Golden Eagle Taxi

Wednesday morning, the start of our "work" week. Scheduled today was the monthly safety meeting of refuge-wide staff followed by the weekly volunteer meeting. We were anxious to see how the Golden Eagle had passed the night. As we walked into the visitor center, Dan greeted us with, "How would you like to take the eagle to Tucson?" We were very happy it was still alive and glad to take it anywhere it could get help. Dan had already contacted Liberty Wildlife, a rehabilitation group that specializes in raptors. They are located outside of Phoenix, several hours away, but one of their volunteers would meet us near Tucson for the hand-over.

Ellen and I loaded the crated eagle into the refuge minivan, so it would have a more comfortable ride than in one of the pick-up trucks, and headed to Tucson. The eagle was mostly calm with a few episodes of flapping around, mostly due to a slippery crate floor. Peeking into the crate, however, Ellen could see the eagle looking back out at us, seemingly alert.

We arrived at the designated spot, a Shell gas station near the entrance to I-19, and Tim, the volunteer from Liberty Wildlife, was waiting for us. He knew exactly what to do and we stood back and watched as he donned elbow-length leather gauntlets and approached the crate. Reaching inside he took one leg and then the other, lifting the eagle gently from our crate, placing him in theirs (which had a carpeted floor, no slipping). The eagle flapped a bit, still lively but clearly not at full strength.

Tim told us that Liberty had taken in 6,500 birds already this year. This seemed to us an appallingly large number. Not all can be saved and not all are returned to the wild. We asked if we could find out about the progress of "our" eagle. He said it's not usual but even for them a Golden Eagle is a very special bird and he'd email us know how it fares. He also told us to remember that this is the eagle's best chance at this point.

After this excitement, the rest of the day would be anti-climatic especially since we spent it collecting seeds at the side of the road!

Photos (Eagle)

More Photos (Seeds)