Quick fix...
Caring mechanic Bruce repairs injured seagull
MECHANIC Bruce Garden is a dab hand at getting broken cars back on the road again.
But when an injured gull landed at his garage, he had to ditch his repair manuals and get it airworthy again.
Now that kind-hearted Bruce has nursed the bird back to health it has repaid him by setting up home in his workshop – much to the amusement of his customers.
He says customers love to see her strutting around the workshop: “She came in and has been part of the furniture ever since.
“She definitely has a personality. When I’m sitting in the chair in the workshop area of the garage, she will come over and sit on the jack close to me or peck my feet.
“The customers that come in are usually quite interested as it is not often you get to see a seagull in close quarters.”
The young bird had injured its wing and was unable to fly when Bruce found it. He phoned an animal charity to tell them of the stricken gull and was advised to “let nature take its course”.
But he took pity on the bird, and now the pair are inseparable after its recovery. Bruce, 54, told
how his feathered friend, who he has named Hopeful, looked in a bad state when he first spotted it.
He says: “There was blood coming out of the injured wing and I just sort of helped her up and it walked away.
“Someone else then brought it back into the garage as they know I am a soft touch when it comes to wildlife or anything else that is less fortunate.
“I helped nurse it back to health and named it Hopeful in the hope it will fly again.”
He said it was a case of trial and error as he tried to feed the injured animal at his work in Dumbarton, Scotland.
Bruce said: “Everyone has an impression that a seagull will eat anything. But I can tell you, this one doesn’t.
“I feed it mussels, mints and Babybel cheese, which it likes on occasion, and I go through the process of seeing what she likes.”
The bird is still unable to fly but seems to enjoy it in the garage, where it has lived for 18 months since being saved.
Bruce joked: “Anything that’s on the floor that she decides should not be there gets picked up and thrown.”