BE RESPONSIBLE.

It happens every year, I get animals tied up in fishing line, string or ribbon. If you are one of the people that places cut up yarn in a suet holder for the birds to make a nest PLEASE stop. Through the years I have had many baby birds brought in that had yarn, string or fishing line wrapped around legs, tongues, beaks and wings. One year a clutch of four babies were brought that were so tangled in string that every one of them had broken or severed legs. Not one of them was able to be saved.

Many of these situations could be avoided. On a Saturday in 2018, a call came in early in the morning about a Great Horned Owl that had fishing line around it. When a man walked to his kitchen sink for water to make coffee, he could not believe his eyes. Hanging upside down from a tree, which was hanging over the canal, was a Great Horned Owl tangled in fishing line. He called a neighbor to help but they could not reach the owl and the limb was not big enough to support them. One got a grip on the tip of the limb, the other one cut the limb off. The limb and the owl landed in the canal. The man that was holding a piece of the branch pulled the owl and branch from the canal. The owl was wrapped in a towel and brought to me. I was in disbelief. I have never seen a bird with so much fishing line around them. He was tangled from the tip of his head to the tips of his talons.

I signed him in and the two men left. I placed the owl on his back and decided the head was the best place to begin cutting the fishing line. His feet were so tangled that he could not even open them, I had to use great care. I could not pull on the line because I did not want to cut him or damage his feathers. It took a full hour to cut and untangle all the line. I felt like an entire spool of fishing line was on this poor bird. He had blood in one eye and I was not sure if it was from another injury or if it was caused from the line working back and forth over his eyes.

This required a trip to Dr. Riggs. After several days with Dr. Riggs, and sending him to a facility that had a larger flight cage than I do to see if he was able to hunt correctly, he was sent back to me. This poor bird may have hung upside down most of the night, we will never know. We took him back along the canal where he originated from. Some of you ask why I would return the bird back to that area. That owl was a mature owl and has a mate for life and it is important to put them back where he originated from.

Please if you fish and you cut your line, put it back in your tackle box or pocket and properly dispose of it when you go home. Every year birds are brought in with fishing hooks in wings, feet, beaks and in their throats. Throw them away. Be the person who sees string or fishing line on the ground or that can reach it in a bush or tree who removes it and throws it away. You can make a difference. – Fran Kitchen

Copyright 2019 Fran Kitchen. Operation Orphan Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization and does not receive federal funding. We are supported entirely through private donations, memberships and proceeds from our education programs. To Donate visit our website at: operationorphanwildlife.com