Young eagle is on the mend
By Todd Leskanic
Staff writer
Animal rehabilitators said a blind and injured bald eagle found Friday in Hoke County may be regaining its sight in one eye.
A young bald eagle, left, first treated last week
at the Cross Creek Animal Hospital in Fayetteville,
is recovering at the Carolina Raptor Center, in Charlotte
Rehabilitators at the Carolina Raptor Center in Charlotte are treating the eagle, which is believed to be between 2 and 3 years old. Construction workers found the eagle at a work site off Rockfish Road. It was underweight, blind and had a fractured left shoulder.
Local rehabilitators captured the bird and took it to Cross Creek Animal Hospital, where it was treated with intravenous fluids and eye ointment. The bird was admitted to the Raptor Center on Saturday.
Mathias Engelmann, the center's rehabilitation coordinator, said the eagle was probably injured in some type of collision.
"He probably flew into something or something hit him,'' he said. "That would explain the head trauma and the eye injuries."
The eagle is brown and speckled with white, colors it will keep until it is about 5 years old. By then, bald eagles have their recognizable dark body and white head.
Engelmann said the eagle has regained some of its weight but is still a few pounds too light. Workers at the center have fed it a diet of liquids and small pieces of mice. The fractured shoulder is healing, Engelmann said.
Volunteer Barry Overcash, left,
and Rehabilitation Coordinator Mathias Engelmann
examine the eagle’s wing.
The big question is the eagle's sight. Engelmann said the bird's left eye is permanently damaged and probably will not heal. But he said the eagle, judged to be male by its size, began to respond to some visual stimuli on Wednesday.
"I think there is some vision returning,'' he said. "We're going to give him some time, fatten him up and get his strength back."
A veterinarian who specializes in ophthalmology will do a more in-depth eye examination next week. If the eagle's right eye heals, Engelmann said the bird will probably have to be kept in captivity. Engelmann said officials at the Raptor Center would confer with experts at a center in Minnesota about what to do. The Carolina Raptor Center treats about five eagles a year. The center in Minnesota treats 75 to 100, Engelmann said
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