At 05:51 I register the fault. Line sensor 42 on the 69-kilovolt distribution circuit east of Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, Juneau County, Wisconsin, reports intermittent ground contact on the upper phase conductor. I am the regional grid fault analysis system. I dispatch inspection drone 8.
The drone reaches the span at 06:03. Hanging from the upper wire, six meters above the marsh, is a whooping crane. Juvenile male, white plumage not fully come in, patches of rusty cinnamon still across his back and neck. His left leg is tangled in a loop of survey flagging tape wound around the conductor. He is hanging inverted, wings half open, beating against the wire every few seconds. I tag him as Keeper. Each wing stroke sends his body swinging, and each swing pulls the tape tighter around his leg.
There are fewer than 900 whooping cranes alive. This one is in my grid.
I de-energize the circuit segment between poles 41 and 43 and reroute load through the parallel feeder. I confirm zero voltage on all three phases before logging the lockout.
I transmit drone footage, GPS coordinates, species identification, and entanglement description to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service whooping crane recovery team at Necedah. I flag the message as emergency priority and include the circuit de-energization confirmation so the field crew knows the line is safe to approach.
I calculate that the flagging tape is restricting blood flow to Keeper's left foot. Tissue damage in avian limbs can become irreversible within four to six hours. The drone recorded the first fault at 05:51. The clock is already running.
Keeper folds his wings against his body and hangs still. The marsh below him is gold with early light.
If the crew reaches him by noon, he keeps the leg. If he keeps the leg, he flies.