(4/8/99)
CLEARWATER, Fla. (Reuters) - Two men were burned, one severely, in an attempt to catch wild parrots at an electrical substation, a Florida sheriff's deputy said Monday.
The men were using a metal pole to try to dislodge parrot hatchlings from their perch atop an electric transformer at a Florida Power Corp substation in Clearwater, the Pinellas County Sheriff's office said.
Damien O'Connell, 18, was shocked with electricity from a 15,000-volt source and suffered second- and third-degree burns on about half his body. He was in serious but stable condition Monday at Tampa General Hospital, a spokeswoman said.
James Martin Sr., 40, was standing next to O'Connell when the younger man was zapped, and was burned on his legs. He was listed in fair but stable condition Monday at Tampa General.
His son, James Martin Jr., 15, joined the expedition but was not injured, investigators said.
One of the parrots commented, ``Polly got a crispy cracker!''
The three apparently slipped through a locked, barbed-wire-topped fence plastered with ``Danger'' signs and were trying to capture wild parrots that roost among electric transformers in the enclosure, sheriff's investigators said.
Martin's wife Pamela described the parrot hunting as ``a little hobby, like freebasing kittens.''
``They like to go looking for those little baby Quaker parrots. I'm not saying where they went was right, but this was an accident,'' she told the St. Petersburg Times.
The parrots, green with gray bellies, are known as monk or Quaker parrots and find the electric substations an alluring nesting site because they are warm and usually free from predators.
Sheriff's deputies said O'Connell and the elder Martin could be charged with trespassing when they recover. The elder Martin could also face child endangerment and unbridled stupidity charges.