More gold at IBR

I now have two more golden eagles here at the facility. This photo is what appears to be a very old fellow, BURL, who had trouble standing when he arrived on the 19th of this month. I have no idea what is wrong but it almost appears as if he's had a stroke. He's much stronger now after being hand fed elk steak two or three times a day until yesterday. When I offered him some steak in a container he ate it on his own. Now he's able to stand and walk around, eat on a rabbit and still eating some straight meat too. I have high hopes of his being returned to the territory where he was found so he can live out the rest of his life with his mate, if he has one. At his age he may be a bachelor or between mates.

The second golden is a baby of last year, SKINNY MINNIE, (I don't have a photo of her yet) who arrived on the 23rd with what appears to be electrocution burns on her right foot and left wing. She is very thin weighing only seven pounds. Female goldens should be between 12 and 13 pounds so she's almost half what she should be. Right now she can't hold her wing up in its normal position. With her swollen right foot she wasn't able to be accurate in catching prey and without that ability her strength went down. Sort of a Catch 22 because without the strength she just misses more often until she dies of starvation. Luckily this baby was seen on the road about dark and 40 miles from me. A wonderful lady called me and sat in her car until I arrived. I don't think I've climbed over as many large boulders as I did trying to find the bird on a hillside in the dark but eventually I did. The fun part was coming down that same path holding a very large squirmy bird and a flashlight.

It will take a few weeks to know if this is actuallly an electrocution and if so for the wounds to become worse. It may also kill her right foot. Electrocution is a horrible thing to happen as it kills from within. She is eating altho not as much as I'd like. Hers is a day by day process with my fingers crossed for a good outcome.