Viewers of online eagle webcams noticed that one of the newborn eagles in the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. was injured and seemed to have its right leg stuck.
Arborist Matthew Morrison received an approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to intervene with nature and help the stuck eaglet. The eagle was only a few months old and was given the name “DC4”.
“I think that the eaglet was uncomfortable being stuck in that position for hours,” Matthew said. “It was life or death.” The American Eagle Foundation shared a video of the eaglet’s rescue on its Facebook page. “If you have the power in your hands to help I think sometimes you just have to step forward and help,” he concluded.
After the eagle was rescued, it still felt uncomfortable. They traveled all the way to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore for a veterinarian to check out his injuries. Luckily, the injuries weren’t severe. Its legs were a bit swollen and it suffered from a slight abrasion, but the eaglet was doing fine otherwise.
After treatment, Matthew decided that he the eaglet would have to be taken back to its nest. Due to its young age, it wasn’t able to do so individually. Matthew considered it a complete privilege to deliver the baby eagle back to its nest.
He climbed a 95-foot tree while it was storming to return the eaglet to its warm nest. When both finally got to the top of the tree and close to the nest, Matthew quickly bent over and gave the small eagle a kiss on its head. “It just seemed natural,” he said. “I gave him a good wish.”
Thanks to Matthew, the newborn eagle has been reunited with its family. The baby eagles are offspring of America’s most famous bald eagle pair that nested at the Arboretum in 2015, Mr. President and The First Lady.
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During the early evening on April 20th, the right leg of one of the two eaglets (DC4) residing in the DC Eagle Cam (U.S. National Arboretum) nest became lodged in a hole in the stick-rails of the nest, near the V-shaped split in the trunk of its nest tree (pictured).
The eaglet was unable to free itself after many attempts to do so over a considerable period of time, so the American Eagle Foundation and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with the U.S. National Arboretum, arranged for the eaglet to be rescued by a professional tree climber/arborist and USFWS eagle expert.
Initial examination of the eaglet on the ground by the USFWS representative found that the leg did not appear to be seriously injured. The eaglet was removed around 8:00 pm EDT from the nest before rain and thunder showers were predicted to take place.
The eaglet was taken to a veterinarian at a zoo in Maryland where a physical check-up an radiograph of the leg confirmed that the eaglet is in acceptable condition with the exception of an abrasion and swelling on the leg.
Plans are being made to hopefully return the eaglet back to its nest as soon as possible to resume daily life with its sibling and parents, Mr. President & The First Lady.
All photos and video may be used with permission and the following public notice, (C) 2017 American Eagle Foundation (www.eagles.org)
Posted by American Eagle Foundation on Friday, April 21, 2017
