Wild Bird Care Centre   -  (613) 828-2849

Freya - an eagle experience...it haunts me still...
   
Dec 24, 1994...What I saw   What I thought...
     

  • large box arrived containing injured bird

  
  • I had been told it was an Eagle...and it was

  • Bald Eagle, mature adult female

  
  • at least 5 years old...she had to be an experienced hunter...

  • head, neck well-groomed

  

  • she has a partner somewhere out there that had been preening her, now waiting for her return...
     

  • caught by both legs in wolf-snare

  
  • his quote..."in snare for 2 days probably.  We usually only check the snares once a week as the scent of humans might warn off the wolves"  (poor wolves... poor bird...)
     

  • no leg fractures but unable to stand

  
  • tissue around ankle area bruised, hardened and compressed to the bone from tension of snare wire, foot circulation compromised, feet cold...

  • soft skin under wing tips scraped raw

  
  • damaged from battering her wings against the ground in her futile efforts to escape...

  •  tail feathers and stomach  plumage matted and soiled

  
  • sprawled out on her belly for most of the time, breast bone  bruised from being snapped back to the ground by the snare holding her feet..
  • emaciated, starved (should have been double her weight)
  
  • starvation doesn't happen in 2 days or 1 week.  The weather during that period had been mild, hunting should have been good for her, an experienced hunter... So what happened?
  • body dehydrated, thick stringy mucous in mouth, no skin elasticiy
  
  • no water for a long time...probably not even able to reach lifesaving snow beyond the reach of the snare.  Any snow within snare area gone due to her frantic escape efforts...
  • in shock, eyes closed, no resistance while being examined
  
  • total state of collapse... chances for survival?

                                                   Hope for a miracle...

 
  An overnight vigil begins.  She needs electrolytes drop by drop to pull her out of shock and hydrate her wasted body.  This is even more critical than her state of starvation.

At 3 a.m., she lifts her head, her eyes looking fierce, and dips her beak into the container for a drink.  Elation!  I feel a surge of hope that her majestic spirit hasn't given up.

Returning at 6:35 a.m., she is weaker.  Her eyes follow me as I enter the room.  Kneeling beside her and cupping her weary head in my hand, I can feel the warmth of her breath on my palm.  Her eyes still looking into mine, two souls touching.  I know her struggle is over.  She is gone.  It's 6:40 a.m., Dec. 25.

We had an Eagle at the Bird Centre.

She was majestic.    She was named Freya.

                                      Kathy            

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