'Cormorant dies a cruel slow death due to fishing line with hook
This awful description posted publicly on the Kansas birding listserve today of a cormorant dying a slow cruel death due to a thoughtless fisherman is just so sad:
"While birding the River Pond area of Tuttle Creek State Park during the Man=
hattan Christmas Bird Count, I spotted what looked like a bird hanging from=
a tree on the island in River Pond. I positioned my scope on it and saw wh=
at appeared to be a large lifeless bird dangling from a tree limb. Once in =
a while there appeared to be movement. Winds were calm. On closer inspectio=
n the bird turned out to be a double-crested cormorant that apparently swal=
lowed a fish hook, and the line on the hook caught on the end of a thin syc=
amore branch bending down under the weight of the bird like a fishing pole =
with a large fish on the line. The line appeared to be wrapped around a fru=
it of the tree (or ball of seeds) that I first took for a bobber. The bird =
flapped its wings from time-to-time, most definitely alive, and hopelessly =
caught. What a cruel way to go. John RowManhattan, Kansas"
Fishermen--pack out and properly dispose of your fishing line and especially when it has a hook attached. SeEtta
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