It seems odd that species that have fed on or near these bivalves for many
thousands of years are dumb enough to let themselves be injured regularly by
them to this extent.
There's no doubt that they occasionally get trapped, as this has been observed.
But is there any evidence that this can lead to loss of a toe, let alone a
whole foot?
According to this web page, fishing line entanglement is very common:
http://www.fishingmonthly.com.au/Articles/Display/11532-The-Dangers-Of-Discarded-Line
Peter Shute
Sent from my iPad
On 23/02/2013, at 7:25 PM, "David Clark"
<<>> wrote:
I saw the footless Pied Oystercatcher on a sandbank in Merimbula Lake
yesterday. Feeding on the mudflats nearby were two Eastern Curlews; one of
which was limping badly and was making very heavy work of its foraging.
When it flew to another spot I could see that its injured foot remained splayed
and was not tucked up for flight as usual. Anadara is a large estuarine
bivalve and I wonder if the Curlew tangled with one?
The mudflats are home to millions of small purple crabs (we called them purple
people eaters when I was a child and I don't have my reference books with me to
find the proper name). The crabs swarm across the mudflats in waves and it was
interesting to watch the flow of crabs when four Bar-tailed Godwits and one
Silver Gull began feeding on them.
Sent from my iPhone
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