YOUNGSVILLE-- — Hillary Bordelon and her children found a bird in their backyard after Barry hit.
"It wasn't really moving very much, so we just rinsed it of to get the ants off."
She says the bird was covered in fire ants. Bordelon has been following Letitia Labbie on social media for a while.
"We're glad we were able to bring him here to someone who could feed him and take care of him," Bordelon said.
Labbie is a state and federal wildlife rehabilitator who specializes in birds.
After several days of Labbie's care, the Mississippi Kite can be released into the wild. Although the baby bird was only covered in bugs, Labbie says that can kill them.
Many of the birds in Labbie's care were displaced because of Barry.
"Everything is in baby season, so when the hurricane came in, it ended up displacing a bunch of babies."
Labbie says she typically sees 150 birds all year but in the past four days, she's received 50. She says if you find a bird in need of help, contact LDWF.
Currently the injured birds stay inside of Labbie's personal home.
"Right now we are in my sun room. [During Barry] I had crates in my spare bedroom, I had babies in my bedroom on heating pads, and I have crates in my living room," Labbie said.
She recently bought an old office space behind her home that she would like to use for the birds.
"I'm trying to set up a facility in my back yard but it flooded in 2016 and has never been renovated."
Labbie's rehab center is a non-profit organization. To find out more information on how you can help, click here.
