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Broadbent Wildlife Sanctuary rehabilitation specialist Christy Hurt examines the eagle that was rescued from Reservoir Hill in Falmouth. The injured bird was first spotted by passers-by a week ago, but by the time it was finally able to be rescued, it was too starved, dehydrated and hurt to survive. Photos courtesy Pendleton County Animal Control Officer John Bloomfield -
The injured bird reacts at the wildlife center in Meade County. Because of its age, rescuers were not able to determine if the young raptor was a golden eagle or a bald eagle. Photos courtesy Pendleton County Animal Control Officer John Bloomfield -
A young, injured eagle rescued Thursday from Reservoir Hill in Falmouth rests in a crate at Broadbent Wildlife Sanctuary in Meade County. Despite rescuers best efforts, the raptor died Friday. Its condition was too much to overcome. Photos courtesy Pendleton County Animal Control Officer John Bloomfield
By Carolyn Reid
FALMOUTH — Wildlife is not normally Animal Control Officer John Bloomfield’s gig, but last Thursday, he was as concerned as everyone else about a raptor that was injured, ill and stranded on Reservoir Hill.
Calls had started coming into animal control and dispatch last Tuesday about the bird who from all appearances was an eagle.
Bloomfield was on vacation and the Falmouth Police Department as well as other first responders had tried to find and rescue the bird, but they were unable to do so.
Thursday, Bloomfield decided to try to find it.
The rescue was not as easy as the average person would likely believe.
“I wanted to try to do what I could,” Bloomfield said Monday. “I was deputized by (wildlife) rescue and was instructed on how to properly catch the animal.”
Bloomfield has had his run with birds before. Three years ago, it was an emu who went AWOL. That was one thing. The raptor was a much more delicate situation.
The Golden and Bald Eagle Protection Act allows for fines up to $100,000 for people and $200,000 for organizations who do anything to injure, decrease the productivity or disturb abandoned nests, “substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding, or sheltering behavior.”
With this in mind, Bloomfield contacted the experts for advice and was deputized in order to rescue the animal without penalty.
THE RESCUE
After that action, the next problem was finding the bird. Bloomfield knew it was on Reservoir Hill, but where was the question. He went there in the rain to look for it, and when he arrived on the hill, he could not find it after a good bit of searching.
Help came in the form of a young lady who pointed out where it was.
“It was on the right side of the big curve on the hill, over the embankment that has a 10-foot drop,” he said. The bird was on the other side of an old downed fence.
“I grabbed my heavy gloves and a heavy blanket.” While he is equipped usually in this way for dogs, that same equipment made him ready to safely capture the injured animal.
“This is part of the reason no one should
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EAGLE, continues on Page 2