Bald Eagle

[12AX7]

Dear Diary

This last week started off very exciting and ended ended crappy.

Tuesday morning I spotted this guy   

He was perched on a branch sitting on the lawn.  After twenty minutes I decided that he was in trouble.

Called in (after 30 minutes of fighting their automated system I hopped in my van and drove to their local utility shed and pounded on their door) the DNR and 3 1/2 hours later they caught him.


before I go crazy here lets see if the pictures post.

[12AX7]

yeah,  that seems to work.







So..   as you can see,  they caught him and he was sent to the local Wildlife rehab place.   
I got back a response from them and was told that the Eagle died early the next morning.   He was less than 1/2 the normal body weight and they suspect that he had lead poisoning.   They sent out samples and are waiting for tox tests.

It was a "once in a life time" Experience   but I sure wish it would have had a different ending.   

[dnix71]

Those claws look lethal, even for an underweight bird. Would lead poisoning mean he eat something that was shot with lead and not retrieved by the shooter?

[12AX7]

Those claws look lethal, even for an underweight bird. Would lead poisoning mean he eat something that was shot with lead and not retrieved by the shooter?

At this time I have no idea how he ingested the lead,  and that's one question I'll ask when they call me back.

And yes,   his talons were WICKED,  at first I was worried about his beak but the wildlife biologist said that their clamping power in their talons was enough to penetrate muscle into bone.

And just to be clear,  as of yet I don't know it's sex.   The biologist "thinks" it's a male due to his size but wouldn't say for sure.
The Eagle did have a band on it's right leg, but it was impacted with dirt and they didn't want to put anymore stress on him/her.   I'll ask about that when they call me back.

[ruddycrazy]

We've got a few eagles over here and twice driving down the road I've come damm close to hitting one after it's picked first a rabbit and next a brown snake then took off over the fence and over the road at windscreen height. A few times we've seen one hovering above then diving down to get the prey. Aint seen one in over two years now so we're not sure if they are gone but when they are around they are a great site to see..... But not a couple of foot away from one's windscreen while doing 50k's an hour.........

[SparWeb]

Birds seldom do well when they encounter humans.  You did all you could, I'm sure.
Baldies nest in our area, for 3 years in a row now, and we've seen their young fledged, two of the three.

On Saturday morning, I saw an osprey perched on a post at the end of my driveway.  It probably didn't hang around in bald eagle territory for long.  My neighbour's fish pond may be missing a few, though.  First time I ever saw an osprey.

[tanner0441]

Hi

There have been problems in the UK with Swans ingesting lead shot discarded by fishermen, so it looks like birds don't fare well with lead. I imagine the crop grinding it up must make sure it finishes up in all the vital organs. Any animal with a rumen can't handle lead either, goats especially the lead in the old white paint is enough.

A few years ago I was given a baby otter I was asked if I could look after a baby ferret, when I saw the tail I realized it was no ferret. I called our RSPCA and  they sent a van from about 60 miles away to collect it.  I was assured I would be told how the thing was getting on, and never heard a thing.  Ever.

Brian

[12AX7]

Received a little bet more info today.
This bird was banded May29th 1997 The Wildlife biologist said that they are known to live up to +30 years in captivity.  It's NOT normal for them to live this long in nature,  due to injuries and disease.

This Eagle died 16 years (exactly) from the day it was banded.