As I try to get caught up on some posts from the many rescues that have ‘taken over our lives”, (but ALWAYS a happy takeover) these past few months, I will begin with a call I received from Angie over Independence Day weekend. She had contacted us for assistance when she had noticed that a juvenile mallard, staying in a close knit grouping with his mother and about seven or eight siblings, had a fishing line tightly wound around his tiny, yet not quite matured, left leg. Once arriving, we tossed some corn in their direction, hoping they would ‘take the bait’, which they did! However, as we tried to put ourselves between the youthful flock and the water, they quickly exited back to the safe confines of the pond. While waiting for them to return to finish the seemingly desirable treat, we pursued the second half of our mission on this trip…(stay tuned for the next post for that sweet ending). Continuing, we finally maneuvered ourselves into position, and before you could say ‘get em’, we ‘got em’! With some tweezers, tiny scissors and almost NO room to work with, because the skin started to fold over the ligature, I began to work on removing the shackle. After a quick prayer, I was very fortunate to finally rid the little angel from her confines. All of his family had returned to the water after he was temporarily subdued, so I took him to the shore and tossed him into the cool water in the direction of the clan, and there, he hurriedly swam, with just a minor ‘hitch in his giddy up’!  That alone would have made the trip worthwhile, but wait, there is more to this story, kind of a ‘two for one’er’…