Caught On Camera: Rescuers Save Goose Impaled By Hook At Sacramento's Land Park

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — It was a literal wild goose chase in the middle of a Sacramento park.

Incredible video shows the rescue of a Canada goose impaled by a fishing hook and struggling to survive at Land Park. It's one glimpse of a much bigger problem than can be deadly for wildlife.

The video shows rescuers cautiously close in on the goose that needs help but wants to run. They successfully deploy a net gun and capture the goose moments before it was going to jump back into a pond.

"It takes some strength. Geese are — they'll wrangle you if you don't wrangle them," said Allyson Seconds, a naturalist who assisted with this rescue.

Seconds and wildlife rescuer Ben Nuckolls believe this goose in Land Park had the large fishing hook stuck in its beak for a week. Luckily, they were able to pull it out on the scene and the goose walked free.

"It could have been worse and we thought it was going to be," Seconds said.

Ben Nuckolls with Gold Country Wildlife Rescue said the number one call for service he gets every year is fishing hooks and lines that get stuck in birds.

"Those are items that can either harm them or kill them and we need to think about that," Seconds said.

The Lank Park rescue comes just a couple of weeks after a cormorant was found dangling by a fishing line in Elk Grove. The rescue took hours and the bird was released back to the water.

However, many times these injuries require surgery and months of recovery.

Wildlife advocates hope those who cast a line will also cast away their trash.

"We need to be better at cleaning up after ourselves and after others. Just pick it up," Seconds said.

Seconds has organized a group called "Sacramento Picks it Up," in an effort to encourage more members of the community to clean up parks and protect wildlife. You can find more information on the group Facebook page.