Volunteers Climb Onto Icy Detroit River To Save Duck Trapped By Fish Hook

Matt with the Michigan Duck Rescue and Sanctuary regularly goes out of his way to help ducks in need and save them from cruel fates.

On one brisk night in February, Matt was contacted about a goldeneye duck that was trapped on a chunk of ice in the Detroit River.

The duck had a strand of fishing line with a hook through his nare and tongue and the fishing line was frozen into the ice.

Despite the late hour, Matt immediately began the hour-long drive to rescue the duck and he employed the help of other volunteers with the organization.

In a Facebook post, he shared that when he arrived at the river spot, he was met with a few other volunteers. They gathered up some supplies and got to work rescuing the duck.

The problem was, the duck was not only down in the river, but he was out on the ice as well! It wouldn’t be easy to get to him to cut him free.

One of the volunteers, Kaitlin, was lowered down onto the icy river below. She was hesitant but committed to rescueing the duck.

Matt explained, “We attached the tow rope securely to the safety rail above the break wall and around Kaitlyn’s upper body. With a little hesitation on the first phase, Kaitlyn shimmed down the 6 foot wall and onto a firm piece of ice…Once she shimmied down onto the first pane of ice, she became a little hesitant, but who wouldn’t knowing what moved rapidly beneath in the Detroit River…If by some pure fluke she would’ve fallen through, we had between five and 600 pounds on the other end ready to pull her up quicker that a missile launching at Cape Kennedy.”

Once she was safely on the ice, Kaitlin got onto her hands and knees and crawled across the ice to cut the duck free.

The duck had likely been trapped like that for “a few days at a minimum” and needed rehabilitation and medical care.

Matt ended the post saying, “What an absolutely wonderful feeling knowing the baby would not die out on the ice because of a neglected fishing line left behind by a careless fisherman.”