I got another call yesterday about a downed Golden Eagle on the Belfry Hiway near the Chief Joseph turnoff. The brother of a friend was traveling to Cody for a visit when he spotted the bird. He called his brother Jerry who called me. Before I could get out the door he called back to say that a State Trooper stopped to see if he was having car trouble and volunteered to stand guard until I got there. Unfortunately I didn't learn her name but she was great.
Because of the symptoms, JOSEPHINE may be in either an acute stage of lead poisoning or an advanced case. She is unable to stand or open her feet. That is a classic sign of lead in the birds system. I immediately took her to Dr. Blessing for a blood draw so it could be sent to the state lab for a diagnosis. I won't know the outcome of the test until tomorrow but it is imperative she start on Calcium EDTA at once to counteract the lead. That means she receives six shots a day, three in the morning and three 12 hours later. And because she can't tear her food as she can't stand on it, I am cutting it up for her and feeding her.
She has a super attitude and because of her age, an adult, she will hopefully recover in time to rejoin her mate, if she has one, for this upcoming breeding season. They mate for life and at this time of the year they are courting before preparing their nest for egg laying.
NOTE: The results of her blood test are in and are alarming. Normal lead level is .05ppm. Her level is 1.59ppm. She appears to be improving and trying to stand. She's also feeding herself from a bowl I put down with the cut up food in it.
Hi, kristy DesRosier here. I called you about CO-OP the kestral last year. One of my pigeons displayed the same signs as Josephine, couldn't close his feet or his wings. Antibiotics didn't work either. I'm trying to figure out where he could have picked up the lead. Maybe bits of lead paint from a really old building project. And here I thought I'd policed the area where I put the coop really well. But the rest of my flock is fine, raising chicks believe it or not. I hope your eaagle makes a full recovery. Just wondering Kristy.
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