[lefty]

...as in, "Look out for the..."

Had an experience the other day from which I've made some mental notes, and thought I'd share... maybe someone more veteran than me might elaborate; maybe someone might benefit... who knows...

Anyhow, here goes...

I took my son and nephew to the local pond Saturday. Several other dads and kids were nearby, most fishing some variety of worm or another under bobbers. Across the bay (30 yards, maybe? 40?) the area dog owners were flaunting the town's leash law, throwing floats for their dogs to swim and retrieve. Typical Saturday morning.

Then there were the ducks. The boardwalk here is right along a creek channel. The ducks like the grassy banks just a little farther up the creek. Every now and then a crowd of ducks would paddle over by the far side of the creek, much to the delight of the dogs. After a little while, a couple of them decided to paddle over past our side of the creek. As one swam past my bobber, I thought to myself "I sure hope he doesn't get tangled in the line."

Apparently the girl a few feet down from me didn't think that to herself loudly enough. "I CAUGHT A DUCK!!" And sure enough, dad had just taken her little brother to the restroom. Picture a very distressed 8-10-year-old. Yikes, what am I gonna do? Well, I reeled in my line as fast as I could and grabbed my line clippers. I reassured the young lady that this was an accident, she should relax, I'll cut the line as close as I can, and the line will work its way loose. Calm down, I'll help you.

Now enter the spectators. "Don't just cut that line. I saw a duck all tangled in fishing line the other day. IT ALMOST DROWNED. " "You need to get the ranger." Tell ya what, lady (I was wise enough to keep this thought inside) YOU come hold the duck and I'll untangle the line. Grabbing frightened wildlife is not something I make a point of doing on a regular basis. In fact, I generally try to avoid the practice.

Well -- fortunately one of the spectators decides that she's capable of running up to the boathouse instead of continuing to encourage this distressed young lady. Great -- I hope the "ranger" she finds is at least a rising senior. I'm pretty sure the town does not staff licensed NCWildlife rangers -- no offense to the park staff, far from it -- I'm just fairly certain that "Ranger" in the formal sense of the word is not part of their job description. Anyhow -- a guy of manager stature comes trotting down, handily equipped with a box-cutter (utility knife). I'm pretty sure my fishing pliers and their built-in cutter is a safer tool for this job.

Meanwhile dad made it back, and after a brief adrenaline rush at finding his little girl not where he left her, he experienced a new adrenaline rush at discovering her current plight. The duck had sought cover in the aforementioned grass, so we had followed it as far as we could. We're 8-10 feet down the bank from the duck. Dad slides out of his flip-flops and wades into the pond, and manages to get his hands around the duck. Sure enough, from that point, it takes an entire 15 seconds to get the line untangled and release the duck to regain its composure.

So... what "lessons" have I learned?
Biggest one is, it's probably a good idea to reel in your bobbers when the ducks come by for a visit. They'll probably be gone in a few seconds and you can throw your line back out again. Or, you can move to another spot. Its wise for several reasons not to get too stuck to one particular place. Most other types of presentations are not as likely to entangle waterfowl as bobbers are.

I still think it was a good thing to do something, rather than stand by and watch. I may not have had the best solution, but I was the only one who bothered to get off his duff to help this kid. And if by chance I'd have found myself second in line to help, it would be worth my effort to make sure any suggestions are both suggestive (as in, not commands) and constructive in nature. When the adrenaline starts going, suggestions can very easily be misconstrued as being critical.

I still am not crazy about approaching a frightened animal. I know ducks are much smaller than geese -- sure don't wanna cross one of those -- but I'd imagine that a duck could still do a number on a misplaced finger, and he can probably reach a lot farther and quicker than I think he can.

Anyhow -- that's my current thinking on the subject... Thoughts? Suggestions?