Debbie Center normally paints loons but for the past few weeks she's been more focused on rescuing the subject of her artwork in a saga followed by thousands of lovers of Minnesota's state bird.
Center has been monitoring a juvenile loon still lingering on Crow Wing Chain of Lakes near Nevis, Minn., since Nov. 25. It's the last loon remaining there long after most others have migrated, raising concerns among residents and wildlife rehabilitators hoping to save it.
"We got to get this bird. The pressure is on," Center, 60, said Sunday from her home on one of the 11 lakes making up the chain connected by the Crow Wing River.
But the loon, now fondly known as Gilligan to a growing number of online supporters spanning the globe, has so far evaded rescuers — and eagles — as the ice closes in. Several other young loons in the region already have been rescued.
"Everybody wants to save Gilligan," said Julie Dickie, a volunteer who runs the nonprofit Northwoods Wildlife Rescue. "But it's a little more complicated."
On Wednesday, Center watched from shore as members of the small volunteer Nevis Fire Department ventured onto the ice with nets to catch Gilligan. No such luck.
The rescue is challenging because of the size of the patch of open water, Dickie said. It's about 25 feet across and needs to be much smaller if rescuers hope to net Gilligan when the frightened loon comes up for air after diving to get away. As the opening narrows, Nevis firefighters will return for a second rescue attempt.
The fact that Gilligan hasn't yet left the shrinking pool and its only food source suggests something is wrong, rehabbers say. That's the case with a few other young loons receiving care at different rehab centers.
One juvenile loon was rescued in Crosslake over the weekend with the help of firefighters, the DNR and the National Loon Center.
Dr. Katie Baratto, veterinarian at Garrison Animal Hospital and volunteer at Wild and Free rehab center, said the loon was brought in Saturday with a bad wing. She said she is concerned the loon won't be releasable due to its injury.
Roseville's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center acquired a juvenile loon Friday after a Cambridge family captured it in small opening of water on a frozen lake, spokeswoman Tami Vogel said.
Vogel said the loon had abrasions on its feet and broken and missing flight feathers. If the injuries aren't treatable, she said the center can't release it because that's against state statute; it would be humanely euthanized. But if the loon is able to make a complete recovery, it will go to a rehab in Florida to be released in the Gulf of Mexico, where loons winter.
Vogel and Baratto are aware of the one loon still on the loose — Gilligan — and their biggest concern is that people will try to capture it on the thin ice.
Center said she is not giving out Gilligan's specific location to prevent that from happening.
Meanwhile, people from Australia, Uzbekistan and beyond are tuned into Gilligan's plight as Center provides updates on her Facebook group Loony for Loons with its 7,500 members.
"We get to see the good side of people who make the time to try and help an animal," Vogel said. "I think that's why animals like the Nevis loon become so popular because people find that common bond in them."
Once Gilligan is captured, Dickie will do the initial assessment and determine where it will go next. There's a chance that if Gilligan doesn't go south, it would stay in Minnesota for the winter. Dickie said she would coordinate with others to house the loons together if that ends up being the case.
So Gilligan may find its Skipper for the winter — and see a white Christmas.
"Loons don't get to see a white Christmas, they're off in the gulf by by now," Center said. "But this little guy just wanted to see a white Christmas."
