A couple of years ago, near the building I worked in, a goose tangled its feet in fishline. We called the animal control officer, who provided us with a big cage, a blanket, some food and the instructions to sneak up on this bird and stuff it into the cage.
We chased the bird for a few days - but never got close to catching it.
The animal control officer brought a humane trap and baited it with frozen Green Giant corn on the cob. It caught a beautiful skunk, which did not want to leave.
We tried and tried to catch the goose to help it, but never did. Eventually, the tangled foot fell off and I think the goose flew away - minus one foot, but alive.
Today, I encountered a goldfinch with its foot snarled in fishline, in a bush. I held the bird and tried to unsnarl it, but couldn’t. Gretchen ran back to the car and returned with some cutters … we cut the bird free and were rewarded with the beautiful goldfinch flying away across the water.
I think God gave me a second chance to save a bird, and I’m glad I could. It was even better that Gretchen was a part of it.