Man and $2,000 Umbrella Cockatoo rescued from tall tree

(4/03/07 - KTRK/MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX) (KTRK) -- A man who scaled a tree some 60 feet in the air to rescue his prized cockatoo and got stuck up there is safe back on the ground.

After several hours and several attempts by police and firefighters, it was the Coast Guard that finally got the man to safety.

The rescue happened in a wooded area of southeast Montgomery County.

William Hart is glad to be back on the ground.

For almost four hours, he stood perched 60 feet near the top of a pine tree. He wasn't alone, his beloved Umbrella Cockatoo, Geronimo, was there with him.

"It's my companion, my friend, my pet, you name it," laughed Hart.

It's said that Hart will do anything for that bird and today he did. When Geronimo flew out of a house window and landed in a tree, Hart went right after him.

"He decided to climb a smaller pine tree right next to it," said an unidentified emergency worker. "He got up there and got stuck."

Fire department ladder trucks were of no use because the ground was so soft. Fire department helicopters couldn't get to him either. Hart just waited for help.

"I talked to [the bird], played with him and smoked a cigarette," Hart said.

Then above the tree tops came the answer. A Coast Guard helicopter dropped a line to Hart.

Now that all is safe, Hart says he is going home and clipping Geronimo's wings.

Hart has owned Geronimo since he was six months old and the bird is now six-years-old.

Porter fire officials say the rescue effort cost that department $5-10,000. The Houston and Woodlands fire departments were also there along with the Coast Guard. No word on the price tag for those agencies.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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