KOLKATA: A crow that was entangled in kite string while building a nest on a 60ft kadam tree opposite Lansdowne Market last Saturday was finally rescued on Friday morning after a man who sells tender coconut under its shade, a cobbler who shares the space, and a paan-cigarette shop owner next door got hold of a woodcutter who scaled the tree and freed the bird.
It was cobbler Narayan Das, who shares the space with coconut seller Gopal Kayal, who was first drawn to the unusual cawing of the crow last Saturday. When the cawing that sounded like a distress call continued, Kayal spotted the bird hanging upside down from one of the branches nearly 50ft above the ground. On watching closely, he realised its feet were tangled in sturdy kite thread. The more desperate the crow became to free itself, the more entangled it became. An unfinished nest on a nearby branch was a pointer to what had happened — it was building a nest when the mishap occurred.
With the tree too tall for Kayal or Das to climb, they brought the crow’s plight to the attention of paan shop owner Ashok Panda. By that evening, scores of crows converged on the tree, kicking up a racket.
The next morning, Reshma Chatterjee, who lives in a two-storey house on Madhab Lane, noticed the condition of the crow from her verandah after being alerted by the commotion caused by the crows. She dialled the fire brigade, but the operator suggested she call the Wild Animal Rescue & Transit Facility Centre in Bidhannagar since they were experts in making such rescues. However, the centre said it could not step in as the crow was not an endangered bird.
Over the next four days, the crow continued to dangle upside down while those below peered up to check on it. Remarkably, other crows fed the distressed one to keep it alive.
Meanwhile, Kayal continued to call people he knew in an attempt to contact a woodcutter who could scale the tree. Finally, he managed to contact Raju Sheikh from Ultadanga and coaxed him into coming to rescue the bird in exchange for Rs 500. On Friday, Sheikh climbed the tree in 10 minutes and freed the crow while a motley crowd watched from below.
As the freed crow flew away, it was met with thunderous claps from below and the cawing of more than a 100 crows that had gathered in the branches above.
