An animal rescuer puts himself in danger to save a Brant goose
When he got the call to attend to a duck tangled in fishing line on April 30, Animal Care and Control rescuer Brendon Ocasio didn’t expect anything unusual, but upon arriving to the scene in Gravesend Bay in Brooklyn, between Bensonhurst and Coney Island, Brendon knew this rescue would be anything but usual. Instead of finding a tangled up duck, he found a Brant, a small ocean goose, so badly tangled in fishing line that it was tethered to an algae-covered rock about 10 feet out into the bay. To make the situation even more dire, a 20-ft. embankment separated Brendon from the Brant.
“The tide was coming in and he was getting smacked up (against the rocks). I was ready to get in the water,” Brendon says. Realizing that the Brant was in distress, Brendon acted quickly. He didn’t have a ladder or repelling equipment, so Brendon did the next best thing: He tied the lead ropes he uses in dog rescues to the embankment’s railing and lowered himself, armed with a carrier, into the bay. As he carefully climbed over the slick rocks, Brendon saw that the Brant’s leg, body and wing were wrapped in fishing line. “I’m for people fishing, but throw away your stuff,” Brendon says.
Brendon approached the Brant, cradled it in his arms, and cut away enough of the fishing line to free the Brant and place it in the carrier. The Brant remained calm as Brendon freed it from the rock. “It was really tired; it had obviously been fighting for awhile,” Brendon says. “But I knew no matter what, we were going to get him.”
Brendon climbed back up the embankment where a crowd had gathered to watch the rescue – including the woman who called it in and took the photos – with the Brant secured in the carrier, and headed to The Wild Bird Fund, currently located at Animal General on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. There, rehabbers removed the rest of the fishing line from the exhausted Brant – the line was wrapped twice around its left wing and wound tightly around its left leg – and applied a pressure bandage to the wound from where the line cut into the goose’s leg.
From a distance, the Brant resembles a diminutive Canada goose but with a blacker head, neck and chest, and a white, broken collar. Brants are common to the New York area, but the chances of seeing them in the city are slim. These are coastal geese that winter along the shore and then fly off to the high Arctic tundra in the spring for mating season.
The Brant stayed with The Wild Bird Fund until May 6 when Robin, who works for Animal General, took it back to the boat landing at Gravesend Bay for release. Robin said that the Brant, who arrived at The Wild Bird Fund exhausted and stressed, was very impressive as it flew off to join other Brants.
The Wild Bird Fund is grateful for Brandon and other animal rescuers for their passion and dedication to helping New York’s wildlife. When asked what he was thinking that day when he climbed over the embankment to rescue the Brant, Brandon says, “I was thinking of the steps I needed to take…This isn’t a job for me; it’s a passion.”
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Great job, Brendon!!!!
One goes out of his way to help when so many other go out of their way to harm!
Kudos!!!!
Thank you so much, Brandon, for rescuing that poor goose! He was so lucky! And I agree with you that fishermen should clean up after themselves. In Prospect Park waterfowl, other birds, and turtles get impaled on the illegal barbed hooks and entangled (and in some cases strangled) by the fishing line thrown in the lake and all over the park. Just yesterday, we cut a catfish loose from fishing line left behind. Sadly, he will likely not make it, since he had swallowed the (more than likely barbed) hook and attempting to pull it out would likely rip out his insides. Park officials don’t hesitate to ticket dog walkers if their dogs are off leash a minute past 9 AM, but they do nothing to enforce the use of straight hooks, catch and release policy, and proper disposal of fishing line and hooks (when there are receptacles around the park, installed by the group FIDO specifically for that purpose).
First of all thank you for being my baby brother. Since you were little you always had it in you to do the right thing. I am so proud of you and of being your older sister.
You are amazing and God has put you here to save all of our animals.
With love, Sandra
TO MY BABY BRO WHO I ALWAYS LOOKED UP TO EVENTHOUGH YOU WERE YOUNGER.TO A MAN NOW THAT HAS GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND MY EXPECTATION.MAY YOU BE BLESSED AND MAY YOU REACH ALL THE ENDEAVORS YOU HAVE DREAMNT OF. BIG BRO DAD. JULIO
Another success for Brendon. As always he does have the passion it takes to go on day to day giving of himself and working with animal care and control. Thanks Brendon for loving all aniimals and helping rescue them so they can have another chance at life.