Great blue heron gets caught in Michigan marsh. Then neighbors hear its squawks
“Distressed” squawks coming from a nearby lake had concerned neighbors calling Michigan authorities for help.
“This was definitely not your standard call,” Lt. Brian Burwell said in a news release from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
Rescuers approached a great blue heron in a marshy section of Lake Louise in Brandon Township via boats the night of June 15, video from the sheriff’s office shows.
They found the creature flailing in the shallow water, video shows, but it was unable to free itself from the trap.
Video shows one of the rescuers approach the distressed bird, then cover its head with a towel.
“Animal Control Officers Ashley Tester and Aubrie Mausolf waded into thigh-deep water and placed a towel over the heron’s head to reduce its stress. They picked it up and spent the next several minutes untangling and cutting the fishing line,” the sheriff’s office said.
Without help, deputies fear the bird may not have survived.
“There is no way the bird was going to get out of there,” Burwell said. “The fishing line was wrapped multiple times around its wings and there was no way it was getting loose. I’m sure the bird would have died there.”
Once untangled, the blue heron was examined for injuries and then released on the shore, and it swam away, deputies said.
Brandon Township is about a 50-mile drive northwest from Detroit.
