FWP 911

There's been a pair of bald eagles living just up the road from our mailbox for the last week or so.  I've been watching them as I sit waiting for the school bus, admiring how graceful and HUGE they are.  Today as the bus driver dropped Maggie off, she said she thought one of them might be hurt, that it was in the ditch off the road, so I said I'd go take a look.  I grabbed my camera, then the kids and I went up to check the situation out.  

Sure enough, the eagle was sitting in an odd position on the side of the road, partway down in the ditch.  I thought it would try to flap or hobble away when I stopped the car, but it just sat there, exhausted I think.  I wanted it to move so I could see what had happened, but no matter how close I got, it just sat there, watching me warily.  At one point I was within 2 1/2 feet, walked all around it and still could not tell what the injury was, although it must have been a wicked one to keep the bird there with all that examination.  

When I got home, I called the Fish, Wildlife and Parks guy I know in Miles City to report the hurt eagle.  He discussed with me what could happen to it, depending on the severity of the injury.  If the eagle could be transported to Miles City, a raptor specialist there would examine it and either send it on to Bozeman for rehabilitation or euthanize it.  The Bozeman facility happens to be where a friend of ours, Gordon Hardaway, is a vet, so we'd be able to keep close track of it!  Once the eagle is healthy, it would be returned back here and released.  I got the number of the local game warden, gave him the information I had and he was headed right out.  

Ranchers are typically not very sympathetic to eagles, simply because they prey on young livestock...it's truly awful to see the results of that...but I couldn't stand the thought of this one dying on the side of the road.

Here are some of the photos I took...

Still astonished that I could get that close!