MakeShift 24: Honorable Mention, Matthew De Venecia, age 13
by Lee D. Zlotoff
Volume 24, 2010
Here’s my solution to the hawk rescue challenge, and, for my sake, I’m going to change it to boy scouts instead of girl scouts because I’m a dude. The numbers correspond to the pictures on the page.
(1) tie a bungee cord to each of the four corners of the tent (2) Tie the other ends of the bungee cords to a tent stake so it is easier to throw (3) Put some trail mix and water on the tent(4) Throw the stakes over the branches of nearby trees while making sure that the tent is beneath the hawks (5) let some of the other people in the group pull the four stakes downward to make the tent go up [I’m assuming the mother hawk will be curious and inspect the water and trail mix and get on the tent](6) create a makeshift duct tape rope by folding the sticky side of the duct tape in half, but leave a hole at the end (7) get the can opener or some other hook like piece out of the Leatherman tool [ you could also use a hook like stick] (8) put the Leatherman tool/ stick in the hole at the end of the duct tape rope (9) throw the makeshift crane you just made in step 8 over a branch that’s about one to two feet over the hawk nest (10) maneuver the hook of the crane under the nest (11) gently pull down on the duct tape rope to make the crane go up and tip the baby birds from the nest onto the tent (12) gently lower the tent by letting the tent stakes [that you tied the bungee cords to] go up (13) ask anyone in your group if they know how to fix a hawk wing with a basic first aid kit and let them do their thing (14) open a backpack and empty the contents, and then put all your bandanas in it to make a makeshift nest for the birds then put the birds in it. Have two members of the group at a time carry the open backpack while taking shifts with the others in the group. (15) hike back to base camp with the birds.
p.s. I’m sorry if the artwork on the scan is not to your liking, but, simplicity is good and you can’t get much more simple than stick people.
