PHOTOS: City Swan Swallows Fish Hook, Gets Emergency Rescue

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — A Prospect Park swan's "very bad day turned out OK" this week after rescuers teamed up to remove a fish hook the bird had swallowed, according to the groups.

The cygnet — or young swan — was rescued Thursday after Marty Woess, wildlife and aquatic technician at the park, noticed the bird was lethargic and not eating, according to Woess.

After coaxing the seven-month-old swan from the water, Woess — who has known the bird since he hatched — noticed a lump in his neck.

"I've been working with wildlife here 15 years — the lump guarantees there’s something very bad amiss," Woess told Patch. "He’d either eaten something he shouldn't have, trash or something like that, or, it’s a hook."

As Woess predicted, an examination at the Wild Bird Fund soon revealed that the swan had indeed swallowed a fishing hook. WBF staff member Rachel Frank came in on her day off for the emergency X-Ray, Woess said.

Soon, the swan was on its way to the Long Island Bird & Exotics Veterinary Clinic, who removed the hook using a scope.

The swallowed hook is unfortunately not the first time the park's fowl have had to be rescued from fishing equipment. In past years, swans have been liberated from getting tangled in fishing wire or hooks stuck in their bodies.

"I’ve dealt with many, many, many over the years," said Woess, noting equipment that is not properly discarded is at risk of "hooking" any of the park's animals.

Catch-and-release fishing is allowed in Prospect Park, but fishers are required to follow strict rules for discarding fishing line fragments or hooks.

The bird injured this week will be monitored and given antibiotics to prevent infection at WBF before heading back to Brooklyn's backyard, WBF and Woess said.

"The swan, whose very bad day has turned out OK, is expected to be able to return home in a few days," WBF wrote.

The recovery from there will depend on the extent of the injury, Woess said, but it likely won't be long before the swan is back to normal.

"Once you’ve removed the hook they usually bounce back pretty quickly," Woess said. "The fact they were able to get it out so quick, he’s going to be fine."

Either way, Woess will be there to make sure bird, and the park's six other swans, are okay.

"I do rounds around the park every morning," Woess said. "...They know me very, very well."