This story is from Lora Smith, of Bunnell, Florida volunteer:
A very nice lady in Flagler Beach called Lora Smith, saying I have had
a special caller every morning at about 5 a.m. and many evenings at dusk
for
the past two years. Her visitor is a Great Blue Heron she had named
"Evenrude."
On December 15, she noticed Evenrude appeared to be eating more fish
than usual. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that he wasn't eating at
all. All of the fish he had grabbed up in his beak were falling out of an
eight-inch gash in his long neck.
By the time Lora Smith reached the lady's home, the heron was gone.
In the days that followed, the heron returned to the lady's home, but
was elusive and also outsmarted those who tried to lure him into a dog
crate.
Lora got assistance from Animal Control officers for Flagler County
and
it still took all of them three days to finally trap the bird. Once Evenrude was captured, he was taken to Flagler Animal Hospital.
Dr. Covert took him into surgery, where the gash was closed up by stapling
it
and sent the bird home with Lora to recuperate.
During a follow-up visit, Dr. Tate noticed a leak in his esophagus and
he was operated on immediately for a second time.
It was believed that the bird hurt itself after it went after an
unattended fishing line. "The birds will go for small bait and swallow the
hook. Then they back off and, in this case, the hook may have cut its
throat."
Evenrude has healed really good and was released about two weeks after
Christmas.
You can read the newspaper article about Evenrude,
"Woman's link with heron saves bird".
You can also read about Evenrude on the page
"The Dangers of
Monofilament and Other Items".
Graphic photos of Evenrude's surgery.
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Captured after three days of trying.
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