In 1978 when there were only 72 Whooping Cranes remaining a special young Whooping Crane came into the world. His family fed him frogs, bugs, snakes, and other delicious Whooper snacks. They taught him to fly when he was only 3 months old.

Then one chilly day in October his parents took flight and flew higher and further than he had ever flown before. The strong north wind continued to help the family on their journey south. They even flew through the night.

As the weather turned warmer and the wind blew from the south making it harder to fly his family finally stopped to rest. Where they landed there was a great river and plenty of food. Many other birds also stopped here to feed and rest. 

When the cold north wind started to blow again, they took off and continued their long trip. Then one day the young crane looked ahead and saw that the trees and grasses below ended and all he could see was water. He was very glad when his parents started to fly in circles and landed in the marsh that looked a lot like the place he had left weeks before.



Most Whooping Crane chicks do not survive but the Lobsticks were able to raise chick most every year and some years they raised two chicks which is very rare. 

In 2004 the Lobsticks hatched a male chick and brought him to Aransas. He spent the winter feeding in the marsh as usual. Late in the spring as the weather got warmer a Cottonmouth water moccasin struck the young bird on the neck. The courageous bird laid down in the marsh as his neck and head swelled to the size of a basketball. The Lobstick parents stayed with him in the same spot for 3 days as the poisonous venom wore off. 

On the 4th day he was able to stand but barely able to hold up his head. The family moved around their territory while the parents continued to gorge on Blue Crabs preparing for the long journey to their Canadian nesting grounds. For the next 3 weeks the dedicated parents stayed close to the wounded juvenile and fed him small pieces of crab when he would eat. His large head began to return to normal size as the poison wore off and he was able to break up the crabs his family caught for him to eat.  About 2 weeks after the Lobsticks usually leave for Canada the recovering whooper was finally able to find a crab, catch it, and eat it.  When the parents saw this the urge to migrate overcame the urge to raise their young and they left for Canada on the strong southeast wind during the night.