Lure pierces wing of black-crowned night heron. / Julie Ford photo
Laura Kiesel was the right person in the right place and time. In early October, she and her partner were walking in Spy Pond Park at dusk when they heard the piercing screech of an animal in distress.
Following the sounds, she spotted a female juvenile black-crowned night heron trying to free herself from the waterside shrubs, where she was entangled in fishing line, while fending off an opportunistic cat. Wasting no time, Laura and her partner borrowed a towel from the nearby Arlington Boys & Girls Club and a large box, clippers, goggles and gloves from a nearby resident. After scaring the cat away, they managed to surround and immobilize the terrified, protesting bird with a towel, while Laura worked to free it from the discarded fishing wire.
Observing that the heron had a large, six-barbed lure embedded in its thigh and under its wing, she knew the bird would not be flying free that night.
As an environmental activist and founder of Save Arlington Wildlife, an environmental advocacy group, Kiesel is often called on to rescue local wild animals, so she knew to bring the heron to Julie Ford, a state- and federal-permitted wildlife rehabilitator, who carefully cut the lure out of the bird’s flesh, and treated it with antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory medication before bringing it to Tufts Wildlife Clinic for further treatment.
After several weeks of rehabilitation, the black-crowned night heron was healthy and strong enough to be released on a warm evening at Spy Pond on Oct. 23 — just in time, she hoped, to migrate south before the cold sets in.
Bird freed: Video courtesy Laura Kiesel:
Another injured heron
Removed lure. / Julie Ford photo
Fortune was on the side of this black-crowned night heron, but many other local waterbirds are not so lucky. Carelessly discarded fishing waste in and around the many ponds and waterways of Arlington are causing injuries to local birds.
Just a few weeks before the incident at Spy Pond, a majestic great blue heron was spotted at Hills Pond at Menotomy Rocks Park swallowing a live fish with a hook, line and bobber still attached to it.
Local resident Anna Wilson was able to quickly snap a photograph of the heron before it flew away to its probable death from starvation or internal strangulation.
Educating the public
Great blue heron with bobbin. / Anna Wilson photo
At the public-comment period of the Oct. 22 meeting of the Arlington Parks and Recreation Commision, Kiesel’s letter regarding the escalating dangers of fishing-line waste was reviewed. New to her role as director of Arlington parks and recreation, Natasha Waden, noted that her department will review the findings of a previous working group that investigated the fishing-line-waste issue and report back to the commission with their findings.
From the perspective of Save Arlington Wildlife, there is an urgent need for a public-education campaign warning of the dangers of discarded fishing line, lures, bobbers and hooks, and promoting best practices for responsible fishing, Kiesel says. She notes that many people who fish may be unaware of the dangers of fishing line waste and beginners are often unskilled at releasing fish from hooks.
March 4, 2023: 300 protest rat poison after bald eagle dies
This news feature by YourArlington freelancer Maura Shea Crowley was published Friday, Nov. 8, 2024.
This reporting demonstrates your donations at work to support democracy here. YourArlington is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.Your contributions are tax-deductible. Donate here >>
