That particular bald eagle was found by a rancher about four or five miles west of Cedar City, Utah. The eagle was on the ground, the rancher was a little concerned because the eagle looked like it was tame, it would just sit there. The eagle sat there for a couple of days, then the rancher decided to give me a call. That the eagle just wasn't moving and wondering if the eagle might be sick When I first saw the eagle it was sitting under a group of cotton wood trees Well you're standing, that's a good sign No apparent injury, it was quite a ways from power lines and quite aways from roads. So not really understanding what could be causing the eagle to just be sitting there I carefully approached the eagle and the eagle refused to move Hi, how are you? You're sure a pretty thing. And I scooped the eagle up and gave it a quick check over and it was incredibly skinny. Which is a bad sign it hasn't been eating for a very long time Probably hadn't had a meal in two, almost three weeks. So obviously it went from a mild concern to a really critical condition We determined that lead poisoning was the issue, because we couldn't find any physical injuries the eagle had severe neurological issues You treat the symptoms, you want to make sure the eagle gets lots of food, lots of fluids subcutaneous IVs are in order, fluids, feeding tubes, medications As far as being able to identify the issues, that really comes with experience. You know I've been caring for these animals for the past 48 years and I've got a pretty good handle on a variety of illnesses, diseases, injuries that occur I really hate when they're too sick to bite. All of the animals that come to our rescue center, at least almost all of them, are in absolutely critical condition and it's a really bad thing when the animal just sits very quietly in the transport kennel and won't move and won't fight back and those kinds of things, so I have to reach in a grab him if he just lays there or sits there and acts tame we know that eagle is in really poor shape and so immediately we bring him out of the kennel as quickly as possible get food and fluids into him give him a thorough health examination and then start to plan the treatment that the eagle will receive in hopes of saving its life and so that's kind of the point any time that you see an animal, an wild animal that appears to be tame it is deathly ill. They do not want to socialize with us, they don't want to be a part of us They just want to be back in the wild and left alone. This particular eagle was in absolute critical condition It had lost more than half its body weight It probably was not going to survive No matter what we did to help this poor animal and I'm a little bit sensitive to not wanting to videotape what I call dead eagles and so my wife Susan says let's go video tape this and I say, no, no, it it probably wasn't going to worth the time to videotape it this eagle has a very, very slim chance of survival and so with extreme intensive care for 11 days where the eagle couldn't stand, couldn't move and like I said feeding tubes and everything we could do just to try to keep the poor little thing alive after 11 days Susan approached me again and says what about taking some videos and very very reluctantly, I said okay. and so from the video of me acquiring the eagle and getting it out of its airport kennel to the very first video you see of me feeding the eagle there was an 11 day period in there where I truly didn't believe the eagle would survive. hey little guy we're going to start off with some fluids By the 11th day, the bird was standing which was a good sign and it was the very first time that it was able to stand on a very very low perch it was exciting that he was able to step up onto a perch my little guy, how are we doing this morning? You want to bite, that's a good thing Please understand, I have had animals make it even further than that in the recovery and still not survive. So there was a little glimmer of hope we couldn't allow ourselves to hope too much because the disappointment if we lost that eagle would have been severe that's my boy, okay, there's your fluids and your medicine Do you want to try to do this standing on your own or should I hold you? Let's see if we can do this with you standing on your own, sweetheart. Initially there was three or four feedings a day and in the process of the feeding I would check the bird's weight and not use a scale but I would take my fingers and feel its keel bone, its breast bone and as the eagle regains strength and weight, that breast bone, the muscle around the breast bone, starts to cover more and more of the bone so the bone doesn't stick out as far. Each feeding, three or four feedings a day, each feeding would last about ten to fifteen minutes and again, this is not an animal that I want to socialize with this is not an animal that's a pet this is an animal we want it to be wild and so the less human contact, the better. It would take about twenty minutes to a half hour to prepare the food and fluids and medications for it the food that we would start off using because it would have a difficult time digesting we wouldn't use whole animal carcasses what we would use is either jack rabbit meat, cotton tail meat pigeon breast, quail breast, again, natural foods, and as the eagle continued to get stronger and stronger then we could start giving what we call casting material and that would consist of whole mice for the eagle so that it would not only get a more complete diet it would then be able to regurgitate the pellets to help clean out its digestive system and then once