Fellow Mortals--Compassion Changes Everything

On July 9, 2017, we received a call about a young Bale Eagle that was obviously in distress.  He had been seen on a roof, then on a small bird bath, then sitting in the middle of a lawn in a residential area.  He was weak and unable to fly more than a few feet.  While we go out on rescues of bigger raptors whenever possible—we could not get to this bird quickly, so after considering the situation and weakened condition of the eagle, we gave instructions to the caller about how to safely contain the young bird for transport without the need to handle it.  

The caller followed our instructions, and used a blanket to gently herd the bird into a big dog crate.  With the help of friends, he did an excellent rescue and drove the young eagle to our hospital immediately.

On examination, the eagle was just eight to ten weeks old, possibly the first to hatch from a newly identified nest in the area.  His mouth and throat were full of blood--he was emaciated, severely dehydrated and infested with mites.  Bald Eagles admitted to Fellow Mortals have weighed as much as 14 pounds—this bird was just 2.2 kg—under 5 pounds.  If not for the intervention of kind people, the eagle likely would have died that night.

While we could provide critical care for the eagle and space to fly, we knew this young bird would need to be with an adult of his own species in order to imprint properly on his own kind.  Although he had the size of an adult, he was still a baby, and in danger of improperly imprinting on humans.  Human-imprinted birds cannot survive in the wild.

Once the eagle had stabilized to the point where he could survive transport, we drove him to friends at another wildlife hospital several hours away where he now continues to heal and mature in the company of other young eagles and an unreleaseable adult Bald Eagle who can teach the young birds vocalizations and behaviors that will help them survive when they are released.

Wildlife rehabilitators work from homes, from centers, from hospitals—but we all work together toward the same end:  release of physically healthy and psychologically normal wild individuals that are equipped to survive and thrive when they return to the wild...

…none of which would be possible without You, and your compassion for wildlife—and your gifts that make happy endings possible for more than 1,000 animals a year.

Links:

• Rescue of injured young Bald Eagle