TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Eagle With Injured Wing Rescued In Seminole

Photo courtesy of Kadi Hendricks Tubb

Residents in a Seminole neighborhood realized the eagle was not well and prompted the rescue.

ADVERTISEMENT

TBO.com

Published: January 26, 2009

Updated: 01/26/2009 04:10 pm

As a volunteer with the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, Liz Vreeland has rescued songbirds and hawks. She has spent her share of time unraveling fishing line off perplexed pelicans at fishing piers.

But Monday was a first for her.

On Monday, Vreeland, 34, rescued an eagle.

At first, the sanctuary didn't think anything was amiss with the eagle in Seminole. One volunteer rescuer went to the neighborhood where the bird was sighted, at 84th Avenue and 113th Street, but it flew from a tree to a rooftop, so the rescuer thought all was well because the eagle could fly, Vreeland said.

But then people continued relaying their concerns to the sanctuary, and Vreeland went out. The eagle by now was on a chimney on the roof, she said. She threw the bird a dead rat and the eagle grabbed it, an apparent sign of the bird's hunger, she said.

Vreeland then climbed a ladder, her long-poled net in hand, but when she got to the top and peeked at the eagle, the bird flew 100 yards to a tree, that dead rat still in its talons.

Eventually, Vreeland enticed the bird with more food, tossing a trail of fish on the ground so the eagle would be led under a carport where it would be difficult to resume flight, she said.

When she and a member of a gathering crowd blocked off one entrance to the carport, the eagle scurried in the opposite direction into a yard, she said. Even though the sky was now clear for a take-off, the eagle was obviously too exhausted to take flight, and Vreeland grabbed the bird with her gloved hands.

As it turns out, the eagle had a wounded left wing. Vreeland gives the residents in the neighborhood credit for repeatedly contacting the sanctuary with their concerns. One of the things they noticed was flies buzzing around the left wing.

"It's always great to get an eagle," Vreeland said. "They are protected birds and they are one of the strongest birds, if not one of the strongest."

The eagle was to be treated at the sanctuary before being sent to Maitland for recuperation.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT