Fish Hook In Stomach Grounds Laughing Gull

The following story was shared with us by Save Our Seabirds in Florida.

This laughing gull was transferred from Safe Harbor Animal Clinic in Bradenton, Florida, to Save Our Seabirds in Sarasota, Florida, on April 27, 2021. The gull had received intensive surgery to remove a large fish hook from his stomach and needed to be rehabilitated after the surgery.

Because an incision had been made into the GI tract, the gull could not have solid foods for several days while the surgery site healed. For the first five days of his recovery, we tube-fed the gull with EmerAid IC Piscivore and carefully monitored his fecal output. When we were certain his GI tract had recovered enough, we gradually switched him over to small pieces of fish.

A couple weeks post-op, the gull was transitioned outside for fresh air and re-introduction to exercise. Over the next month, the gull became stronger and stronger, until he had finally built up enough strength to fly in circles at the top of his enclosure! He was successfully released back into the wild on June 17, 2021.