PORT ANGELES — An American bald eagle’s progress was being closely monitored Monday, the bird’s survival in doubt after a brush Sunday with a 7,200-volt power line west of Port Angeles.
“He’s doing as well as can be expected after being electrocuted,” said Jaye Moore, director of the Sequim-based Northwest Raptor and Wildlife Center. “Time will tell.”
Electricity to 35 homes was intentionally cut for 45 minutes beginning at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Edgewood Drive-Dry Creek Road intersection.
It was part of an attempt to pluck the hobbled eagle from atop a power pole after it was shocked, Gary Moore, a Raptor Center volunteer and Clallam County Public Utility District operations manager, said Monday.
The 7.2-pound adult male raptor would likely have died immediately if the electric current had a more direct path to ground, said Moore, who is Jaye Moore’s husband.
He said PUD workers were setting up an aerial lift truck to rescue the eagle when the animal “got a little nervous” and fell 45 feet to the ground.
Branches from a nearby tree broke its fall, Clallam County Detective Sgt. Eric Munger said in a press release.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office placed a blanket over the eagle before Jaye Moore arrived, Gary Moore said.
His wife said she picked up the stunned bird before it was transported to the Raptor Center.
Jaye Moore said the eagle was docile, a common reaction when eagles are touched by humans.
A neighbor had initially alerted the Sheriff’s Office about the distressed animal, Munger said.
Jaye Moore and the bird paid a visit Monday morning to Greywolf Veterinary Hospital, where the animal was examined by Dr. Michael Tyler.
Tyler said Monday the bird’s right talon had an electric burn, and that burns were on the shoulder and elbow of his right wing.
“The problem is that the electricity goes in one place, presumably through the talon, and out the wing, so there’s no way to tell the damage internally,” he said.
“Often, it’s one or more organs that get severely damaged.”
“The bird looks good, but we’re not under any illusions that it’s doing well.”
Jaye Moore said the eagle, which indeed was perkier 24 hours after the mishap, was on Metacam, an injected pain medication, and had been eating in its kennel cage.
It was the only bird at the center being treated for going one-on-one with a power line.
About 90 percent of birds rescued from such electrocutions don’t make it, Jaye Moore said.
“They either die, or we end their suffering,” she said.
But the Sunday survivor was showing his mettle at noon Monday, standing on a towel in his 3-foot-tall cage while Jaye Moore described his behavior from a foot away.
He was downright perky.
“He’s standing upright looking at me, making a growly, hissy noise, like, ‘stay away from me,’ ” she said in a telephone interview.
“He’s getting better now that he has meds on board.”
The eagle’s fate will be evaluated later today after his internal injuries can be more fully assessed.
“We’ll sit back, give him pain meds, and continue to feed him,” Jaye Moore said.
She said Raptor Center staff do not name the birds they treat to maintain emotional distance, an effort that works only to a point.
“You put a name on it, and then it becomes personal.
“It’s gonna hurt, regardless.”
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
Jaye Moore of the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center, with her husband, Raptor Center volunteer Gary Moore, cradles an eagle shortly after it was electrocuted by a power line Sunday and fell from the power pole. (Clallam County Sheriff’s Office)
The Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center is caring for a bald eagle that was elotrocuted by a power line Sunday. (Jesse Major/Peninsula Daily News)
