From the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center:
We released our second Bald Eagle of 2020 this past Tuesday, returning this Stafford County eagle back to her home in Aquia Harbour! Check out the full video of the release on our YouTube channel and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNmUpNu_8wM&feature=youtu.be
This patient came to us in mid-February after a suspected electrocution injury that left her with two burn wounds and facial/eye trauma (likely from falling after being shocked). Large birds like eagles and other raptors are disproportionately affected by electrocution injuries and these electrocutions are more common than many people realize. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that 900,000 to 14 million migratory birds are killed by electrocutions in the U.S. each year, though most will never be reported and very few will survive to come into rehabilitation.
Like every other Bald Eagle we’ve admitted this year, this patient also had lead in her blood that required chelation therapy to resolve. Lead is a serious health issue for all of our scavenging species as they ingest lead fragments left in gut piles or species that are shot as a nuisance and not retrieved. Any lead-containing ammunition, including full metal jacketed ammunition, jacketed soft points, or jacketed hollow points can cause this sort of fragmentation and dispersal into the shot animal. Please consider using ammunition that does not contain lead when hunting.
Thank you to the Office of Stafford County Sheriff deputy who rescued this bird and all of our amazing transporters who assisted with getting the eagle to our hospital and back!
