Survivor, so far

I've talked before about the dangers of lead in birds. This beautiful adult Golden Eagle, ROSE, was found in an open field by some asparagus hunters near Powell. At my first view of her I immediately thought "lead poisoning". She couldn't stand, couldn't open her feet and both wings were very droopy. I gathered her up and as it was too late to take her in to Dr. Blessing, I settled her in a cage here and started her on EDTA, the medicine to remove lead from her system. I also and gave her fluids and put her feet in sandals to keep her toes open.

The next morning she was able to stand for a short time and even walk in her odd shoes. Her trip to the vet for xrays was very enlightening as they showed she has seven lead pellets in her stomach. That is the most dangerous place for them as the acid will leach the lead out and send it through her bloodstream.

Today, Sunday, she's even better. Hopefully the venison and elk meat I'm feeding her will work through her system and carry the pellets out of her body. In the meantime she'll continue the EDTA shots, six per day, until tomorrow morning then another xray will tell us if the lead has passed through.

This is just another reason to ban lead bullets. She wasn't shot but she apparently consumed the pellets from a dead animal/bird that was left in the field.