal pole. In the movie, it’s pretty hilarious, but it’s the kind of thing that happens all the time in real life, and it isn’t as fun when it’s not on the silver screen. Of course, tongues aren’t the only things that can get stuck to frozen metal in the dead of winter.
Nelson Wilson has always been a lover of nature and wildlife. A resident of Idaho, Wilson lives on a bit of property, which he works hard to take care of, including all the wild critters that live with him. On New Year’s Day, he went outside to feed his horses, and noticed a sparrow perched atop a stretch of steel fence near a water tank. ‘”The tank is heated to keep it from freezing,’ he wrote in the description for this video. ‘It is not uncommon for birds to drink from the heated tank. Apparently this unfortunate bird had gotten its feet wet and, while making its exit, had become frozen to the fence in the prevailing near zero Idaho temperatures.”
There’s no way he was going to leave the helpless bird frozen to the fence. But how to get it free without hurting it even more? In a stroke of brilliance, Wilson wrapped one hand gently around the bird to keep it warm, and still. Then he leaned in, and started breathing on the critter’s cold feet. In no time, the warmth of his breath had melted the ice keeping the bird trapped, and Wilson opened his hand, letting the bird fly free.
Check out this sweet rescue in the video above. What did you think? Leave us a comment, we’d love to hear from you!
