I love walking the Heritage Trail, which leads me along Goose Creek and the Potomac in Leesburg, Virginia. While I get joyous solitude on nearly every visit, I occasionally meet people too. One such person is this beautiful little lady, Darlene Abel.
Occasionally we’d chat for a moment when crossing paths. Recently I was carrying a bag of trash that I’d collected, and as we discussed it she brought up the need to remove fishing line, too.
Darlene’s amazing story
This past July, on her regular walk, Darlene saw something out of the corner of her eye that looked out of place. Something was swinging on a tree limb overhanging Goose Creek. She moved off the path, and getting closer she realized it was a fairly large bird. An owl, caught and wrapped up in fishing line, hanging from sagging branches. Every effort it made to escape made things worse.
Darlene called 911 and was patched to Animal Control, but they were engaged in Manassas. Unavailable in the moment, and miles away. The line was loosening from the tree branch, the owl getting steadily and perilously closer to the surface.
On her own
Darlene has no background in working with wild animals, but she was not prepared to let the bird die. The 77-year-old, petite woman found two fallen branches and then clambered down the embankment, a roughly 6-foot vertical drop from the trail’s edge. The first branch would be used to gauge the depth of the water and mud. The second branch was earmarked for retrieving the owl.
Down at the shoreline Darlene rolled up her hiking pants and went in with both sticks, testing depth, approaching slowly, and speaking softly to the owl as she moved. The mud was grabby, a bit like quicksand. The poor bird increased its struggling at first. But as she got closer, maneuvering through thick mud, she brought the second branch up to the owl for a perch and it took hold. The owl steadied itself on the branch and quieted its movements, locking into her eyes while she spoke.
Brains, dexterity, skill and connection
Now standing in the mud and knee-deep water, holding the branch with the owl perched just above the surface, she needed to reposition and cut the line with the garden clippers she carries when hiking. It would be a tricky maneuver. She would need to step forward and move her hand further up the stick towards the bird, and become intimate with the owl’s beak and talons to get close to the line. The owl’s wings and body were wrapped in line, but not its weaponry. Still speaking softly as she moved, now she was almost touching the wild bird with her torso. The bird continued to look directly into Darlene’s eyes, but remained calm while she held the owl-bearing branch in her left hand, the balancing branch under that same arm, and the clipper in her right.
Reaching past the balanced bird, she separated the line from the tree.
The line now detached from the sagging tree, Ms. Abel stored her shears and turned slowly in the mud, still holding the owl’s branch in one arm while transferring the support branch to the other. Moments earlier she’d had to get very close to the owl, but the upcoming step was more concerning.
“You don’t realize how difficult it is to move in that thick mud. Going down the embankment was much easier. Returning to shore through that muck was the most difficult and nerve-wracking part for me.” she said. “I’d thought I might not be able get back up from the mud and water if I fell, for myself or the owl.”
But moving slowly and carefully, she managed.
A lot of work remained. Darlene placed the branch on a log where the owl could be stationary, so she would have both hands free. Armed with her voice as a tranquilizer, she spent a full 30 minutes cutting line until the bird’s wings and body were fully disentangled, the fishing line completely removed.
Once the work was complete, the exhausted and presumably grateful owl continued to stay still and watch, then closed its eyes for a bit. It would need recovery time before returning to the forest.
So that’s the story of a person I happened to meet, a stranger turned friend, a wild animal’s savior.
Darlene and I suspect this poor thing might have been offspring of a mother owl that we’d each seen on walks earlier in the year. At least two chicks had been growing towards adolescence and adulthood in a spot very close to this one. Although this one almost did not make it!
Finally, we have a request
Please, if you fish, care for your line. Remove it if you get it snagged. You see what can happen, and Darlene won’t be there every time. It would have been a horrible death.
And to everyone, we would love for people to “pack it in, pack it out” whether it’s wrappers, cans, or a cigarette butt. We’ll continue to remove what we see. We’re not going to stop caring for the naturally wonderful area around us. But the more caring people the merrier, we say!
Lastly, I continue to be amazed and thrilled at the people I meet. I’m grateful for the extraordinary things they do, things which often seem natural and ordinary to them. I feel extremely fortunate be around such people, whether they’re national heroes and heroines or regional ones.
Until next time…
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Hola , Muy Bien Hecho Darlene , Salvar Está Hermosa Ave Es Una Bendición. El Hilo De Pescar Al Igual Que El Plástico , Son Dos Grandes Problemas Que Tienen Las Riveras De Los Ríos. Normalmente Cuando Salgo A Pasear Llevo Una Bolsa , Para Recoger Basura ( Es Combustible Para Los Incendios ) , Y Una Pequeña Navaja , Para Cortar El Plástico Que Se Queda En Los Arbustos O Las Ramas De Los Árboles. Un Saludo.
Thank you, Darlene for this brave act to save this beautiful bird! And thank you for sharing that story!