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Jelly, a one-footed gull, stops in to snack on cat food Thursday outside Gadue's Dry Cleaning in South Burlington.
PETER HUOPPI, Free Press
One lucky, one-footed, feathery friend
Published: Saturday, May 13, 2006
By Sky Barsch
Free Press Staff Writer
The early bird might get the worm, but "Jelly" is
proving there's something to be said for slow and steady consistency.
His reward? Cat food.
And friends, and sympathy and candy, for that matter.
Jelly, the one-footed ring-billed gull, returned this spring to Gadue's Dry Cleaning on Shelburne Road in South Burlington for the seventh straight year. Since being befriended by employees Diane Papin and Sandy Barnes, he shows up two or three times a day and feasts on the food they give him.
"He comes right to the door and he pecks," Barnes said this week, as Jelly hopped around the entrance to the shop.
Life isn't perfect for the gull. Since his injury, he has slid to the bottom of the pecking order among the other gulls, who incessantly pick on him. Papin and Barnes have become avid Jelly protectors, shooing the other gulls away during feeding time.
Jelly's friendship with the Gadue's gals started about seven years ago, back when he was a two-footed ring-billed gull (what nonbirders might call a seagull). He soon acquired his name.
"It all started with a jelly bean. It was Easter. She takes a jelly bean and throws it out," Papin recalled, gesturing to Barnes. "He got it caught in his throat." He finally swallowed it, she said. "We called him 'Jelly Belly' from then on."
If only that confounding candy were to be Jelly's sole brush with danger. About two years ago, Jelly became tangled in fishing line. Despite attempts from the Gadue's employees and even a pediatrician, Jelly's left foot was doomed. The line eventually amputated his foot
story link
PETER HUOPPI, Free Press
One lucky, one-footed, feathery friend
Published: Saturday, May 13, 2006
By Sky Barsch
Free Press Staff Writer
The early bird might get the worm, but "Jelly" is
proving there's something to be said for slow and steady consistency.
His reward? Cat food.
And friends, and sympathy and candy, for that matter.
Jelly, the one-footed ring-billed gull, returned this spring to Gadue's Dry Cleaning on Shelburne Road in South Burlington for the seventh straight year. Since being befriended by employees Diane Papin and Sandy Barnes, he shows up two or three times a day and feasts on the food they give him.
"He comes right to the door and he pecks," Barnes said this week, as Jelly hopped around the entrance to the shop.
Life isn't perfect for the gull. Since his injury, he has slid to the bottom of the pecking order among the other gulls, who incessantly pick on him. Papin and Barnes have become avid Jelly protectors, shooing the other gulls away during feeding time.
Jelly's friendship with the Gadue's gals started about seven years ago, back when he was a two-footed ring-billed gull (what nonbirders might call a seagull). He soon acquired his name.
"It all started with a jelly bean. It was Easter. She takes a jelly bean and throws it out," Papin recalled, gesturing to Barnes. "He got it caught in his throat." He finally swallowed it, she said. "We called him 'Jelly Belly' from then on."
If only that confounding candy were to be Jelly's sole brush with danger. About two years ago, Jelly became tangled in fishing line. Despite attempts from the Gadue's employees and even a pediatrician, Jelly's left foot was doomed. The line eventually amputated his foot
story link
