Wednesday, February 9th, 2005
PAWS
Wild Again
Celebrating the wildlife releases of the PAWS Wildlife Center
Injured Baby Animal step by step guide
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PAWS Mailing Address:
PO Box 1037
Lynnwood WA, 98046
PAWS Physical Address:
15305 44th Ave W
Lynnwood, WA 98037
A Little Too Much Excitement
by Kevin Mack, PAWS Wildlife Naturalist
Bald Eagle 05-0057 was brought to PAWS on January 19th, 2005. He had been hanging out in a mobile home park along the Puyallup River for several days, apparently having difficulty flying. Concerned citizens living in the park began offering raw beef to the bird, and once he began to eat it, they used it to lure him into a transport container.
At PAWS, the bird presented a bit of a puzzle. He was a large juvenile bird, probably less than a year old, and he was wearing a shiny federal band on his right leg. He didn't appear to be injured, and other than being slightly thin and a little dehydrated, he was in excellent health. Radiographs were taken, but no broken bones were found. Blood was drawn and sent in to the lab to test for pesticide poisoning. While waiting for the lab results, the eagle was placed in a large flight pen. He flew beautifully. The lab results came back two and a half weeks later, and all tests were negative. He had fattened up a bit while waiting for the lab results to return, and we had no further reason to hold him.
On February 8th, I returned the eagle to his home along the Puyallup River. Although all eagle releases are exciting, this one provided a bit more excitement than I had hoped for. The following photos tell the story of the release.
The first challenge in releasing an eagle is capturing it in the
large flight pen. In this photo, Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. John
Huckabee attempts to net the eagle as he sits on a high perch.
The eagle flew from the high perch and landed on the ground.
Dr. Huckabee quickly placed the net over the bird. After
throwing a sheet on top of the bird to block his vision, I
reached under the net to grasp the eagle's legs.
Once the eagle's legs (and more importantly, his talons) were
under control, Dr. Huckabee removed the net, and Wildlife
Veterinarian Dr. Darlene Deghetto moved in to help cover the
eagle with the sheet.
The eagle was given a quick examination...
...and then he was placed in a well-padded transport carrier.
Dr. Huckabee and I carried the securely-contained eagle down
the hill to a waiting truck.
After arriving at the eagle's release site along the Puyallup
River, PAWS volunteer Kristy Kautzmann opens the carrier
door to set the bird free. Volunteer Scott Nelson and I stood
nearby and watched.
The eagle emerges to find that his surroundings have changed.
He is standing on an old, closed road that is bordered by tall
trees. The river is on his left, and a forested area is on his right.
Unsure what to make of his sudden change in circumstance,
the eagle took some time to assess the situation.
He looked all around.
He shook himself to realign his feathers.
He looked around some more.
He eyed the suspicious looking person pointing a camera at
him...
...and he inspected a suspicious looking patch of grass.
Kristy, Scott and I retreated about 25 yards to give the eagle
some space. It was at this point that the unexpected happened.
Two dogs emerged from the woods about 30 yards away from
the eagle. As luck would have it, they were both bird dogs, and
upon seeing the eagle they probably thought they had hit the
jackpot. They immediately started running towards the eagle.
The eagle was facing the two volunteers and I, and did not
seem to notice the dogs approaching from the rear. An image
of the dogs grabbing the eagle (and the eagle grabbing the
dogs) flashed through my mind, and before I could think, I
found myself running towards the bird. The dogs were too
focused on the eagle to notice the human barreling towards
them, but the eagle certainly took notice of my approach.
When I was about 15 feet away (and the dogs were about 10
feet away), the eagle effortlessly lifted off of the ground and
banked up and away from me. He quickly gained altitude and
passed over the dogs' heads. They watched him go with
noticeable disappointment. The human responsible for the
dogs emerged from the forest, oblivious to all that had just
transpired. She called the dogs to her, and the three of them
disappeared in the direction from which they had come. After a
long exhalation, I started breathing again.
After the crises had been averted, I remembered my camera.
The eagle flew straight down the old road.
He continued to gain altitude...
...and he came to rest in a tall tree beside the river. A small
contingent of local crows took an interest in him at this point.
Three of them called in the trees around him, and one of them
moved in for a closer look. The flight that the eagle had just
taken seemed to cue him in to the fact that his movement was
no longer restricted. He took another short flight to a nearby
tree, and then flew downriver and out of sight.
Wildlife Release tally: January 26th to February 8th, 2005
Canada Goose
Killdeer
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Pine Siskin
Bald Eagle
Wildlife Release tally: 2005
16 animals
All rights reserved. ©2005 Progressive Animal Welfare Society
