Photo By Eve Baker | The bald eagle injured on Fort Wainwright is offered a piece of salmon by the...... read more read more
FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska – Bald eagle sightings are common throughout Alaska, but because of their status as a national symbol and their large size, they tend to draw a lot of attention. People on post took notice when two eagles were recently engaged in aerial combat over Fort Wainwright, and when one slammed into the ground, sustaining multiple injuries, they responded.
“Out of the corner of my eye, I could see something – their talons were locked together, and then there was a bang, and one had hit the ground,” said Kristen Lawson, the Military Clothing Sales manager at the Post Exchange.
Lawson was on her way to work when she saw the incident and the ravens that made multiple subsequent attacks on the injured eagle. However, the injured eagle is now in recovery thanks to the teamwork of a variety of human benefactors.
Because the injured bird was in a busy parking lot, Lawson called the military police to provide assistance. The MPs in turn called both the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services specialist who works on Fort Wainwright and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to send someone to attend to the injured eagle.
Clint Wilson, a wildlife specialist with the USDA, handles the majority of the bird-strike mitigation efforts on Fort Wainwright as part of the Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard program. Normally his work involves chasing birds away from the airfield through the use of noise-making and pyrotechnic devices.
“I did not have the necessary materials with me to capture the bald eagle to hold it for Fish and Wildlife,” he said, “so I went and kept it in a safe area with the military police until Fish and Wildlife came."
FWS Officers Zachary Arnold and Colin Maier were assigned to the call. Arnold said they put together a rescue kit before leaving their duty station on Eielson Air Force Base. The kit included a large kennel, a net and a hooded sweatshirt to safely capture the eagle.
“We grabbed the hoodie to help cover the cage and make the eagle feel more secure,” explained Arnold.
Working together with Wilson, the team was able to catch the eagle with the net and usher it into the kennel. Maier noted this was his first wildlife call on Fort Wainwright and first time seeing an eagle up close.
“It was an awesome experience getting to work with a bald eagle that close,” Maier said. “It gave me a new appreciation for the size of bald eagles – and their talons.”
Once the eagle was safely contained, Arnold and Maier brought it Mt. McKinley Animal Hospital in Fairbanks. According to practice manager Emily Potter, the clinic has been treating wild birds since the 1970s. Potter noted that there is no funding to reimburse the clinic for the medical supplies, medications, food, and other materials used during the treatment of wild birds, so all care is at their own expense.
The larger birds they treat, such as eagles and owls, “always bring excitement to our team, because there are many new staff members that haven’t seen a bird like this up close before,” Potter said. Personnel are allowed to take a quick look, and then the bird is kept covered in a separate ward when it is not actively being treated.
After evaluating and taking x-rays of the eagle, they determined it had a broken wing and needed a higher level of care. The staff at Mt. McKinley made contact with the Bird Treatment and Learning Center, known as Bird TLC, in Anchorage, which agreed to take it in.
However, when plans to fly the bird down to Anchorage on a commercial aircraft fell through the next morning, this author volunteered to drive it herself. The clinic staff prepared a large travel kennel with an improvised perch inside for the eagle to grip and then loaded the eagle into the backseat of her pickup truck for the 6 ½-hour drive south.
Despite the bird’s after-hours arrival at the clinic, Nicole Riodan-Randall, the rehabilitation clinic coordinator, opened up the building and transferred the eagle into a more spacious cage to await evaluation and treatment the next day.
Two days after the eagle fight, Dr. Karen Higgs and the staff sedated the bird and performed a full examination, including taking additional x-rays and weighing it. The exam confirmed the wing break and revealed puncture wounds from the other eagle’s talons and a possible head injury.
Weighing in at about 7 ½ pounds and based on the observed fighting behavior, the eagle was judged to be male, as eagles typically range from 8-14 pounds, with females being larger than males.
Since its initial intake, the eagle has received a variety of medications and treatments, including cold laser therapy on its wing to promote healing. It remains in a rehabilitation enclosure at Bird TLC as of the time of publication.
“The goal would be ideally to get him back to his territory, to get him back to Fairbanks to release him,” Higgs said. “It just depends on his rehab first. That’s our main focus, this rehab, and then we’ll look at his release site.”
The eagle’s story has captured the hearts and minds of the residents and employees of Fort Wainwright and generated significant interest on social media. The post is home to at least one active bald eagle nest, and a mated pair of eagles has already laid eggs in it this season.
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2024 18:36 |
| Story ID: | 470190 |
| Location: | AK, US |
| Web Views: | 39 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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