Number six

I started out the month of October by getting in the sixth baby golden eagle of the year. This one came from Duke Energy in Glenrock. He was found unable to fly and so far I can't find a reason for that. He moves very little but at least now he's standing whereas when he arrived he was so weak that didn't happen very often.

At this point I believe there are two possible reasons. Either WNV or poison. He's not eating on his own so I'm tubing him with Carnivore Care, a high calorie, critical care oral food. I've also started him on some solid food, right now it's venison steak. He readily swallows when I put the meat in his mouth but won't take it on his own.

You'll notice in the photo that he appears to have a white eye. That's because his lower eyelid is closed. The only time he opens them is when I pick him up or otherwise make him move. And now I'm not sure he can see. I'll check with my eye doctor, Dr. Barry Welch, to see when I can take him in for a check of his vision.

He's a beautiful baby, about six months old, so I hope I can find the problem and fix it. His name is DEVON.

UPDATE: He doesn't have WNV, he has a bacterial infection that worked its way to his eyes. One has a cataract and the other has the beginnings of glaucoma. He is totally blind and because the quality of life would not be good, he was humanely euthanized.