A loon entangled with fishing line was rescued from Damariscotta Lake in Nobleboro on Aug. 2. LCSO deputy Brian Collamore was called to property off Vannah Road to investigate a criminal mischief complaint, and discovered the loon on the sandy shore of the causeway near the boat launch.
“I thought it was a decoy at first. Then I noticed it had fishing line in its bill,” Collamore said.
Collamore contacted the warden service, and Avian Haven in Freedom was notified. Avian Haven volunteers, Bob and Carol Jones of Bremen arrived quickly on scene. “He took a blanket and snuck up behind him (loon) and threw the blanket over him. There was a little thrashing and then they put him in a kennel. I got a call a couple of hours later saying they had put him back in Damariscotta Lake,” Collamore said.
Ironically, Collamore said, “the idiots who did the vandalism probably saved a loon’s life.”
Although the loon was so entangled in fishing line it was unable to eat, an Avian Haven spokesman said the “bird was in pretty good shape.”
“It had a big tuft of fishing line in its beak,” Bob Jones said. It had a hook and lead sinker in its throat, and was transported to Avian Haven by the Jones’. The line and lead sinker were removed by rehabilitators Marc Payne and Diane Winn, and an x-ray determined that the loon had no other injuries or lead sinker in its stomach. The lodged hook was worked out through the throat and it was determined that lacerations to the throat were not severe enough to keep the bird, so he was released.
The Jones’ returned the loon to the Nobleboro launch site and released him. “He met up with a couple of other loons and was diving. We were pretty lucky. In three hours he was back home,” Bob Jones said.
The Jones’ also released a snapping turtle that had been rehabbed after getting run over by a car.
Lead poisoning and entanglement in fishing line are the two biggest causes of adult loon mortality. Lead sinkers are illegal to sell in Maine, but not illegal to use. Many fishermen still use lead gear. Last year a Damariscotta Lake loon died as the result of entanglement with fishing line.
It had beached itself at the State boat launch off Rt. 213. It died from injuries incurred by the fish hook. In 2003 a rescued Damariscotta Lake loon died from lead poisoning after ingesting lead fishing gear.
