Are you trying to imply that a sweet, little, cuddly eagle would hurt someone? :eek: No really. We did have to watch out for the talons that can crush human bones and the beak that can break fingers. Here is the whole story on his capture:Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinder & Smoke
We had been watching him for 5 days. Yesterday he looked really bad so today we decided was the day to catch him. We went down to the beach and saw him stranded on a rock in the middle of high tide. We get a 24 foot tide here so most likely a few hours ago his rock was on dry land then slowly the rock became surounded by water. When Christa (my boss) and I walked up there were two people standing there watching him already. With the four of us the eagle became worried, lept into the ocean and swam out furthur to a "better" rock. Well this "better rock" was already covered in water and he was having trouble keeping a grip. He weighed his options, lept back into the ocean and swam for shore. Seeing that he was very dirty (rare for an eagle) and having a lot of trouble Christa and I decided now was the time to do it. We called Joel, our wild life "expert" and left a message telling him we were catching him. We recruited the two people from the beach who had been watching him and told them what the plan was. Christa cut into the woods and took a long detour around the eagle back to her truck where she got a blanket. She then walked towards the eagle from one side while I circled up and got between the eagle and the woods, the volenteer boy went straight forward from the other side and the volenteer girl went between him and the ocean (we basically surounded him). The eagle knew he was in trouble and his only hope was to get to the woods and in a tree. So he came waddling at me with claws, beak and wings flapping. I easily stepped out of the way because he was so weak and he really didn't want to hurt me, just to scare me. His plan worked and he was in the woods but he was too weak to get in a tree. We followed him and tried to throw the blanket on him a few times with no success, he was able to pull it off his head time after time. Eventually, and sadly, he got his injured wing stuck on a branch. At this point in time he tried fighting us as best he could by fliping on his back and snapping at everything within his reach with his talons and beak. Christa tossed the blanket over him and this time he just gave up and sat there. Joel showed up at this point in time and went back to the truck and got the dog crate. Christa grabed the eagles feet, joel grabed his head and they placed him in the dog kennel, shut the door and that was how we captured a wild eagle.
Ashley
