Injured bald eagle rescued from ditch in southern Alberta
Women walking near Cremona took young bird of prey to wildlife reserve in Cochrane
Two women out for a walk near Cremona, Alta., on Tuesday night rescued an injured young bald eagle they found huddled in a ditch.
“We sprung into action and managed to get my sweater over its head — it is bloody cold outside I might add, lol,” Denise Collins told CBC on Facebook.
Collins and her cousin Karnell Collins took the bird to a wildlife reserve 40 kilometres south in Cochrane for treatment.
It’s not clear exactly how the bird, probably a one-year-old female, became injured, said Clio Smeeton, president of the Cochrane Ecological Institute and Cochrane Wildlife Reserve Society.
“This morning it’s a lot brighter but I had to force feed it,” said Smeeton. “It’s really, really, really thin. But it hasn’t got any broken bones.”
Signs of neurological damage suggest the bird might have eaten poisoned gophers, which is a common hazard for migrating raptors, Smeeton said.
It’s also possible the eagle, which was found underneath a power line, got an electric shock, she said.
Smeeton said it won’t be clear for a few days whether the eagle will survive.