August 4, 2017 at 4:46 p.m.
Sad ending for bald eagle in Vilas County
Despite efforts of officer, wildlife rehabilitation center, national bird dies
Sad ending for bald eagle in Vilas County
Gerard Ritter, a captain with the sheriff's office, said by the time he arrived at the scene on State Highway 70 between St. Germain and Eagle River someone had moved the bird from the highway and onto the shoulder.
"They indicated one of its legs and wings appeared to be injured," he said. "I wrapped it up in my SWAT jacket to keep it secure."
Ritter said it appeared the eagle had been feeding on the carcass of a smaller bird when it was struck by a vehicle.
The driver of the vehicle that hit the eagle didn't stop and there were no witnesses to the incident, he added.
"Nobody's come forward to identify themselves, either," he said.
As a result, Ritter said there is no ongoing active investigation.
"When they're feeding along the road there, those eagles aren't always paying attention," he added.
Wild Instincts, a non-profit wildlife rehabilitation center in Rhinelander, was contacted to take the eagle and have it checked out.
Before a representative from Wild Instincts could get to the scene, however Ritter said he contacted a family member to see if he could get a dog kennel to place the wounded eagle in.
"I was able to secure the eagle in the dog kennel and then people from Wild Instincts took it to their facilities," he said.
While Ritter waited for Wild Instincts personnel to arrive, he said several concerned citizens stopped to inquire about the eagle.
"There were some Native American tribal members that stopped and showed their respect," Ritter said.
Bad internal injuries
As much as he would like to report everything turned out well for the eagle, Mark Naniot, the director of rehabilitation at Wild Instincts, said unfortunately that isn't the case this time.
"Basically, it died about 30 seconds after it got here," he said. "We took him out of our transport container, barely started our examination and he passed away during the process. Obviously, there were some pretty bad internal injuries there."
Naniot said information on all animals brought to Wild Instincts is recorded there are extra steps that have to be taken when an eagle dies.
"We have eight eagles now," he said. "We do end-of-year reports for all those."
Naniot said the carcass of the bald eagle Ritter recovered, along with other eagle carcasses the center has collected, are sent to the National Eagle Repository in Boulder, Colo.
The repository is operated under the auspices of the Office of Law Enforcement of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
"So, there's a little bit of paperwork that goes along with it," Naniot said.
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected]
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