Though a small tear in a pelican’s pouch is not a big deal, a large hole, usually caused by an encounter with a fishhook, can be a death sentence. A pelican with a gaping hole in its pouch is likely to loose any fish it catches, and will slowly starve to death. Thankfully, repairing a torn pouch isn’t difficult. Please remember that the following technique should be attempted only by individuals or facilities licensed to handle wildlife protected under the Migratory Bird Act.
What You Will Need:
- sterile latex or rubber gloves
- sterile surgical scissors
- surgical stapler / staples
- gauze
- Nolvosan solution or a similar disinfectant
- Baytril or a similar antibiotic
Performing the Pouch Repair
- Make sure the bird is stabilized and well-hydrated. There is no point in stressing out a bird who is severely emaciated or dehydrated, even if it means several days of fluid therapy and gavage feeding before repairing the pouch.
- Typically, pouch repair is a two-person job. One person will need to hold the bird, while the other performs the repair. A heavy towel placed over the bird’s back and covering the eyes can help keep the bird calm. Luckily, a pelican’s pouch is not very sensitive. Otherwise, pelicans would have a hard time handling the spikes and fins of most fish. It is not necessary or advisable to place the bird under anesthesia.
- Cut off the dead and over-stretched skin around the hole, plus the scabs that have formed around the hole. You want the skin to be bleeding where you will connect it to other skin. Be warned: pouches bleed profusely! This is where the gauze comes in handy for soaking up excess blood.
- Connect the bleeding edges of the hole together and staple. You do not need to have every bit of skin touching another bit of skin. You just need to have the pouch closed up enough that the bird can hold in a decent-sized fish. Pouches heal amazingly fast, and you might be surprised at how few staples will do the job.
- Clean the stapled area thoroughly with Nolvosan solution or a similar disinfectant.
- Following up with a few days of Baytil or a similar antibiotic is a good idea. Check the staples daily. You will want to remove them in approximately ten days, though sometimes they need to come out sooner.
It is a good idea to use a metal detector or an x-ray to check the pelican for ingested fishhooks, as it is not unusual for the pelican to have swallowed the hook or lure that did the damage in the first place. Unfortunately, injuries due to fishline and fishooks are among the most common injuries affecting pelicans.
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