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03272023-Bald Eagle-1
Location of Rescue:
Middlebury, Elkhart County, Indiana
Admission Date:
03/27/2023
Cause of Admission:
Fracture of coracoid
UPDATE: 6/10 is flying back and forth , but breathes heavily.
5/13 test for lead poisoning shows normal. Is moved to Flight pen.
4/29 moved to pen in the rehab building.
4/26 PT going well, FX almost healed.
4/17 X-ray shows pellet in chest, began meds for lead poisoning.
When a call comes in to rescue a Bald Eagle, one thing is certain, it will be a rescue to remember.
This bird was at a small farm West of Middlebury, IN. This location was about a 1 ½ hour drive so I had lots of time to imagine lots of scenarios.
On arrival I found an adult Eagle upright and alert about 10 yards from a wetland. As I approached the bird it immediately walked toward the water, hopped in and flapped its wings like oars to a large floating log that it perched on. I tried to go around the eagle and scare it back towards dry land with a well-placed toss of a large stick when it had some sort of seizure and fell backwards into deep water. It's head and wings were underwater with talons and tail above.
He was drowning! I jumped in, waded out and grabbed his talons and quickly turned him right side up to give him some sense of reality. He was kind of sputtering (if birds do that) and got him into a carrier. He was breathing but did not attempt to stand or escape in any way.
I stopped once on the trip to Soarin' Hawk ICU to make sure he was still breathing and found no changes in his condition. On arrival at ICU, he was much more alert and active and two other volunteers took over while I looked for dry socks.
Rescuer Ross
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