Florida man kisses wild bird-of-prey, loses part of lip

A Florida man's fondness for and ignorance of a wild bird of prey cost him part of his lip.

Rick Chaboudy writes on the Suncoast Animal League's Facebook page writes:

Birds of prey, even the smallest of the species, shouldn't be messed with. A man learned that very lesson yesterday.

This Kestrel was found three days ago with no apparent injuries. Because the bird seemed fairly tame, the man who found it decided he wanted to make it a pet. He took a few pictures and sent them to friends. One person recognized that there was something wrong with the situation and forwarded the photo to me.

The man was informed that the bird was a protected species and must be turned in to the proper authorities. He still maintained that he wanted the Kestrel as a pet but finally agreed to give it up after much dialogue. But before he turned it over, he decided a goodbye kiss was in order.

The Kestrel had other ideas and took a big, giant chunk out of the lip service that was provided. And who's the bird brain?

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