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Prepping a mobile birdcage

March 9th, 2011

RalphMobile.jpg

When I called Hope Swinimer at the Hope for Wildlife Society in Seaforth, Nova Scotia to volunteer to drive Ralph the Pelican to the Outer Banks Wildlife Center in Newport, North Carolina, I knew there would be plenty to deal with.

Hope would handle the details related to Ralph, who has been under her Society’s care since he was rescued after blowing in on a hurricane last fall and was spotted, looking dazed and disheveled on the roof of Ralph’s Place, a strip club in Dartmouth. She would ensure his papers are in order to get him across the U.S. border, he has an ample supply of raw fish and will provide care for him at night and on the road.

My job involved developing the drive route and logistics like where to stop, where to bathe Ralph at night and how to secure the vehicle. But my biggest task related to how to build a mobile birdcage in which to transport Ralph.

To meet this criteria my wife, Lisa Calvi, and I worked under four mandates: get Ralph to North Carolina safely, quickly, with the least carbon footprint and at no cost to the Hope for Wildlife Society. Here is how that plan has evolved to get us to the start line:

1. What Vehicle?: Start with the premise that we need a full-sized enclosed van to allow Ralph to spread his wings on the 2,400-kilometre drive. He’s not exactly house-trained. The young pelican eats raw fish all day and it has to come out somewhere.

I chose a Chevrolet Express van with a 279 horsepower, 4.8-litre V-8 and the Flex fuel no-cost option. GM’s Chevy Express and GMC Savanna vans are the most fuel-efficient full-sized vans on the market and have consistently won the Government of Canada’s ecoENERGY for Vehicles Award in the large van category.

2. Where to get it: I talked to Al MacPhee at MacPhee Chevrolet Cadillac on Portland Street in Dartmouth. The last thing I wanted was problems at the border related to who owned the vehicle or insurance so I decided to purchase rather than rent. MacPhee had a white 2010 Chevy Express H2500 Cargo Van with 39,000 kilometres on it and he agreed to buy it back at a slightly depreciated price. I jokingly told him the buy-back price should go up because, after all, Ralph the Pelican will have had a drive home in it. The horse-trading starts when I get back. The Express van is a base workhorse, no frills except the no-cost FlexFuel option and a compass on the instrument panel that Ralph will like as long it keeps reading ‘south’.

3. The Look: Ralph the Pelican has evidently turned into something of a celebrity in media outlets across Canada, the U.S. and beyond. So why not make him look like one? Step up graphic designer Michael Doyle of Allegro Visual Communications who designed a spiffy logo for Ralph along with graphics to put on the van. Then Pete O’Blenis of PPM Motorsports Graphics offered to cut the decals and install them on the van. After pulling an all-nighter, he and his son, Mike morphed a plain white van into Ralph’s mobile shrine, complete with a ‘Pelican on Board’ decal on the back window. They lived up to their corporate slogan, ‘Business as a Mission’ in fine style!

4. Cruise Control: I realized my new van didn’t have a critical ingredient for a 5,000-km return drive: cruise control. Ever since I spent 74 days driving a Volvo around the world 30 years ago without cruise control, my throttle leg has been a weak point. Atlantic Car Stereo in Dartmouth came to the rescue by installing a Rostra Precision Controls cruise control free-of-charge. While technician Darryl Russell installed the system he got my fever going by telling me about all the aftermarket products they deal in besides auto stereo systems. How about a hands-free telephone system or a leather interior? Hmmm. Check with Ralph on that one!

5. Tires: Proper tires make a difference in ride and handling. Besides that I wanted the ones with the least rolling resistance for the best possible fuel economy. So I called the folks at Michelin Canada who agreed to provide a set of LT 245 75 R16 Green X tires. These tires are made with a unique compound that results in low-rolling resistance and better fuel economy.

Can-do Branch Manager Liz Kilpatrick at Miller Tirecraft on Barrington Street installed and balanced them herself then filled the Michelins with nitrogen to keep the pressure constant.

6. Ethanol Capability: With the FlexFuel no-cost option, the Express will run on Ethanol blends up to 85%, but where to get it? There are only a few stations in the country that sell E-85, none in Atlantic Canada. But in the U.S., Irving Oil has 10% ethanol in their fuel so we will target those stations. Hey, the Detroit 3 are here with Flex fuel capabilities. Where is the fuel, Canada?

7. Ralph’s Mobile Quarters: We left that to Hope for Wildlife Society founder Hope Swinimer and her life-partner Reid Patterson who painstakingly fabricated a padded, safe environment for Ralph in the huge cargo area of the Chevy Express. With lots of space to spread his wings and the ability to replace what’s under his webbed feet (doo doo will be flying), his living quarters are one cozy place.

Preparing Ralph’s mobile birdcage was a fun project but it’s only the beginning of his trek back home. The project has been a feel-good exercise so far because of the great folks Lisa and I have met in the process of preparing the wayward pelican’s way home.

Indeed, Ralph the Pelican ended up in Nova Scotia on the howling winds of a hurricane, one of Mother Nature’s fiercest phenomena. But getting him home will be the result of an even greater phenomenon, the capability of community to come together and help a creature that has fallen on hard times.

After all, as the species at the pinnacle of the animal kingdom, it’s our duty in the stewardship of this planet.

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