CHELMSFORD, Massachusetts (WCVB) — A duck is recovering Tuesday after it was found with an arrow through its bill.
Newhouse Wildlife Rescue in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, was alerted to the duck’s plight by a Salem resident who saw it near a pond over the last couple of days with what appeared to be a bolt from a crossbow stuck in its beak.
The mallard duck, who is well known along the river and was affectionately named Horace by his fans, was captured on Tuesday and the arrow was removed.
Steven Salowsky, of Newhouse Wildlife Rescue, was there for it all, helping to remove Horace from the Salem River.
“Jane and I both got in the water, got on both sides, and ran full force with nets,” Salowsky said. “It was right through the beak, it was actually completely superficial and it was right by the nostrils, conveniently so it was kind of like a nose piercing for a duck’s beak. We put some lubrication on it and it slid right out. It was very bizarre.”
Salowsky and the Rescue rehabilitate hundreds of animals, including a beaver just last month.
The beaver was trapped just below a dam, huddled on a rock with cuts and infection. It is now healthy and ready to be released.
“Sometimes it’s accidental. Sometimes it’s on purpose. It was another rescue where we both ended up jumping in the water, but we couldn’t leave him there like this,” Newhouse rescuers posted.
The duck is expected to make a full recovery. It will be released back to the pond where it was found, Newhouse Wildlife Rescue said.
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