Aussies warned over 'awful' Christmas decoration mistake after sad find
A small bird was found unable to walk, swim or fly due to the large Christmas bauble caught in its beak.
Aussies are being urged to avoid doing one simple thing ahead of the Christmas season after wildlife rescuers have been "busy" tending to injured animals. Last week, rescuers rushed to help a little pied cormorant after it was unable to walk or swim due to the large Christmas bauble dangling from its mouth in Perth's northwest suburb of Padbury.
"As their name suggests, the bird is pretty small and the huge ornament was attached to it... it was in a lot of trouble and it wouldn't have been able to fly," Maddison Dansorth from Western Australian Seabird Rescue told Yahoo News, with the incident described as "awful" given how deadly it could have been for the bird.
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Wildlife often tangled up in Christmas decorations
The issue of wildlife being tangled up with Christmas, and other holiday decorations is "something rescuers see often" and contributes to an uptick in rescues as spring rolls around — with young animals such as chicks particularly vulnerable.
Maddison explained a simple decision of where to put decorations can make a world of difference to wildlife without the need to be a total Scrooge.
"Keep your beautiful decorations inside your house for you to enjoy and help our wildlife from getting tangled," Maddison said.
Even large decorations can cause issues as "strong wind" can cause elements of these to break off from displays and blow into habitat.
"We see a lot of entangled fishing equipment because the weather's starting to get nice here... but the wind can be strong," she said. "It is something that you see often with Christmas decorations... and in spring time... and it can be easily avoided."
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