Vice-mayor goes above and beyond to rescue osprey

BRADENTON BEACH (FOX 13) - Ed Straight is vice mayor of Bradenton Beach, but his full-time job is running a non-profit that helps rescue animals -- like the osprey that got stuck in a tree on the south end of Coquina Beach.

"He must have went to land on that branch and his foot got stuck," said Straight.

At 80 feet up and thrashing off a branch, Straight and his team needed help.

"We were concerned," he recalled.  "There must have been 20 vultures circling above him in the sky."

They needed help fast.

"We figured we needed to get him out of there very quickly," he continued.

They called West Manatee Fire, and Battalion Chief Richard Jasinski responded.

"The bird really wasn't in any type of distress. I think it was tired from being up in the tree all night," he told FOX 13.

Jasinski put on his rescue hat and got in position.

"They raised me up there and we found the osprey foot got stuck," he said.

He's done it in the past.

"We are glad to help. It's a community effort -- we have a tool that he doesn't have and we are glad to assist in any way we can," he continued.

It is a rescue operation that helped save an animal in trouble and one Straight couldn't have done without some help.

"If the fire department was not able to come he would be possibly still be hanging there alive because there was no possible way to get him down," he added.

The osprey is resting at Straight's non-profit, Wildlife Inc.