Hot Buzz! All in a day's work as police officer rescues buzzard in rural Shropshire
Normally those caught by the police find themselves up before the beak – but in this case it was the officer at the sharp end as he stepped in to rescue a buzzard.
An officer from Oswestry's Safer Neighbourhood Team – not to be confused with 'the Flying Squad' – was on hand to help after a member of the public became concerned about the condition of one of the county's magnificent birds of prey.
The officer had been on patrol in the Rednal area when they were flagged down by an alarmed resident, worried that a buzzard was stood in the middle of the road.
Concerned that the bird could meet a sticky end without intervention, the police officer stepped in to try and help.
Incredibly the bird ended up perched on the officer's arm and was about to be delivered to a nearby vets for a check-up when it escaped custody and took to the skies.
Posting on the Oswestry Cops Twitter account, the unnamed officer explained his brush with the buzzard – while some social media users expressed concern for the state of his arm after its temporary use as a perch.
The account said: "Oswestry Rural South SNT patrolling Rednal, Oswestry. Member of public flagged me down to show me a buzzard standing in the middle of the road.
"Managed to get the buzzard on to forearm and was happy perching on arm.
"Was about to take buzzard to the vets, but, the buzzard flew off."
Asked if he should have considered a glove before braving the buzzard's talons on his arm, he replied: "Yes, it wasn't the best idea to have.
"But, I needed to get the buzzard off the road and near to an open field if it decided to fly off. Which it did thankfully.
"I might need to invest in a glove. Thankfully the buzzard was calm and its talons did not hurt."