the eagle is able to feed itself then it would get whole carcasses of rabbits, quail, pigeons, rats, mice, and the eagle would be allowed to free feed, or feed itself. Our bald eagle, this morning, actually turned around on its perch. That might not sound like a big achievement to most of you. But in his weakened condition, him being able to turn around on a perch... remember, all of you who were in gymnastics, and you and you practiced on the balance beam and how difficult it was to turn on the balance beam? Well these guys live on a balance beam their whole life. and for him to have the strength and coordination to turn himself around on a perch in his condition was a huge achievement and so we're very very excited about that this guy right here was incredibly ill all indications were lead poisoning he's got some neurological issues he may have some vision issues and we have saved his life we are able to feed him, he's able to perch and whether or not he will be able to become physically fit enough to be able to return to the wild we won't know that for months but that's the goal, to get this guy back to the wild Now here's the sad part, by federal law if we can not return this eagle back to the wild the eagle can be placed in an educational program or the eagle must be euthanized. and that, that just tears me apart I've been caring for these guys for 47 years and it just terrifies me thought of working with this eagle for six months and he not be able to be releasable and that I will have to euthanize him and I promise all of you that will be an extremely bad day for me. That is why it's so very very important that we get the Cedar Canyon Nature Park up and running The Cedar Canyon Nature Park will be a place where non-releasable wildlife can be placed in natural habitats and be used for wildlife education well the first thing I want to do this morning is I want to check and see how much weight he's gained and instead of using the scale, I will feel his keel bone, his breast bone and, again, don't do this this can be very dangerous they do bite yes you do, huh sweetie oh that's a good boy, that's my baby, shhhh now see I'm distracting him here to let me get my hands up under here and feel his breast bone there's my baby, oh such a good boy oh you're doing better he's got more weight on his breast bone right here which means that he is putting on weight so that's very very good now that beak right there is designed to rip large chunks of flesh so he could certainly rip a big chunk of flesh out of my hand but I am keeping him very calm here and he's doing okay the next thing you have to worry about is his feet these feet right here 600 pounds per square inch of crushing power in those feet that's what he kills with and he could drive those talons through my hand and crush the bones of my hand so when your dealing with wild animals don't approach them. If you think they're sick please call police dispatch, do NOT call 911 911 is for human emergencies Call police dispatch, they will dispatch a wildlife rehabilitator like myself or a conservation officer who is skilled in handling these animals and let them deal with it because if you try to handle an animal like this you may have to call 911 because it may very well turn into a human emergency try to get you to a hospital with an eagle hanging off your arm So please do not pick up or approach sick or injured wildlife. Well it's time for his breakfast and we're very pleased with how he's eating. I've got a bag full of mice here these are domestically raised mice here that we order by the thousand to feed these guys please understand these are like two bucks a piece so feeding these guys is extremely expensive and I use a pair of forceps to keep my fingers a little bit further away so he eats the mouse instead of my hand there you go, that's my boy yes, now you know it's breakfast time, huh? It's very important to feed them whole animals not just meat basically they need the fur, they need the feather, they need the bones they need everything in order to help with their digestive system and so this guy will put down a pretty good sized meal this morning and that's really really good. Like I said he's gaining weight he's got sufficient balance, he was able to turn around on his perch but he's still very much a long ways from out the woods he's got a lot of healing to do still before he can be returned to the wild k, you 'bout got a full crop there kiddo? you had enough? okay, that's a pretty good meal, that's almost a whole bag okay, one more time, let me check you out here yes, I know okay, that's a pretty good sized meal that you've got in crop right now So you're doing all right we'll give you a dinner feeding a little later you ready for some breakfast big guy? are ya? you ready for breakfast? We've had steady progress with the eagle He's now jumping up on a perch that is about two and half feet off the ground able to turn around, able to perch well his balance is coming back, he's still very very weak we are feeding him whole animals but he still can't, doesn't have the physical strength to stand on a carcass and tear it apart to be able to feed himself so we're still hand feeding him how you doing sweetheart? yeah, that's my boy, you've got a lot more meat on you you were so skinny when we gotcha you're feeling so much better you start with three or four feeding a day and as the eagle starts to gain strength and abilities to swallow and to feed itself then it goes down to a single feeding a day where you put a large portion of food in and allow the eagle to feed itself Susan: what is a casting? Tell