{"id":305669,"date":"2026-06-12T21:23:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/305669\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T21:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:23:07","slug":"new-recycling-stations-aim-to-protect-wildlife-in-fort-myers-lee-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/305669\/","title":{"rendered":"New recycling stations aim to protect wildlife in Fort Myers | Lee County"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)\u2014A day of fishing turned into a wildlife rescue for George Murray and his family after they discovered a snowy egret tangled in fishing line<\/a> near mangroves in Southwest Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe noticed a bird in distress in the mangrove, flapping its wings, legs trapped,\u201d Murray said.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6135.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

His son cut the bird free while Murray\u2019s friend contacted wildlife officials. The group later met staff from the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife<\/a> (CROW) to transfer the egret for treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bird was not gonna do good trapped in the mangroves like that, flapping his wings, uncomfortable,\u201d Murray said.<\/p>\n

Despite the rescue effort, the bird\u2019s injuries were too severe.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6137.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

According to Dr. Kaitlyn Crocker, a veterinary intern with CROW, the egret suffered a serious injury that left it unable to recover.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe animal had an open luxation of its wrist,\u201d Crocker said. \u201cIts bones were exposed through the wound, and the wrist was completely dislocated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Jessica Comolli, CROW research and medical director, who is a board-certified specialist in zoological medicine, shared this statement with WINK News.<\/p>\n

“We are grateful to the fisherman who stopped to help this snowy egret after finding it tangled in monofilament line. Unfortunately, despite the rescue effort, the bird\u2019s injuries were too severe, and humane euthanasia was the kindest option. This case highlights the importance of properly disposing of fishing line and supporting programs like \u2018Mind Your Line\u2019 that help prevent these tragedies.”<\/p>\n

The case is one of many similar injuries wildlife rehabilitators see throughout the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn average, probably at least once a week, we see an animal come in with some kind of fishing line or hook injury,\u201d Crocker said.<\/p>\n

CROW says birds are not the only animals affected. Turtles and other wildlife are also treated for injuries caused by fishing hooks and discarded line.<\/p>\n

The rescue comes as the City of Fort Myers recently installed new fishing line recycling stations at Riverside Pier and Tarpon Pier.<\/p>\n

\"SCOUT<\/p>\n

The project began as an Eagle Scout initiative after a local scout approached the city with the idea. Scout Troop 2018 later spent a weekend cleaning the parks and installing the stations.<\/p>\n

Local anglers say the stations provide a simple way to keep old fishing line out of local waterways.<\/p>\n

Jotahmion Centaurs, who fish throughout Southwest Florida, said many anglers have struggled to find convenient places to dispose of used line.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not even about catching the fish,\u201d Centaurs said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the basics of being able to go out there and catch another fish, because bottles, line, all that messes up the ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murray hopes that sharing the egret\u2019s story encourages more people to properly dispose of fishing line.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a boater, as a fisherman, I look for that,\u201d Murray said. \u201cWe get spools. The line gets old. You have to take it off the reel and deposit it in the proper place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wildlife experts recommend that anyone who finds an animal tangled in fishing line contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator rather than simply cutting the line and releasing the animal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)\u2014A day of fishing turned into a wildlife rescue for George Murray and his family…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,325,115],"class_list":["post-305669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-lee","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}