The other day, in Surrey, British Columbia, a man noticed a bald eagle hanging from a power line above the street. As he got closer, he noticed something even stranger — there wasn’t just one bald eagle hanging from the wire, there were two, and they appeared to be stuck together.
OWL Rehabilitation Society
Concerned, the man reached out to OWL Rehabilitation Society for help. When the rescue team arrived at the scene, they determined that the birds had been in the midst of a fight when they happened to land on the power line.
“[T]hese two were attacking each other’s legs and feet during a territorial and nest protecting behavior,” Martina Versteeg, a wildlife rehabilitator at OWL, told The Dodo.
OWL Rehabilitation Society
No one knows how long the eagles had been hanging from the line — they could have been there for an hour or even longer. The entire time they’d been stuck, they’d kept their talons tightly interlocked.
“They are reluctant to let go during a fight so as to not show weakness,” Versteeg said.
OWL Rehabilitation Society
The wildlife rescue got in contact with the local power company and fire department to make sure their volunteers could safely go up and assist the birds without injuring themselves. Once the power was cut, the teams worked together to lift an OWL volunteer up on a ladder so he could try to free the birds.
It only ended up taking a few seconds for the volunteer to set the eagles free.
OWL Rehabilitation Society
“Our volunteer grabbed one eagle’s leg and that was enough to act like a bigger threat, where the eagles decided to let go of each other and fly off,” Versteeg said.
Luckily, the birds were uninjured and perfectly healthy, despite their ordeal. As the eagles flew into the distance, everyone who’d helped to rescue them admired their grace and power.
“We are just so glad they were not electrocuted or received any serious injuries,” Versteeg said. “It is always nicer when we don’t actually have to rehab.”
Based on the way the eagles had been fighting, the OWL team could tell that they’d both been trying to defend their nests. So by saving these two birds, the rescuers not only helped the two adults, but also the babies they’d been trying to protect.
“We hope these two eagles went back to caring for their babies and have a great life,” Versteeg said.
If you’d like to support OWL Rehabilitation Society, you can make a donation here.
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