Bald eagle aided at center released Tuesday

The eagle was released at the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission boat access site on the Yadkin River in the Roaring River community, less than five miles from where a landowner found him on the ground in a field, recognized something was wrong and reached out for help.

This resulted in Eric Crouse, a wildlife commission law enforcement officer assigned to Wilkes County, being called to check on the eagle. Crouse found the bird wet, apparently unable to fly and against a wire mesh fence.

He transported the eagle to the May Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Banner Elk, which is on the Lees-McRae College campus and provides opportunities for students in Lees-McRae degree programs.

Char Walker, a wildlife technician at the May Center, arranged to meet Crouse at the release site Tuesday and bring the eagle in a carrying crate.

Walker said Tuesday that after blood tests, x-rays and other checks, nothing was decided about what had happened to the eagle. She noted that his white feathers remained soiled but he otherwise was doing well. Walker said his preferred food at the May Center was trout after an initial liquid diet with electrolytes.

The May Center annually admits more than 1,500 injured and orphaned wildlife patients from western North Carolina. It isn’t permitted for bears and isn’t accepting deer due to concerns about chronic wasting disease. Walker said the center gets only one or two bald eagles per year.

At the Yadkin River access site Tuesday, Crouse lifted the eagle from a transport crate as the crate was steadied by Walker.

Carrying the eagle closer to the Yadkin, Crouse was careful to hold its lower legs together to avoid being injured by the bird’s two-inch long, very sharp talons, with four on each foot. This was the fourth time the Wilkes native released a bald eagle after it received care at a wildlife rehabilitation center and it showed. Crouse wasn’t even wearing gloves.

Standing about 100 feet from the edge of the river, he thrust the eagle into the air with gentle force.

The bird easily flew off in a slightly upstream direction and to the other side of the river, landing on a limb near the top of a tall sycamore tree. He remained on that limb as if wanting to keep an eye on the humans across the river, but within an hour took off for parts unknown.