Mallard Duck Slowly Starving Due To Fishing Line On Neck

The following story was shared with us by Appalachian Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina.

A mallard duck was captured by a finder in Black Mountain, North Carolina. He was seen regularly on a local lake in a city park. He had a fishing line wrapped around his neck causing him to slowly starve to death. Luckily, some frequent visitors to this park noticed and intervened to help him.

When he arrived at the facility, he was severely emaciated and dehydrated. The finders had already removed the fishing line, and we ensured that there was none left over. Thankfully, there was no injury other than the poor body condition. Upon exam he weighed only 694 grams (about 1.5 pounds) with a keel score of 1. We were able to feel all of his vertebrae and hips.

He was weak, and his prognosis was guarded. He had a large amount of rancid seed, worms and grass stuck in a portion of his esophagus, unable to pass the restriction of the fishing line. We worked to remove as much of this food as possible to not compromise him further in his recovery. We were very concerned about this area of his esophagus having tears or other perforations from the food sitting there for so long.

Due to his poor body condition and concerns for infection, we started medications and a gradual tube feeding using EmerAid Intensive Care Omnivore diet. He continued to improve and, with modifications to his feeding, we were able to support him until his esophagus was back to normal and his body condition had improved.

At the end of his stay he weighed in at almost 900 grams (about 2 pounds) and was very happy to return to his lake.