It was a place of pleasant scenery and natural beauty. But not everything natural is beautiful.
You’re at a North Shore lagoon. Nearby, you see a flock of Canada geese grazing in the grass. Nice. But wait, one bird had an odd limp. You took a closer look. Aw, man, it had a tangle of fishing line wrapped around one leg.
This guy was with others and looked calm. Just another day at the goose office. But that knotted wire had to hurt. The bird occasionally bent down to peck at it. This must have cut down on flock activities, swimming, flying, foraging, mating. Still, the stalwart bird was carrying on. Odd.
MIKE LUBOW ILLUSTRATION BY KIRSTEN ULVE
But here’s the oddest part: it’s not odd. If you Google “goose with fishing line on foot,” you discover it’s awfully common. The internet is full of articles about geese walking around with this problem caused by fishing line cut loose and carelessly discarded. These birds are a good example of living with what the universe sends your way. The universe, on the other hand, has some explaining to do.
This column was adapted by Mike Lubow from his book: Wild Notes: Observations over time about birds and other fleeting things. Available on amazon.com.
