Accidental Toss Turns Ring Into Gull’s Prize : Mishap: Firefighters retrieve jewelry deposited on pole by bird, who had snatched it after it slid off owner’s finger.

A chauffeur named “Big” Mike Simpson is going to think twice about feeding the birds after what happened to his $3,000 pinkie ring Friday.

As unbelievable as it sounds, the one-carat diamond ring slipped off Simpson’s little finger as he was throwing stale pretzels to a flock of birds. A sea gull swooped by and picked it up, then deposited it on top of a light pole, where firefighters had to be called to retrieve it.

“I was thinking how was I going to explain this to my wife,” said Simpson, 52, of Huntington Beach, noting that his wife, Karen, had given him the ring as an anniversary gift 18 years ago. “I was afraid to tell her.”

Simpson’s tale began about 11:30 a.m. as he was waiting for a friend in the parking lot of Sportmart on Warner Avenue near Magnolia Street.

To pass the time, Simpson decided to feed the birds some pretzels he found in the trunk of his stretch limousine.

Then trouble swooped down upon him.

“I began feeding the birds like a nice guy,” he said. “I was crunching the pretzels and slinging them with my right hand. Then, all of a sudden, (the ring) slid off and I went running after it.”

To Simpson’s alarm, a sea gull snatched it up. A chase ensued and harsh words were uttered.

“I started screaming all kinds of things at that bird,” he said. “I started throwing pretzels at it to try to get him to drop the ring and eat the pretzels.”

The sea gull didn’t bite. Instead it flew skyward with the ring and eventually landed on top of a 25-foot-high light pole, where it just dropped the ring.

First, he tried shaking the light pole to see if he could shake the ring off, Simpson said. It did no good. Then, he thought about asking some children to shinny up the pole to get the ring, but decided they might run off with the piece of jewelry.

“I was planning to camp underneath the lamppost all night, hoping it would rain hard enough and wash the ring down,” Simpson said.

Fortunately, some Fountain Valley firefighters happened to be across the street, and Simpson persuaded them to radio in for a hook-and-ladder truck.

It was one of the department’s stranger requests.

In fact, when firefighter Jeff Shockey received the call, he thought it was a joke, he said. Now Shockey can add a diamond ring to the list of cats, dogs and even an iguana he has had to rescue.

“It was just sitting there,” he said of the ring. “The bird had just dropped it there. I don’t know what the bird was thinking.”

How did the ring manage to slip off of Simpson’s finger in the first place?

The six-foot, 300-plus-pound chauffeur explained it thus: “I’m one of those people who puts weight on and takes it off again.” He has lost 40 pounds over the last six months, giving a looser fit not only to his clothes but his jewelry, he said.

“I’m not going to throw anymore food to birds with my right hand until I get this ring refitted,” he said.

In the meantime, Simpson promised to provide firefighters with a steady supply of specialty pies. They were the only reward the firefighters would take.

“Fire Station 1 saved my marriage,” he said.

As far as Simpson’s wife is concerned, his anguish over the ring was misplaced.

“The story was so bizarre, it had to be true,” Karen Simpson said. “You couldn’t make up something like that.”