Pilots would understand the expression “I want to be a bird”. Sounds wonderful, a life spent carving through our vast and spectacular sky’s.
Truth is, nature is cruel. Even the most majestic of our winged friends can meet the harsh reality of life on a very unforgiving planet. Very few of us take the time to appreciate just how fragile our existence can be.
On a recent trip up through the “interior” we came across an example of the stark reality of being a bird.
This is a photo of an immature Bald eagle (which we had mistakenly identified as an immature Golden). Mia had spotted the Bald sitting on a fence post overlooking the North end of Nicola Lake near a view point pull off. I had missed spotting the bird but Mia convinced me to turn around for a second look. We made our way back to pull-out and were amazed that the Bald had not left his perch. It soon became clear as to why.
The young Bald had serious wing damage, it became very clear he was unable to fly when eventually we came to0 close and it fluttered down to a lower bench on the rocks below.
We left the bird sitting below on the rock bench and headed down the highway to Kamloops where we stopped in at a raptor rescue facility. They said they would be able to assess the bird if we were to bring it in, so we decided to head back to the birds location to see if he could be captured.
Sure enough we had no trouble finding the eagle as he had made his way back up on the ridge and was eating a road kill deer that had been dumped below the lookout (though the carcass had been pretty much picked clean) . The eagle could not fly at all but was still plenty mobile. With the aid of a blanket I was able to corral the bird and without too much struggle had it wrapped up for travel. At this point I could see his left wing was in terrible condition. With the blanket keeping the eagle calm Mia drove back to Kamloops with me holding the eagle on my lap. We dropped the eagle at the refuge and hoped for the best.
The refuge assessed the eagle and determined that that the right wing had been damaged but was healing… the left was in poor condition and would never be capable of flight again (a veterinarian provided X-ray services to the refuge). They decided that with no hope of release back into the wild the bird was to be euthanized. And just like that… this majestic creature was no more.
It was my guess, the young eagle was taking advantage of the road kill and was injured on a nearby barbed wire fence. Both Mia and I feel terrible about the fate of the eagle. We are not even sure our interference in natures way was the right thing to do. What we do know was the bird was dying, unable to hunt and gradually starving to death. The day after we found it, an artic front blew in and the temperature had plummeted, eventually starvation and shock would have taken its toll.
The death by natural causes or death by human interference… there is nothing humane about the outcome. The reality of being a bird.