us what a casting is. a casting is what is undigested you can see right here what we're feeding him is whole mice and he'll eat the whole thing and then whatever he doesn't digest, the fur and bones and that kind of stuff he'll regurgitate into a pellet that comes out people are more familiar with owl pellets but all birds of prey cast pellets here's a pellet, right here and this is basically fur and bone and whatever else is not digestible and they regurgitate that about 24 hours after they've eaten and I gave him an evening meal last night and so he might not have brought it back up yet so he doesn't want to eat and put food on top of his casting so he can cast a little easier and when I bring my hand in here what I'm doing is I'm feeling for his keel bone and basically I don't want to pick him up and put him on a scale everyday and so I can check and see if he's gaining weight by feeling the keel bone right here and he's really put on a tremendous amount of weight since I first got him in So that's what I'm doing there is just checking his weight. Once you start to eat then you go You just have to get him to start but as I've told everybody before he's not out the woods yet he's still very weak yes I know, we'll feed you a little later after you've had your casting after your casting has come up, we'll give you some breakfast you're all right, that's my boy the basic rule is that these are wild animals, these are not pets and the less human interaction, the better. and so we try to minimize all human contact as much as possible. Where you're dealing with wildlife once they start feeling better and healthier, they do not want to be in captivity and that's kind of a point where things get a little bit dangerous because you walk in there and you need to continue the physical examination of the bird but they don't want to touched as you saw in the earlier videos the eagle just sat there, I could touch his head and touch his chest and make sure that he's putting on weight once they get to the point where you walk in the chamber and they fly across the chamber, they do not want to be touched they do not want you to grab them, to hold them then it becomes a point where you take a pole net you still have to do the examinations you take a pole net and you walk into the chamber and you net the bird grab the bird's feet, watch out for the beak because he will certainly at this point and time bite you viciously the bird has regained its wild sense of independence and it doesn't like the idea of having to socialize with a human and so it's a really, really good sign when that eagle flies back and forth across the chamber and I have to go net the eagle to give it its physical examinations and make sure the eagle is getting close to ready for release Here's whats going to happen now, I've got to go in and I've got to catch him This is a completely wild eagle We've had him for a couple months, we want to get him back in the wild and I'll be really honest with you, we don't want him to like me we want him to be afraid of humans when he leaves he'll fly far away and stay away from humans for the rest of his life that's a good thing Now the net allows me to get him as quickly and efficiently as possible So I'm going to step in, I'm going to grab him with the net and grab a hold of him them we'll walk him over to the car There's my boy Shh, shh, shh, shhh There's my boy gotcha sorta got ya oh we love that like I said, he's not tame, he's fighting like mad that's really good, we like that He's ready to go back to the wild where he belongs Let's get a hold of his feet here there we go, there's my boy for those of you who have seen the previous videos of this eagle you can recognize that he is 100% feisty and fighting and he wants to go back to the wild so bad right now so that is wonderful, he is ready if he wasn't fighting with me, I'd be worried since he wants to fight, that's terrific, we are going to get this guy released that's the goal to get them back in the wild as quickly as we can and efficiently as we can if I can him to let go the net here little bit of a hassle but we're almost there One more talon to let loose There we are, there's my boy Oh I know, you can bite me, that's all right There's a common belief among many native peoples that if you say your prayers to an eagle feather the eagle will carry your prayers to god so when I have an eagle that's ready to return back to the wild we will frequently seek out individuals or organization that could use some extra prayers and give them the opportunity to release the eagle herein lies the problem by the time I can say okay the eagle is healthy enough it's ready to be returned back to the wild the eagle is fighting with me the eagle does not want to be in captivity the eagle could injure himself in captivity and so when I call an individual or organization and say we need to an eagle release the vast majority of times they say well okay can we do it next month? Can we do it in three or four weeks? and the answer is no the moment that eagle is ready to be returned to the wild he has to be returned to the wild okay, now this is a hood and this is his stress protection these guys their eyesight is so good, a lot of movement especially transporting him in the car will frighten them, they can injure themselves and so we can put the over his head and block his vision so he'll sit much quieter in the car, he'll be a lot calmer this is his stress protection, this is the first time a hood has gone on his head so he's never worn one before there we go this particular eagle release we basically just said anybody