'I have to stop. It's a bald eagle': Vet, friends rescue rare bird injured along highway
LOXAHATCHEE — Wellington veterinarian Carol Holland was driving through the sugar cane fields surrounding Southern Boulevard past Twenty Mile Bend when she saw something flopping on the road.
Holland, on her way to Sarasota for a client's horse competition, pulled over and saw a creature sitting inches away from the yellow center line while cars swished by at 80 mph.
She immediately recognized the bird's white head and yellow feet.
"I have to stop. It's a bald eagle," Holland said, recalling the scene on April 4. "It was just exactly like the one you see on the dollar bill, on our flag or any American symbol."
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The eagle was extending its brown-feathered wings but couldn't lift itself off from the ground, Holland said.
It was a windy, cold morning, and two men who also stopped their vehicles warned her not to get close to the majestic bird. Holland ran to fetch blankets from her car and told the men to stand in a triangle with her so they could surround and move it to a grassy patch away from incoming traffic.
Holland decided to call "The Bird Girls," Tammy Rubio and her daughter, Cori McHugh, founders of the nonprofit Misfit Island, who care for over 70 birds at their Loxahatchee home.
She told Rubio the eagle was the size of a medium dog, had long wings that stretched up to her waist, and its talons, with its large hooked claws, were bigger than her hand.
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Bald eagles were considered endangered species until 2007 but are federally protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which prohibits the killing, harming and selling of the species. It is also illegal to possess and sell eagle feathers and parts.
Rubio arrived half an hour later and saw the bird's feathers sticking out from underneath the blankets. She knew handling eagles was dangerous because of their sharp claws.
"Their nails are like razor blades; they go right through the meat," Rubio said. "And once they grab, they don't let go."
Rubio reached down the blanket, extended the eagle's talons, grabbed it by his toes and tucked it on the side of her waist, like a toddler. She quickly realized something was wrong.
There wasn't any blood in its beak or nose, but the eagle's collar and gums were pale. His leg muscles were tense and swollen as if they had suffered trauma, Rubio said. Another eagle was hovering above their heads.
"He was very quiet for a bald eagle," said Rubio, who was holding an eagle for the first time in her life.
Holland wrapped the eagle with a blanket like a taco and Rubio laid it on the back seat of her car before heading to McCarthy's Wildlife Sanctuary in The Acreage.
The eagle was later taken to the South Florida Wildlife Center in Fort Lauderdale where staff told Holland and Rubio they had found he had suffered muscle damage, probably from being hit by a car. Veterinarians there still are caring for the eagle.
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'How many times do you get to see an eagle up close in your life?'
It had been 25 years since Holland had last seen an eagle. The veterinarian said the rescue was an unforgettable experience.
"How many times do you get to see an eagle up close in your life?" Holland said. "And how many do get to help and hold one? It was just absolutely phenomenal."
Despite all of her training with birds, Rubio said, holding the bald eagle was unlike anything she had experienced before.
"It's like a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Rubio said.
Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Wellington vet, friends rescue eagle found injured along State Road 80
