‘I can handle this’: Diners cheer as NSW woman calmly wrangles ibis in restaurant
A NSW woman has proven herself unflappable by calmly wrangling an ibis that flew into a Central Coast restaurant.
Alice Calleija was out for lunch to celebrate her sister-in-law’s baby shower when a so-called ‘bin chicken’ – not a stork, which might have been more thematically fitting for the occasion – entered the venue and chaos ensued.
Alice Calleija calmly removed an ibis from a Central Coast restaurant. Today Show
“This big damn bird flew in, and everyone’s panicking and no one knew what to do,” the mum recalled on Today.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, jeez, I can handle this, this is nothing’, and the rest is history.”
Handle it, she did.
A video doing the rounds on social media shows Calleija calmly walking across the restaurant to where the ibis was perched on a table, grabbing it by the legs and swinging it upside down before passing it to a staff member.
It might have been her first time handling a bin chicken, but years of experience with animals had led to this heroic moment.
“I’ve lived on a farm my whole life, so I’ve caught plenty of chickens in my lifetime. You just grab them by the legs [and] quickly flip it,” she explained.
“I just knew as long as I flipped it quickly, it wouldn’t be a problem.”
The venue erupted in applause and Calleija received a free meal and glass of wine for her efforts.
“The restaurant owner was really happy, he said, ‘I’m glad you caught it so quickly, they normally cause so much mess’, he was really thankful,” she said.
The very definition of unflappable! Today Show
Naturally, Calleija’s ibis-wrangling ability won her plenty of applause online, too, while plenty of commenters made the same joke.
“Our lunch special today is large bird. Very fresh,” one quipped, while another wrote, “Straight into the kitchen.”
However, Calleija said the staff member just moved the bird outside, joking, “Hopefully not in lunch.”
