By Mary Drew at Pasty Central (Mdrew) on Saturday, February 21, 2015 - 05:46 pm:
Today's photos and the story about them, come to us from Nancy and Joe Van Evera, who live in the Wallace area. Nancy actually took the first two photos and their friend, Jim Himmel took the second two photos.
Here is Nancy's story of the wounded Eagle and its rescue:
Exciting morning. I looked out and saw an eagle sitting on the ice on the Menominee River and wondered what it was doing out there. Checked back a few minutes later and another eagle came down and attacked it. They fought and rolled together and one eagle ended up on its back with its wings spread and didn't move. The other eagle sat close by and finally left.
Joe and I walked across the river to check on it and it was still alive. It would have died if we had left it. So, we used blankets and got it to the garage. Bud DeYoung, from the DeYoung Family Zoo in Wallace. came and picked it up and then got in touch with the DNR. Wow - that was something to watch.
A short five days later Bud DeYoung called and said the eagle had recovered enough and was eating and he felt it was time. He came over and Joe and Bud (I was out of town) went out and attempted to let it fly but it did not go well. Joe said it only made it a short distance and landed so they went and caught it again and Bud took it back to the zoo. Not sure whether it will go to the raptor rehab in Rapid River or if it will stay with Bud a few days longer. That is as far as the story goes for now. But, yes, the eagle is still alive. We didn't get any pictures of the attempted release, as Joe got out on the ice with the camera and the battery went dead immediately.
Let's hope for a positive outcome to this rescue story, that this beautiful bird can recover enough to go back to living in the wild here UP North. Nancy promises to keep us posted on its progress, with hopes that she can update with photos when it is released successfully. What a great story!