This was an unusual passenger for an Uber driver in Utah.
Christy Guynn transported a lesser goldfinch that had fallen out of a tree to a wildlife rehabilitation center, KSTU reported.
“I just gave this little guy a ride from Sunset – (the) first passenger I’ve ever had that chirps and doesn’t talk," Guynn told the television station. “It (was) his first Uber ride – and probably his only Uber ride.”
Guynn said she arrived at the pickup location June 29 and saw four men drinking beer, KSTU reported.
“I got there and there’s three or four guys standing out in the yard and they’re holding beers," Guynn told the television station. "And I’m like, ‘Oh, no. These guys are going to get in my car and I hope they know they can’t bring their beer.'”
Tim Crowley, of Clinton, said he approached Guynn and explained the bird had fallen out of a tree and needed medical care. Because he and his friends had been drinking, Crowley said they could not drive, KSTU reported.
When the bird fell out of the tree, the men wondered what to do.
"At first it was a joke, like, 'Hey, maybe we should just call Uber!'" Crowley told KSTU. "Then we were like, 'No, really. Why not? We're paying them.'"
The men contacted the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, which agreed to nurse the bird back to health if they could find a way to get the animal to the center, the television station reported.
Guynn said one of the men asked if she was willing to drive the bird to the center.
"If you're paying for it, I'm all for it," she said.
The bird, which the men named "Petey," survived the fall and is recovering, KSTU reported.
Guynn was glad the men did not try to drive the bird to the center.
"They didn't drink and drive and I know a lot of guys – especially back in my day – would be drinking and if somebody found a bird, they'd have said 'Ah, just throw it to the cats or throw it in the garbage,'" Guynn told KSTU. "So my heart goes out to those guys."
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