Swans at risk from fishhooks - yet again

I'm not sure if I'm the last to know or just another link in the chain, BUT one of the cygnets had a run-in with a fishhook. A couple of days ago, a man named John noticed one of the cygnets was in trouble, with something wrapped around his beak. He posted it in the Brooklynian (a blog), called the Parks Dept., and notified Mary Beth from FIDO. Mary Beth contacted the Parks Dept. They went and examined the cygnet. Apparently the cygnet had tried to eat a worm which was, unfortunately, attached to a fishhook, and it caught around his beak. The Parks Dept. freed the beak. Ed and Anne (who is a licensed animal rehabilitator) read about this and went to see if they could help. They got hold of the cygnet and examined it. His beak has a crack in it. Hopefully it will heal. When we went to the Park this morning, he was curled up all by himself, not head up and swimming like his siblings (top picture). We were very concerned. The good news: when we left the park 1 1/2 hours later his head was up and he was swimming with his siblings! (bottom picture) It's a good sign, but reminds us of how dangerous fishhooks are. FISHERPEOPLE: CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELVES!!!!!

More bad news for animals in the park: a woman was attacked by two Rottweilers yesterday morning. It was during off-leash hours, but not in the off-leash areas. It is so important that we dog owners strictly abide by the off-leash rules, or we might lose them. That would be tragic both for our dogs and ourselves. I know how tempting it can be, especially after a long winter when it seemed like we had the park completely to ourselves in the mornings, but Spring is here, there are more and more people out there, and if dogs are seen as dangerous nuisances, we will lose this magical gift of off-leash play.

Pro-animals: this Saturday, March 26,12:00 noon, there will be a Hands Around the Lake demonstration to support wildlife in the park. Meet up at the Peninsula (Southwest corner of the Park, just north of the part of the lake that is nearest to the Vanderbilt Playground. By the Wellhouse, just southeast of Lookout Hill. Is that sufficient directions? I hope so.

Also pro-animals: Here's a photo of the lovely bird feeders, protected from squirrels, that we spotted. The feeders seem empty now - may because no one's filled them recently, maybe because the winter feeding season is over. Anyway, I love that they have their spot.

One final note: I have heard that there have been some comments here that have not appeared. Here's how to do it: Click "comment." Write the comment in the box. Comment as "anonymous." Press "Post Comment." You will see a box with some squiggly letters. Copy them as directed. This is to make sure you are a human being, not a machine. Then press submit. There may be a further procedure to sign in with a name, but since our computers know who we are now, we can't access that. When I get to someone else's computer, I'll check it out and see what you have to do.

Coming soon: Geese management proposals

So, there's a committee presenting its geese management proposals. On November 17, at 6:00, at the Picnic House [Park Slope side of the park, near 3rd Street). The Prospect Park Wildlife Management Advisory Committee (PPWMAC), from whom I heard on Oct. 29, will present their plan. Everyone with any interest in wildlife should be there. Now, they are asking that people RSVP to elandau@prospectpark.org, but I think this is a sneaky way to diminish attendance, since not everybody has e-mails, believe it or not. So just show up.

And it;s about time - wildlife is under attack again, and the Parks Dept. is doing nothing about it. One of the cygnets has an (illegal) barbed hook stuck in its foot, complete with an attached fishing line. To my knowledge, the Parks Dept. has NEVER, EVER, given out a ticket for any of the many, many violations of the fishing rules and laws. Yet they love to ticket unleashed dogs at 9:10a mere 10 minutes after the off-leash time has run out. Sorry, got carried away there.

Actually, today I only saw 3 of the cygnets. I hope the fourth one is okay and just not hanging out with its siblings. I'm going to have nightmares about the poor thing. Is it trapped in another part of the lake? Did the hook get ripped out, leaving it bleeding horribly?

Go to that meeting. We need to protect wildlife in the park.

Today's bird report

One of the three swans still has a lure attached, although it doesn't seem to be as disruptive to its swimming as it was yesterday. We heard that Martin of the Prospect Alliance was out in a boat yesterday trying to rescue Ziggy from the fishing line, but was unable to catch it. All three were swimming nicely in the lake today. We shall see what happens next.

Swan family looking good.

A small group of geese is now located on the Southern part of the lake - near to one of the meeting circles. This was where one of the huge flocks had based themselves. I am wondering if there are so many geese back that there are now two flocks? Before the massacre, it looked like five flocks. I am wondering ho big a flock needs to be before it splits into two.

By meeting circle, I mean the place south of the lake, with benches around a circle, where there's a large painted rock in the center. When we first moved to Brooklyn and came to the park, there was a tree trunk in that spot. An artist had carved the trunk into a lion's head. it was magnificent, a genuine work of art. Alas, as with so many things in Prospect, it got destroyed - first burnt a little, then a lot. For many years, it just looked like a pile of crap. I'm glad the rock is there. Not nearly so wonderful as the lion's head, but nice nevertheless.