13 Bald Eagles Found Dead in Maryland
Three of the 13 birds were mature, meaning they are "the ones we all love that look like the national bird," a spokesperson for the Maryland Natural Resources Police says—they had white heads and brown bodies. Two were close to maturity, and the rest were immature and did not have any white feathers. A reward of $2,500 is being offered for information that leads to a conviction, the Sun reports, even though it's not yet clear whether a crime was committed. One possibility is that a landowner put out poison to control a rodent problem and the eagles ate poisoned animals, NBC News reports.
http://www.newser.com/story/220963/13-bald-eagles-found-dead-in-maryland.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=earthlink&utm_campaign=rss_topnews
Tags
Who is online
149 visitors
One possibility is that a landowner put out poison to control a rodent problem and the eagles ate poisoned animals, NBC News reports.
If this is the case people need to be better educated on the use of pesticides!!! Happens with cats a lot too.
I have a problem with people that think that can poison one creature, and it won't effect other creatures in the environment.
This is horrible!!! I hope they figure out what caused these deaths. Such beautiful creatures and a great loss.
Can the vets or other qualified staff determine with an autopsy the cause of death? That would surely answer some questions that are raised by the article.
I hope so. It would sure be nice to know exactly what caused this sudden die off. If it is pesticides then people have to remember that were are all animals and are all connected in one way or another. What may seem like a simple solution to one problem can lead to terrible unintended consequences in other areas of the environment.
They can run tests to see if a known pesticide killed the animals, like rat poison. It happened here in KY, and the guy went to jail. Usually, it is people that use pesticides for purposes not intended-- or not reading the warning labels, or mis-using pesticides, purposefully. We have our share of nut jobs here in the state, and people feel like they can do anything, and it's ok because they're farmers. A lot of times, too, it is from using a pesticide that has been discontinued for use.
Fortunately, it is a federal crime, so some local judge can't just let them go. There are a lot of rules on pesticide use that are put forth by the Dept. of Agriculture, and enforced.
We have several eagle sanctuaries, here in the state, where injured eagles can live out their lives. It is always fascinating to visit them, and see them being cared for. The Salato Wildlife Center is just about an hour down the road from my house, I love going there to see the eagles, etc. that live there... They take care of them the best they can, and try to heal those that can be fixed... It's really sad to see an eagle without a wing, or only one leg, etc., but they seem to be as healthy and "happy" as possible.
Fortunately, it is a federal crime, so some local judge can't just let them go. There are a lot of rules on pesticide use that are put forth by the Dept. of Agriculture, and enforced.
It's a federal crime to intentionally kill a Bald Eagle and a federal crime to intentionally misuse pesticides. It would seem unlikely that the farmer who reported the dead birds knew anything about it, but if this was a case of pesticide poisoning, then I hope someone goes to jail for it.
Very likely, it is someone trying to poison a groundhog or something. The groundhog died, and the eagles ate the carcass. Here in KY, they investigate these incidents very carefully, and charges are filed... Which is GOOD, I think.
Yes they can Buzz. It's been done many times in the past with a variety of animals/birds.
Rodent poison is coumadin, like the blood thinner given to people with blood clots, but at a much higher does. The animals bleed to death internally. If a bird ate such a dying rodent, they would die, too.
And if adults fed the poisoned rodent meat to their young it'll kill them too. Which would explain the different maturity levels of the dead.
I've never even seen an eagle here in Maryland, much less thirteen of them. This is sad and strange.
I've never even seen an eagle here in Maryland, much less thirteen of them.
I've never lived in Maryland, so I'm not sure of the population of Bald Eagles there. When we lived in Fountain Hills AZ, Northeast of Phoenix, we saw many, many Golden Eagles hunting. They looked so beautiful just floating on the updrafts from the valleys floors that they almost didn't even look real.
Hal,
We have seen them around the Perring Parkway area. Not sure where you are in Maryland, but they are out there.