Trapped in fishing line, Westlake swan is saved

CRITTER TAIL



CLOSE CALL—A swan recovers after rescuers removed affsh hook and tangledfishing line from the bird.

CLOSE CALL—A swan recovers after rescuers removed affsh hook and tangledfishing line from the bird.

Thanks to the watchful eye of several boaters and the helping hand of two maintenance workers at Westlake Lake, a beautiful swan is living to see another day.

On Dec. 10, five kayakers from the Westlake Yacht Club kayak fleet noticed a swan a behaving oddly at the north end of the lake.

The adult female fowl was bobbing her head erratically and splashing water. As they approached the distraught bird, the kayakers saw a fish hook caught in her mouth and fishing line tangled in her foot.

The kayakers called the Westlake Lake Management Association, which dispatched two employees, who were working nearby.

“This swan was frightened and hurt,” said Antoinette Zanon, captain of the lake’s kayaking fleet.

Rescuers tried to circle the swan, but she still had enough strength to elude them. She eventually landed between two docks and became surrounded by the humans trying to help her.

The workers captured the swan with nets, removed the fishhook and line, and let the bird go free.

“Fortunately the swan was receptive to being helped. Swans can be pretty aggressive,” lake manager Carl Koenig said.

The lake offers boating and fishing opportunities for residents who live in the Westlake Recreation Area.

Fishing is a favorite pastime for many residents on the lake. Only property owners and residents of the Westlake community and their renters with permits are allowed to fish on the lake, which contains largemouth bass, channel catfish, bluegill sunfish, and minnow-sized silverside fish.

To protect the fish, the Westlake

Lake Management Association has a strict catch and release policy and allows the use of barbless hooks and artificial bait.

The lake is also home to cormorants, egrets, herons, geese, coots and a variety of ducks and pelicans. About a dozen swans reside on the lake year-round. The fowl eat tadpoles and insects.

“We have a lot of wildlife here because of the lake is in a migration corridor,” Koenig said.

To protect the wildlife, fisherman should try to remove all snagged hooks and line from the lake, Zanon said.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than one million birds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year due to ingestion of—and entanglement in—marine debris such as plastics, hooks and fishing lines.


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