Florida pelican ends up at Canadian strip club

Ralph the pelican's long-distance trip to Canada may have a plausible explanation. It's how he ended up with his name: He flew 1,400 miles from Florida to a Canadian adult entertainment club called Ralph's.

The most likely scenario for Ralph's unexpected appearance in Canada in September is that he got caught up in Hurricane Earl when it was closest to Florida - about 410 miles away. The storm most likely carried him the 1,400 mile trip to Seaport, Nova Scotia.


Photo from here.

"We got a very unusual phone call from (the club) saying they have a pelican on the roof," said Hope Swiminar, a spokeswoman for the rescue group that saved him. The trick now is getting him home. "We're running against brick walls and we've made dozens of calls trying to get help," Swiminar said.

It seems shipping a pelican back to the US is causing a paperwork nightmare for the Canadian rescue group. Simply carrying him on an airplane isn't going to work. "Somebody suggested that I take him in the seat beside me," she said. "But I don't think the passengers would like that, he's really strong smelling." So for now, Ralph will remain a reverse snowbird.