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Saturday, June 19, 2004

Monofilament kills wildlife

It was less than a week ago that I mentioned in my report the continuing problem with birds dying because of discarded nylon monofilament fishing line. Yesterday I received an e-mail from Elliotte Harold about a crow tangled in fishing line at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. Elliotte called various sources for assistance but his attempt at finding help was in vain. Nobody ever responded and, for anyone interested, the crow's decomposing carcass can now be found dangling at the top of a tree behind the Native Flora Garden. Today I will be checking on the oriole nest near the Terrace Bridge to make sure that none of the nestlings are tangled in the monofilament used as nest material.

I have two questions for the birding community. Is the NYC Center for Animal Care and Control an appropriate organization to contact in situations such as the above? Does anyone from the Brooklyn Bird Club, Queens Bird Club, New York City Audubon, Prospect Park Audubon Center, Wild Metro or The Linnaean Society have any interest in a campaign aimed at reducing or eliminating wildlife injuries and deaths due to discarded monofilament in city parks? Sometimes even the small things can make a big difference.

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