The Great Eagle Rescue

It was early.

Really early...

And I had made Quinn get out of bed.

He wasn't the happiest.

But it was a lovely morning! It seemed like every bird was singing in chorus with one another as we walked with Cedar along the flats right outside our home. 

The sky was a brilliant light blue, the tide was low (but slowly coming in) and the sand under our boots reminded us of the summer fun that was soon to come. 

Little did we know that our quiet walk would turn adventurous in just a short while...

After fifteen or twenty minutes of walking, we were greeted with a shock: what seemed to be a lifeless eagle was laying face-down on the beach. Upon our approach however, the eagle jumped to life, but couldn't lift it's head off the ground or get it's wings beating fast enough to take off.

It was heart-breaking to see the poor creature like this.

Immediately Quinn took out his phone and called our local raptor center. They quickly called us back and said they would be on they're way once hearing where we were located. 

But there was a problem: Cedar. We had to hold her back, the silly dog wanted to eat the dying eagle! Whenever the eagle would move or try to fly away, Cedar would try to run after it. Quinn, thankfully, kept a good grip on her collar and she never got close enough to hurt it.

After forty-five minutes of waiting, Quinn ran off to the trail we use to get to the beach to meet up with the ladies from the raptor center, while I stayed with the eagle and held Cedar back from trying to eat him.

Once they arrived, we watched as they carefully wrapped a big sheet over the eagle. And very slowly (with careful watch on Cedar) we walked them back to the road.

The two ladies explained that a euthanized dog had been dumped on a road not to far from us and the eagles in the area had been feeding on it. Because of the poisons in the dog, the eagles were getting sick. Ours had been the second report in two days of an injured eagle found in the area. 

We were so happy to help the raptor center! To see such a majestic creature up close was exciting.

But the best feeling ever came in helping the eagle. We hope it has a speedy recovery and is released again soon!

UPDATE:

   We have heard back from the raptor center! Two days after we helped take in the eagle (who wasn't able to fly or stand), they have reported he can now stand up and perch all on his own! They reported he was doing much better and that they would be transferring him to Sitka where he could get better care. Sadly, we probably wont hear anything once he goes to Sitka, but it's good knowing he's already doing so much better!