Pelican admitted with fishing hook through pouch & both eyelids
By: Conservancy Of Swfl
Tags: Wildlife

Pelican admitted with fishing hook through pouch & both eyelids

A brown pelican was among the 68 animals admitted to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida this past week.

The brown pelican was rushed to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital from Marco Island by Conservancy Volunteer Critter Couriers Bobby and Betsy Monroe. The pelican was hooked through the eye by a treble hook and the Monroes recognized the pelican needed immediate medical attention.

The condition the pelican arrived in was shocking. A treble hook has three sets of hooks with three hooks from each “eye”. The lure the pelican was snared with had a total of nine hooks. One hook had punctured through the pelican’s upper and lower eyelids. The second hook on from that same hook “eye” punctured through the pelican’s pouch so the pouch was stretched up to the bird’s eye. The middle set of treble hooks on the lure was lodged in the pelican’s neck and the third set of treble hooks was in the pelican’s right wing. Witnessing the suffering the pelican was enduring was so distressing it brought one hospital staff member to tears.

Von Arx Wildlife Hospital Coordinator Colleen Durham assessed the situation and calmly and carefully worked to remove all of the hooks from the pelican. Initially, she cut barbs off five exposed hooks that hadn’t punctured into the bird to avoid any additional injuries. Next, the hook in the pelican’s wing was removed. In order to relieve the pressure on the eyelids, she then clipped the hook that had punctured through the pouch. At that point, Colleen clipped the hook that had punctured the top and bottom eyelids. Miraculously, the hook had missed the eyeball. Our greatest concern was alleviated — the pelican wasn’t blinded.

The pelican required electrolytes, pain medication, Chinese herbs, vitamins and a course of antibiotics. Initially, the pelican showed obvious signs of stress and noticeable swelling around the puncture site on the right eye. As each day passed the pelican regained strength and after six days spent recovering in the bird room within the hospital, the pelican was strong enough to be moved to the outdoor shorebird recovery area.

Of course, this is just one of many, many pelicans and other shorebirds admitted to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital last week due to fishing line and hook injuries. It is incredibly difficult to rationalize that what is most often a recreational activity for people can cause so much pain and suffering for such a large number of animals day after day.

Please, if you participate in angling activities be mindful of shorebirds that may be nearby. If you are a novice angler, find out what equipment is appropriate for the area you intend to fish. Considering using barbless hooks and be sure to use the proper test line.

Keep in mind fishing may be fun for you but successfully catching fish means life or death for the birds. Poor water quality, cooler temperatures and lack of fish add pressure for shorebirds that are already struggling to exist in a world severely altered by humans.

Recent Releases

A great horned owl, four brown pelicans, four double-crested cormorants, two marsh rabbits, an osprey, a ring-billed gull, a common barn owl, a great egret, a peninsula cooter and a black-crowned night heron were released last week.

Opportunities to Help

Please visit the Conservancy website at www.conservancy.org to view all of the amazing volunteer opportunities at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Hospital staff are incredibly busy providing medical treatment and care to our patients. If you feel like you could donate your time, either in the hospital working with staff, or as a critter courier helping rescue and transport injured and orphaned animals to our facility, then fill out a volunteer application and get involved. You’ll be glad you did. Your volunteer time, donations, and memberships are vital in helping us continue our work to protect Southwest Florida’s water, land, wildlife and future.