Another Eagle Rescue

December 22, 2009

Callie and Josie", part of the family that spotted
the injured eagle and called for help,
along with a tired and worn out me.

This eagle was a joint rescue between Wild Heart Ranch and Fur and Feather's Sanctuary.

Annie Maxon and I took off for Leach, Oklahoma this morning to locate and capture an eagle with a broken wing.

On a beautiful and vast cattle ranch with hills, gullies and fencing, Annie working with a broken leg in a cast, and me having to slide my body under a 7 strand barbed wire fence to corral the eagle, well, lets just say Im glad there was no video being taken at the time.

We used the "horse-shoe" method of capturing the eagle, where people are positioned down hill if possible, creating a horse shoe corral, with the "capture" people rushing in on the sides. It confuses the bird, who knows he cannot escape up hill, and generally will stop running and give up on escape. This method seems to always work perfectly when executed correctly.

The tip of one wing was in danger of falling off. To keep it in place for his veterinarian appointment, hours away, I "anchored" the wing together with suture and cleaned the wound.

I have tremendous doubt this wing will be able to heal as the end piece appears to be without blood flow, but Doctor Cash will make this determination for him. If this is the case, he will be relocated to a captive eagle sanctuary to live out his life with as much freedom and privacy as possible.

After wrapping him up, we took a quick pose for a photo before putting him in his crate. Eagles are delicate and this bird will be kept "stress free" as much as possible. We have to be especially careful until he is eating and drinking on his own, a sign that he is relaxing in his captive environment.