Parakeet eggs lure man into live wire

PLANTATION, Fla., May 16 (UPI) -- A Plantation, Fla., man has been hospitalized after he touched a live electric wire while attempting to retrieve a nest of parakeet eggs from a substation.

A spokesman for Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami said Cameron Fritzson, 20, was in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital, but his condition has been upgraded to serious, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Friday.

Fritzson reportedly planned to sell the eggs or newborn birds to pet stores. The animals could have netted him as much as $20 each, the Sun-Sentinel said.

Experts said the incident highlights the nuisance posed by monk parakeets, a species that took up residence in the area after arriving in Florida as pets.

"I see them every day, and I ignore them," Delray Beach veteran birder Brian Hope told the Sun-Sentinel. "They are here, and there's nothing we can do about them but I wish people wouldn't let these things loose."

Utility companies said the birds cost them time and money by nesting on power poles and substations.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International