Injured visitor

What a shame. Hope he comes back out. I imagine catching an eagle would be challenging. I rescued a loon on the beach and aside from being surprised at how big they are, I found out just how sharp their bills are.
 
Several years ago I did catch a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk that had wasting disease in my yard. Cornered it up against the house and caught with a blanket. It was very weak and ended up dying several days later at the rescue center. I was concerned with the eagle and that it still had a great deal of energy and could be a danger. A veterinary friend had an injured eagle in his office and I gained a great respect for their power and talons. We stayed inside and I hoped it would stay while waiting for the wildlife officer, but it made for the brush and woods.
 
I came on an adult bald eagle with a broken wing one morning. I called our Game Wardens, and one responded and had clearly done this before. He had me hold a blanket on one side of the bird while he put on a pair of heavy leather gloves and pounced from the other. My job was to distract until he grabbed the legs, then drop the blanket over the head and wings.

He grabbed it in one try, stuffed it into a big dog cage, and I delivered it to Avian Haven, a local animal rescue spot. It had a broken wing and we could already smell the infection, and the bird did not survive the first night after "rescue".
 
Suggestion, A wet towel over a bird will immobilize it better than a dry one until you can grab it. Learned it after I caught a pelican and another fisherman showed me the trick, much easier.
 

About a week ago I was driving on a rural road on my way trout lookin'.

Up ahead was a lone large bird standing over a road killed groundhog. Turkey vultures are very common here, but seldom just one bird.

Not good, I thought as I approached slowly and saw it was a young Bald Eagle. I stopped so the eagle could fly away. The person in the vehicle behind me was not happy. The eagle tried to return to the roadkill, and then flew off, thank goodness.

Roadkill of all kinds does not last long up here. Scavenges make short work of them. On my return trip there was no dead groundhog, nor injured Bald Eagle. On my daily trout lookin' rounds I still keep my eye out for that young Bald Eagle. The nest is about 3 miles from our home.

Like teenagers, once they leave home the learning curve begins and anything can happen.


VP
 
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