August 2, 2020 – West Bend, WI – There were photos making the rounds on social media Sunday morning about a man who allegedly ran over a baby sandhill crane Saturday, August 1, 2020 near Steins in West Bend.
Click HERE for photos by Marie Walton.
Steve Swiertz is a conservation warden with the Department of Natural Resources. He relayed the information below.
“I received a call from my dispatch on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. regarding a juvenile sandhill crane that was struck by a vehicle. I spoke with a witness over the phone. The witness indicated the gentleman driving a SUV ran over the juvenile crane. When asked if this appeared to be intentional, she said ‘No’ but couldn’t tell for sure; meaning he didn’t swerve to intentionally hit it; the vehicle just went over it.
I was on my way up to a park shift in the northern unit and I was not able to respond directly. Throughout my shift I received a few more calls for assistance, including a call from West Bend Police and asking for assistance to deal with the deceased crane.
I responded and removed the deceased crane and contacted the registered owner of the vehicle. Upon interviewing him I found it was just an unfortunate accident. There was no intent to hit it and he just didn’t see it and ended up running it over.”
Swiertz said sandhill cranes are like geese and “they hoovered around because they don’t realize their baby is deceased.”
Eventually, after the crane was removed the adult cranes left.
“Juvenile sandhill cranes can’t fly so we ask motorists to give them their space and wait for them to pass,” Swiertz said. “This situation is unfortunate and speaking with the driver there was a lot of remorse; it just was an unfortunate accident.”
No citations were issued.
