UPDATE (4/14/2015) Our Bald Eagle patient is doing very well. Just took some follow up X-rays the other day & it looks like a nice bone callus is forming at the site of the break. Jury is still out on if we’ll be able to release him back to the wild, but there’s still a good chance.
This is a juvenile Bald Eagle that came in last night. As the X-ray shows, he has a badly shattered ulna, yet the radius is intact. This strongly suggests that he is victim of a gunshot wound, rather than being hit by a car. We have reported the incident, but the likelihood of catching the perpetrator is pretty low. If caught this person would face thousands of dollars in fines and jail time. We will never understand the reasoning behind shooting at raptors. It is purely just animal cruelty.
The well-meaning folks that found this Bald Eagle had him for a few days before they were able to find us. Unfortunately, they had been feeding him hamburger. In his severely emaciated state trying to digest any solid food, even hamburger, has weakened him even further. He is now on a tube-fed diet of Pedialyte and a small amount of A/D food to slowly “wake up” his digestive system and get it ready for solid food in a week or so. Please, if you find an injured animal, seek professional help immediately! You may mean well with attempts at supportive care, but without proper training, you may be doing more harm than good. We’ll do our best, but please wish this “big guy” luck!
