Of Bike Cops and Baby Birds

It might be a little over the top, and we in the media are certainly quick to toss out the “hero” tag, but a Milwaukee motorcycle Police Officer, Bill Ritch, is being hailed a “hero” for rescuing a baby bird.

The Milwaukee Police Department says Officer Ritch was teaching a motorcycle officer training course in a ballpark parking lot this week when he did his part to help out Mother Nature.

BIRD ON MOTORCYCLE # 1 by Elizabeth Nihiser.

A night of storms in the area had brought down some branches, and when one of them dropped near his bike, a baby bird popped out of the debris onto Ritch’s motorcycle. He found the tiny bird after the class he was teaching took a break.

In keeping with the bird’s appearance on his bike, officers named the tiny avian rider “Harley.” No word yet on whether or not the bird was wearing chaps and a do-rag…

After a look around to find the nest which so rudely disgorged “Harley,” officer Ritch checked the tiny traveler into his motorcycle’s tour pack, fed the bird all day and has taken care of his charge since then.

“My wife, her response was ‘only you Bill’ because she knows I’m an animal lover,” Ritch said. “I’ll admit it, I’ve got a soft spot for animals.”

So do the experts think Ritch was on the right track with his rescue efforts? Well, sort of…

The Wisconsin Humane Society says the best thing Ritch could have done was to put the bird in the nearest tree to where it was found and let nature take its course.

Being an all-round good guy, Ritch did just that Thursday morning, and the experts say they suspect the tiny robin’s parents are somewhere in the area and that they’ll take over from here.