Jun 3 - Jun 16, 2011 www.coastalbreezenews.com ...a Fresh Perspective!

Young rehabilitated eagle releasedIn April, JohnEdward Wright saw

something floundering in the canal behind his house. His mother, Victoria, went to see what it was and she quickly called for Simon, her husband. What JohnEdward was looking at was an eagle chick strug-gling to get out of the water. For reasons unknown to the Wright Family, the eagle was fumbling awkwardly and unable to manage in the water. Simon, jumped in a kayak with a net in hand. He paddled out to the bird and scooped it up, placing it on the front of the kayak he brought it back to the dock. “It truly looked as though it was relieved to be rescued”, Victoria explained. “We delivered the eagle to the Conservan-cy of Southwest Florida Wildlife Reha-bilitation Clinic where it was admitted for care.”

That was April 6th according to Jo-anna Fitzgerald, the Rehabilitation Direc-tor for the Conservancy. “When that eagle came in we didn’t think he’d make it and were very guarded about his prognosis. He was very thin and had a large infesta-tion of mites. Of particular concern were his blood values. They were very poor. He was given electrolytes subcutaneously and orally. A liquid diet called ‘Critical Care’ was introduced. It is an easily digestible food, high in protein, for debilitated car-nivores. It worked well for him. He was given this several times a day until his total packed cell and protein levels improved. At that point, solid foods were introduced. He spent about two weeks in intensive care. From intensive care, he went to a unit in-side the clinic where he was exposed to the ambient temperature of the clinic. From there, the eagle was placed in a outdoor flight recovery enclosure that is 100 feet long. Birds here must be able to flap their wings and fly back and forth with ease. He spent about three weeks in this last area before being approved for release.”

JohnEdward and Victoria got to see first hand the results of their efforts. Tim Thompson, a WRC volunteer pulled up at a remote Island Country Club golf course location carrying a large covered crate in his backseat. He described his primary re-sponsibility at the WRC as being a critter courier, although the formal description is the catch and release program. Tim ex-plained the common behaviors of rehabili-tated animals being brought back into the wild. He anticipated what might happen, saying often, in a split second they’re off, while others hop out and hop around be-fore taking flight. Tim thought this eagle

chick appeared to be of good size and in very good health, therefore he expected him to be able to cope well.

Out came the cage with JohnEdward close at hand. The cage was opened and with a flap of its wings, the majestic ani-mal was airborne. It circled the golf course then perched on a low roof. A hefty group of blackbirds and mockingbirds was con-cerned about the new rival and let their presence be known via a barrage of swoop-

ing and squawking. Again the eagle took flight, this time going to a tall leafless tree-top, but the smaller birds kept up their tor-ment. “Don’t be alarmed, he’s well enough to play a good game of survival,” Tim reit-erated. Finally the eagle flew out of sight. Before he left, Tim thanked the Wrights saying, “It is because of you he has such good chances for survival!”

The Rehabilitation Center at the Southwest Florida Conservancy has taken

in over 1200 animals so far this year. Joan-na said, “It’s been a busier than usual year especially for Marco Island! We’re just happy the people who found him did some-thing. For the sake of the animals, we’re so grateful for people like the Wrights!”

If you find injured or orphaned native wildlife, contact the Wildlife Rehabilita-tion Clinic at 239-262-CARE (2273) 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Eastern Time seven days a week.

By Val Simon

PHOTOS BY VICTORIA WRIGHT/COASTAL BREEZE NEWSA healthy eagle emerges to take flight.