Brothers bombed in Wick by ungrateful mum
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A BIRD in the hand may be worth two in the bush but it can also leave you with a very messy hand if you pick up baby gulls in Wick.
Two brothers got a bit more than they bargained for when they saved a herring gull chick that had fallen from its nest on Union Street on a drizzly morning last week.
Marcelle and Eric Primeau were on a sailing excursion to Orkney when they berthed at Wick marina for a break and took a walk up into the town centre for a beer.
"We were walking along the street when we saw this object and then realised it was a seagull chick," said Marcelle.
His brother Eric said that the chick "wasn't going anywhere" and was very docile as it lay on the pavement.
"A lot of people wouldn't want to pick up a wild animal but it was very placid and didn't run away from me so I picked him up."
The scene was witnessed by our reporter as Eric, like an expert basketball player, deftly threw the feathery ball up 15 feet to land straight back in its nest on the top of a wall.
It seemed that mum was none too happy for the helping hand, though, and proceeded to dive-bomb the brothers, sending them some unwanted gifts. The splattered sailors cleaned up at the Groat office a short distance away and laughed at the irony of the event.
"What a great thanks we get for doing a favour – both covered in all this," said Marcelle as he wiped the droppings from his jacket and hand.
"It's supposed to be good luck, though," Eric reminded him.
"And we need all the good luck we can get if we're to make it over to Orkney tomorrow if the weather's like this."
