MIAMI (WSVN) – A South Florida family sprang into action to save a heron that was tangled up in trouble.
Speaking with 7News on Thursday, Miami Beach resident Suzanne Wilkinson said she found a white heron in distress in her backyard.
“And I heard this screaming, strange noise, right here, right outside this sliding glass door, really kind of screaming for help,” she said.
After getting a closer look, Wilkinson said, she saw the heron was tangled up with a fishing line, which was still hooked to a fish, and the hook was in the bird’s wing.
“Struggling, all wrapped up in fishing line,” she said.
Wilkinson said she panicked after seeing how badly injured the bird was.
“I didn’t know what to think, and I just called for Morgan,” she said.
Wilkinson’s son, Morgan Wilkinson-Leon, said he was calm and collected since he knew what to do next.
“I just looked up what to do if you find an injured animal in your yard,” he said.
Wilkinson-Leon called the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station in Miami. While they waited for their arrival, his father went into action.
“My dad had gotten home and had been able to free the bird of the line on his wing,” said Wilkinson-Leon.
“He was so injured that he just kind of jumped over onto the boat and was sitting and staring there,” said Wilkinson.
Amanda Burke, a wildlife rehabilitator at Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, later arrived at the home and was able to grab the heron.
“The herons have these really, really sharp beaks that they always trying to jab you right in the eye,” said Burker, “I was able to contain him with a towel and get him back up to the dock and take him into the station.”
The heron underwent surgery during which veterinarians closed up the hole left by the hook.
“We like to call [the heron] Spicy. He is really active and a fighter,” said Burke.
As for Spicy, he has some stitches but is recovering in the station’s outdoor enclosures.
The family who rescued him is rooting for Spicy to make a full recovery.
“I hope that he can come out here and just be able to fly off and go back to wherever he originally was,” said Wilkinson-Leon.
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