Badger Run

Our first intake of 2020 went home May 19th. This Golden Eagle came in the first week of January with a wing fracture after being hit by a car. She also had lead poisoning. The wing fracture required surgery (about $300) & healed beautifully, but it took FOUR rounds of chelation therapy (about $400 in reagents) to get her lead levels to undetectable. She then went through over a month of treatment for a fungal infection, Aspergellosis, common in Golden Eagles that affects their lung function. Although we have a 120 foot flight pen, in April we transferred her temporarily to Cascade Raptors in Eugene for more R&R to give her even more room to fly & build her muscles. Thank you to BRWR volunteers, Myranda & Josh, who took her to Eugene initially then brought her back yesterday for release to home territory. It took over 5 months, but she is back in the wild where she belongs.

Sunday we got a call from Good Samaritans, Leigh & John, about a Great Horned Owl ensnared in a barbed wire fence on their property. Our Badger Run volunteers headed out with wire cutters to offer assistance. The poor owl was very, very lucky in this encounter. The wound left after freeing her from the fence was very superficial. The picture looks far worse than it was. We were able to add a couple of resorbable sutures where needed & apply resorbable bandage material to cover the wound while it heals. We decided her best option was to return her to her mate & let her heal in the wild. Our volunteer put her right back in home territory on a wooden fence where she sat for a minute getting her bearings. After that she flew off like a champ across a field into a tall tree. Her mate had been circling the area looking for her while she was being treated at Badger Run. Leigh & John were surveying the barbed wire fence in preparation for removing it when we got back out there to release her. One of the feistiest Great Horned Owls we’ve ever handled. The cat muzzle she is sporting helped calm her & also saved us from a nasty bite. Her mood was likely due to being a mature female during mating season.

This 2018 hatch year Bald Eagle came into our care suffering from a wing abscess that had become so severe it could no longer fly. Upon further testing we also determined it had lead poisoning. We started it immediately on antibiotics for the abscess & chelation for the lead in its system. Within a few weeks it was ready to send home to Tulelake NWR. Our volunteers released the eagle February 16 within 1/2 mile of where it was originally found. Many thanks to the folks who reported the injured bird & to the USFW staff at Tulelake for transporting the bird to our facility.