7/13/2006: Arrow-shot ibis lives, evades helpers

[Undertoad]

Yet another tale of man's inhumanity to animals...

According to this full story, two days ago they were trying to catch this poor bird for quite a while. From the story:

Usually, injured birds are willing to give themselves up, the volunteers said. Hunt and Camp have rescued many birds with broken wings or who have gotten tangled in fishing lure.

But this is a traumatized and very young ibis, probably born this spring because its feathers are still brown. Adult white ibises are all white.

Ibises are wading birds that hunt for small fish. The injured bird is believed to be a part of a flock that looks for dinner in the retention pond between Gladiola Avenue and Nova Road.

The injured bird was first reported on Thursday night, according to the Bird Rescue Center.

"He is one lucky bird," Camp said, because the arrow appears to have missed the vital organs and chest muscles used for flying.

From the angle of the arrow, it looks like somebody shot at the bird while it was on the ground. The arrow pierces the bird's body at a diagonal.

The arrow also looks like a target arrow, or the type shot at barrels of hay, volunteers said.