Nano Perez and Tom Friedrich were surveying the Nisqually River for spawning steelhead when they came upon a wounded bald eagle. The tribal staff members were on hand yesterday when the bird was released, healthy, back to the river.
From King 5:
The soon realized the beaver was a bird.
“Kind of hopping around – soaked – shivering – blood in it’s mouth,” said Perez.
“Put the jacket over the top of him – secured his wings,” said Friedrich.
The eagle was hypothermic and underweight and its feathers so wet it couldn’t fly. The men took the eagle on their boat and called for help.
“This is the first time to get one that was fished out of the river,” said Claudia Supensky, who runs For Heaven’s Sake Wildlife Rescue.
They dried off and warmed up the young eagle, fed it salmon and rabbit and soon after it had visitors – the fishermen who saved its life.
“He would’ve died. There’s absolutely no question,” said Supensky.