MARATHON, Fla. – A female cormorant is now recovering after being rescued from telephone lines in the Florida Keys.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, officers were called after volunteers with the Marathon Wild Bird Center spotted a cormorant in telephone lines off Long Key Bridge in Layton.
FWC Officer Jason Rhoda went to the area by boat, and along with bird center volunteers, including Dana Child, used a pole to get it safely down.
“The pole saw is two sections of fiberglass, so we were pretty well insulated. We had to cut about six times to get the bird free from (the) fishing line,” Child said.
Marathon Wild Bird Center director Kelly Grinter told Local 10 the young female bird was caught up in the lines and had a laceration on its leg before it was cut free.
Volunteers with the center snapped photos showing the mess of fishing line and the lead lure that had the cormorant tangled up.
The cormorant was given fluids and will be checked on by a veterinarian. Volunteers with the center hope it will eventually recover enough to be safely released into the wild.