Date: 4/30/25 8:17 am From: Toshia McCabe <toshia.fcolors...> Subject: [Arlington Birds] Petition to pause fishing at Hill's pond
If you are an Arlington resident who is concerned about fishing line waste and its detrimental effects on birds, please consider signing the following petition created by Save Arlington Wildlife.
*** Also important *** Please send follow up emails to Jim Feeney at <JFeeney...> and Arlington Parks & Rec Director Natasha Waden at <nwaden...>
Background: On April 8, 2025, a Great Blue Heron perished after it was entangled in fishing line and hook dangling from a tree branch at Hill's Pond in Menotomy Rocks Park.
Discarded fishing gear waste is a huge issue at our local ponds and is responsible for injuries to resident wildlife with increasing frequency and severity. Last fall, Save Arlington Wildlife rescued a juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron discovered on the shores of Spy Pond that also had a fish hook in its wing and the whole body was entangled in fishing line. That same month a Great Blue Heron was pictured swallowing a fish still attached to a line and bobber at Hill's Pond. Without intervention, that heron is presumed to have died from sustaining that injury.
