Hooks, lines and sinkers

On Friday I was called to a little pied cormorant who was caught on fishing line on the river near the Goulburn Weir. Not that long ago I attended an entangled corella who was stuck in fishing line up a tree right at the weir. 

Discarded fishing line is something I despise. So much wildlife gets entangled in the rotten stuff. Sometimes they are snared by hooks, sometimes it’s line only. The injuries sustained from being entangled can be horrific; many critters require euthanasia, while many others don’t survive the stress and injury even when we treat viable wounds. 

I left immediately as the bird was hanging just above the water line by his wing by a line which was hooked and entangled around a branch pretty high, overhanging the water. 

The only way to retrieve him safely was to go out to him in the water - I could just reach him by hand. Out I went, unsure of the water depth. I got lucky as I was still able to touch the bottom out where the bird was hanging. I had scissors with me to cut the line. Once I reached the poor cormorant, I secured his head and bill first as all fish eating species have powerfully sharp bills and a long reach with their neck. They are fast to strike and do so with precision accuracy at eyes and flesh. I gathered the bird up the best I could, trying to save myself from his attempted strikes, held his body, bill and all in one hand while using the other on the line. I gave it a tug to see how much line I could reach as we always attempt to retrieve as much from the site as we can to minimise future entanglements. I was lucky and the line snapped easily close to the branch it was entangled on. I couldn’t retrieve the hook, line and sinker still wrapped around, high up on the branch but was satisfied I had got as much as I could. I carried the distressed bird back to shore, scrambled back up the bank with the aid of my son and promptly sat down to assess things. 

On the way back to shore I could hear internal fluid inside the bird. It’s a sound we hear when a critter is aspirated, caused by taking in water or sometimes another fluid, such as blood. I called out to my son on shore saying that I think the bird may have taken in water at some point while he was hanging, even though he was above the water line. Maybe in his initial capture by the line he was in the actual water. This was highly likely as he had the line tightly wrapped around one wing and also around his body. This would have happened when in his attempts to fly away, causing him to get more and more entangled until he was left hanging just above the water. 

Halfway back to shore I realised there was an alarming amount of blood on both me and the bird, I couldn’t tell whether it was from the bird or from my arm where he’d managed to get a good bite in while I was restraining him with one hand while bringing the line down. 

On shore I immediately sat down at the water’s edge to determine who was bleeding. Sadly, it was the bird. He had lots of blood dripping from his bill, coming from down his throat from something internal. He proceeded to cough up lots of clotted and free flowing blood. I made the decision to work on cutting the line from him then and there. With all the line removed, he had some lacerations on his body from the line but his wing was good and otherwise no other external injuries. 

The blood was of real concern. Maybe he’d ruptured something from working so hard to free himself before we arrived. The caring couple who initially discovered him and made the call had decided to move away from the sight of the bird while waiting for us to arrive as they said he was very distressed and putting in a huge effort to free himself while they were on shore. This decision may have saved his life as they said he then went very still, accepting his fate. Death by stress and prolonged elevated heart rate in entanglement cases is a very real thing. 

We set him up for comfortable transport back home to the shelter but both my son and I did not hold much hope due to the amount of blood the bird had thrown up. The cormorant stood though, was alert and where there’s life, there is hope. 

We attended another call out in Kyabram on the way home and when we got back, we apprehensively peeked in his transport carrier, expecting the worst. The cormorant was still standing, still bright, alert and feisty - that was a good sign. Whatever was bleeding inside appeared to have stopped. I’m happy to say the bird has settled in well. He still wants to take my face off, but is eating and doing everything right. I think he’s going to make it! 

He was extremely lucky he was sighted by the couple who found him. It was pure luck that the couple had pulled up to take a break and happened to notice him flailing in the line. This bird would not have survived for much longer. As his weight was down a bit and by how he was entangled and his wounds, he had likely been stuck for awhile. - much longer would have meant death. 

The suffering wildlife endures when entangled is heartbreaking. This little pied cormorant is one of the lucky ones who was found just in time and he was found by people who knew they couldn’t get him down but still called for help in the hopes that someone could. They saved his life and helped stop further suffering. 

Fishing line is a huge problem everywhere. I retrieve it from channels, lakes, rivers and as a snorkeller in Port Phillip Bay I carry a dive knife now to retrieve it from under the piers. A lot of people leave free-cut line on banks and on top of the piers without a thought of where it ends up. Please pick up and retrieve your line, people. A second of your time can save an animal endless hours of suffering and in many cases death.