America’s state wildlife biologists are underpaid and underappreciated, and they have to put up with a lot of politics, bureaucracy and other BS, but they do great work, not only for deer but for all game and non-game animals and birds.
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Facebook:
District biologist Pete Acker rescued this bald eagle that had been struck by a vehicle (recently) in Surry County. He says, “Quickly I found the mature bald eagle could not fly but was still very nimble on the ground. I was able to capture it without further injury and transport it to a local rehabilitator, Smithfield Animal Hospital. They stabilized the bird and arranged to transport it to the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
At the center the patient, got a name: Bald Eagle #16-0028. She was checked in, examined by staff and weighed in at 12.76 pounds, the largest eagle ever admitted to the facility.
Radiographs confirmed multiple fractures of the bird’s left ulna (wing). Doctors took the eagle to surgery on January 30 in hopes of repairing it. Sadly, #16-0028 went into cardiac arrest and died on the table.
It didn’t work out this time, but there are more success stories than failures in the wildlife rehab business.
I understand that there are some anti-hunting people in this line of work, but for the most part the biologists, doctors, clinic staff and other rehabilitators do a great job for America’s animals and birds, and they deserve our support and respect.
Neat story. I found it somewhat strange to think a raptor could go into cardiac arrest.