Rescue or interference

Rescue or interference by ricmcarthur
Rescue or interference, a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr.

We were out on the pontoon boat yesterday and I thought I saw frogs jumping on the weed mat.
A closer look revealed a shore bird, probably a spotted sandpiper, thrashing about.
I was concerned it was caught in a discarded fishing line so I pulled in next to it. Anne tried to get it back to the surface with the boat hook.
When that didn’t work I went in and lifted the bird along with a mass of weed. There was quite a bit of resistance and I realized there was something moving under the weeds.
Quick look lead me to believe a turtle, probably a snapper, had a hold of the bird and was slowly drawing it under the water.
The bird escaped and made it to shore. It obviously had an injured leg but it was free.

So, was it a rescue or did we interfere with nature.
A bird escaped and a turtle went hungry.

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