that wants to go up to Brian Head which is the ski resort northeast of Cedar City and stand at the top of the mountain and release the eagle, we're going to release the eagle back to the wild and we offered everybody, adults, not children any adult that was there, if they would like to be the person to actually release the eagle we would put their name in a fishbowl and draw a name and that's the person that releases the eagle the reason that we make any wildlife release public especially eagle releases is the educate the public when I first moved the Southern Utah as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator we were receiving about a dozen shot eagles every year and it wasn't that the people of Southern Utah hated eagles, they just saw no value in them and so they would drive out through the agricultural areas and say there's a big bird, let's shoot it 38 years of school programs 38 years of Scout programs 38 years of community events 38 years of wildlife releases for the public's education we receive a shot bird of prey about one every other year maybe even less and so it's the education, you know, that eagle release will save more eagles than I will save in a year because the general public gets to see how beautiful they are how majestic they are up close and personal and see their value and once the eagle is in the sky I guarantee every one that attended that eagle release when they go back out to eagle habitat will be very careful not to injure eagles the purpose for the release first is to return the animal back to the wild that's the primary focus the second is education the third is always to help bring awareness to our volunteer wildlife rescue organization and so people get the opportunity to see and understand the work that we do and like I said, taking the animals out and just turning them loose without the public is certainly easier for us, especially me but we could release injured wildlife all day long but if nobody knows we released them and that we cared for them then we'd have a very hard time raising money for our wildlife rescue center the US Fish and Wildlife service will not allow us to band rehabilitation animals now we can band, we can get a banding permit and we can band baby eagles in the nest or we can band eagles on their migration trap them and take measurements for scientific study but they do not allow us to band wildlife rehabilitation animals North of town here we have a a roosting site where we have as many as fifty bald eagles come in and roost in the evenings Are any of those the eagles that I rescued? maybe, but I have no way of knowing I would like to say that this particular eagle stands out because of its success and its willingness to fight for its life and we were able to return it to the wild but that's a story that has occurred in my life hundreds of times we need a lot of help probably the first and foremost that we need is people who have the skills and abilities to raise the funds necessary to build the Cedar Canyon Nature Park to build our wildlife rescue center to build the visitor center, natural history museum, to build the eagle flight cages and to build the exhibits where non-releasable wildlife can be on display for the public to see and for educational programs then I certainly need skilled individuals who are educators to do wildlife programs, I need skilled individuals who are highly qualified in veterinary services I need builders, I need contractors I need custodians I need people willing to roll up their sleeves and help to run the Cedar Canyon Nature Park and keep is running and beautiful I need people with botany experiences for the native plants There's a million things that I need and so, you know, I always say and this is so very true that everyone not only has skills that we could use but everyone knows someone that could help the Cedar Canyon Nature Park Everyone wants to play with the animals and I certainly understand that but these are wild animals and because we're working with wild animals there's a two year training program you have to go through before you can even volunteer So if you really would like to help us there's a lot of other avenues that we could really really use and in the process if you're local in the Cedar City Utah area and would like to eventually be able to work with the animals I need you to volunteer in other areas to help develop the Cedar Canyon Nature Park and our wildlife rescue center and the people that help us do that will certainly be first in line to be able to work with the sick, injured, orphaned wildlife as the nature park develops. Susan Tyner: Visit our web site, gowildlife.org We've got beautiful wildlife t-shirts Martin is an amazing photographer and has beautiful photographs of all kinds of wildlife including this eagle if you would like to make a donation and receive some of his beautiful photography we also have a wonderful book out called Healer of Angels it's stories of Martin growing up in his youth and overcoming a lot of difficulties as a child the wisdom of his grandparents, it talks about how he got into falconry and the first bird he ever got all kinds of wonderful stories it's very inspirational it will have you laughing and some of it will have you crying it's a great read, so any of those things if you're interested in, it helps us to raise money to build the nature park and take care of our wildlife rescue, thank you very much Martin: and if anybody would like to make a $25 donation to the Southwest Wildlife Foundation I will send you a beautiful head shot portrait of this bald eagle. ♪ acoustic guitar music ♪
