Tech | July 10, 2009 | 16 comments

Goose gets a bionic leg in world-first operation

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5782747/Goose-gets-a-bionic-leg-in-w...

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Here is the world's first bionic Goose. The two-week old gosling was found with a broken leg, but vets did not have the heart to put it down.

Instead, they decided to operate on the young creature, named Betty, to give her a bionic leg.
She was fitted with steel pins, nuts and bolts to build a leg brace which soon got her back up and waddling around.

The orphan, found at Watermead, Buckinghamshire, has already learned to walk again at nearby Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital.

Carers hope to release Betty back to the wild in three weeks.
Meanwhile, a budgie was rescued floating in the sea half a mile from land.
Cathy Jackman, a diver, spotted the tiny blue bird struggling to keep afloat off Brixham in Devon.

She plucked the distressed budgie – nicknamed Captain – from the sea and looked after him until they returned to shore.
She said: "When I first saw him he was flapping and disappearing under the water. He nearly drowned as he couldn't take off or swim.
"After we'd got him out I didn't think he'd make it. He was like a floppy, wet rag. I washed off the salt water stinging his eyes and wrapped him up warm in a dark ventilated box to calm him down. I was like a mother hen."

An RSPCA spokesman said: "It's a mystery how he got so far out.
"It's a miracle he survived. He's just lucky a boat was passing. He's quite plump, so he must be well-loved."

Captain is now recovering at an animal shelter.
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