Friend Pirougue: (stole that from Bear but it seems so right). That was a beautiful account of your camping, bird rescue trip. Reminds me of a similar rescue I had that I thought you might enjoy. Once upon a time--NO that's not it. This is true, like your story. I live in Cape Canaveral in the winter and fish the surf, the Indian River or the Barge canal between the Indian River and the Banana river depending on the weather, tides, rumors of where their biting or the overwhelming urges that take me to wherever I wind up for the day. About two years ago I was fishing, real early in the morning-all alone- no one else was up that early I guess, on the barge canal where it passes under State highway 3 Just across from the Disney cruise line docking. I was catching lots of little fish, crabs and other stuff not worth keeping and I noticed a pelican with a really big spoon caught in the tender skin part of its bill, with about 10 feet of heavy monifiliment line dragging along from it. The pelican was scavenging for food around me and kept just out of my reach. It was obviously greatly hindered by this extra baggage and looked near starved. I finally caught a few keepers and took them over to the cleaning table. As most pelicans have learned they can get a meal when that big upright animal starts cutting up fish and throwing aways parts of it. He joined me at the table(within easy reach) and tried to grab the fish right out of my hands. I grabbed him by the beak and after getting hit several times by his big wings I got him under my left armpit, holding his beak in my left hand. I finally got my cleaning knife and decided to remove that treble hook from his beak skin(don't know the technical name for it). I cut the skin and removed it. Man did it ever bleed. Like a stuck pig. It was only about a 1/4 inch cut but I learned that I probably should have cut the hooks with my needle nose pliers instead of the cut I made. I let him go and he took off flying and squawking at me cursing with every once of his birdness. I felt good and bad at the same time. But I feel that he at least could make it now and would probably survive. Anyway I still feel like I did my good deed for the day and often wonder if he made it. Thought you'd enjoy that story. Maybe we can canoe together some day and swap more stories. Al Dasen.
