Drunk Man Who Can’t Drive Sends Struggling Baby Bird To Rescue Centre In Uber

Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah/Facebook/FOX 13 News Utah

We’ve all had a few scoops too many on a Saturday night, only to spend the entire Sunday being struck by strange and surreal flashbacks.

However, have you ever found yourself recalling how you saved a struggling baby bird the day before by popping it in an Uber and waving it off to a rescue centre?

This is the situation Utah man Tim Crowley found himself in during an impromptu Saturday afternoon drinks session with his neighbour. And his quick yet tipsy thinking saved the little creature’s life.

Tim and his neighbour had been sitting outside when the orphaned baby lesser goldfinch suddenly tumbled from the sky. With no clue whatsoever as to where the bird had dropped from, the friends knew they had to help the little guy out.

After contacting the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah (WRCNU), Tim was told he should get the titchy party crasher to them sharpish. The only problem was he’d had a couple of bevvies and was in no fit state to drive.

Tim told FOX 13 News Utah:

Impromptu, sitting on some camp chairs, hanging out having a few drinks, when we had a visitor fall out of the sky.

At first it was a joke, like ‘hey, maybe we should just call an Uber you know?’ and then we’re like, ‘no, really, why not? We’re paying them!’

Once the Uber driver arrived, they were surprised but were thankfully on board with getting the miniature passenger to the rescue centre in style.

The WRCNU later wrote about the inventive rescue on their Facebook page, thanking Tim for taking the time to be kind:

Another FIRST you WILL NOT BELIEVE!!!What do you do when you find a sick, injured or orphaned wild animal, but you’ve “had a few too many?”

WELL, this rescuer called an UBER driver! NO, seriously, this little orphaned Lesser Goldfinch was the sole occupant of an Uber vehicle for a ride to WRCNU yesterday.

While we feel we’ve seen it all and can’t be amazed by anything, there is always SOMEONE out there to prove us wrong.

Thank you to the rescuer who helped this little one get the care it needed in a timely manner and thank you for keeping yourself safe and others on the road safe as well!

The story quickly went viral, with animal lovers praising Tim for his inventiveness and for choosing not to endanger others by drink-driving.

One person applauded:

God bless him! Didn’t risk injuring or killing someone else, but wanted to make sure this little bird got taken care of!

Another cheered:

That’s AWESOME! Go you, Uber-ordering wildlife protector!

The WRCNU nicknamed the tiny Uber user ‘Petey Uber’, and have since given his newfound fanbase a positive update about the extremely lucky baby’s condition, noting on Facebook, ‘She’s/he’s thriving and doing well’.

The WRCNU have given the following update on Petey’s progress to UNILAD:

Petey is about 3 weeks old now and resides with a little “buddy” about the same age. Eating very well and finally moved to a larger cage–we’ll be posting an update on him/her in the next couple of days.

The centre will reportedly release the baby bird before autumn, right in time for migration season.

It is unclear at the time of writing whether or not the baby bird gave the driver a five star rating…

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Julia Banim

Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.