Boaters Help Free Osprey Tangled In Trash; Parks Seeing More Crowds
Jul 18, 2020, 11:15 PM | Updated: Oct 30, 2022, 10:55 pm
MORGAN, Utah — Park rangers said this has been one of the busiest summers as many have turned to an escape from the pandemic, but what’s an ideal outing for families, is threatening wildlife and their habitats.
Officials at East Canyon Reservoir said they’ve been so busy, they’re turning people away, and the trash left behind by some is really starting to stink for the wildlife.
This is just the escape JR Ramirez and his wife were looking for Friday afternoon.
“Just fishing a little and having lunch at the same time,” said JR.
When an Osprey overhead caught their eye.
“And it passed by us a couple of times, and she was like, ‘oh, I think it’s looking for a sandwich,’ and I could see underneath it had something on the legs and it looked bigger and white,” said JR.
That’s when they saw it plunge into the water.
“I said I think that’s the bird, let’s go take a look at it,” he said.
Realizing the bird was in trouble, JR grabbed his gloves.
Pulling the Osprey out of the water, they found it was tangled in what looked like netting and fishing wire.
“That it came from somebody, you don’t just get that anywhere around here,” said JR.
JR and an onlooker managed to cut through the tangled mess to free the bird.
“That thing was really tired, it was really strong,” he said. “I could feel it on my hands how strong it was, and it has some pretty big nails too.”
Park ranger Travis Hancock said the Osprey made it back to its nest. It turns out it’s either a mama or a papa.
“They’ve got one of their babies that have hatched, so probably diving down thinking it was a fish,” said Hancock.
With the pandemic, Hancock said they’ve been busier than ever before, resulting in more trash threatening the wildlife.
“Just think you are coming into their house, so treat it like you would treat your own house,” said Hancock.
Hancock said sadly, a lot of the wildlife, especially geese, aren’t as lucky as the Osprey.
Fines for littering can reach $500.
Hancock said some of the biggest offenders are those who leave fishing lines behind.
