Army veteran rescues bald eagle dangling upside down from a rope in 75-foot tree

[DP]

in 75-foot tree by 'mowing down the branches' with his rifle.

The bird was taken to University of Minnesota Raptor Center, a rehabilitation center that specializes in medical care for eagles and other large birds, where he's recovering.

The eagle had been hanging in the tree for more than two days as neighbors called the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the local police and fire department but were told there was nothing the agencies could do



A good use of a rifle...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...-tree.html

[OWC Jamie]

No tree climbing arborists in Minnesota ?

[sekker]

The eagle will get great care at the UM Raptor Center.

[SteveG]

All those wise-ass eagles are show offs.
Serves him right.

[DP]

Steve G. wrote:

All those wise-ass eagles are show offs.
Serves him right.

LOL!

[3d]

[ka jowct]

Are we sure he was aiming at the tree?

[Wags]

A hook and ladder rig can reach over 100'. Might have been a little safer than firing 100 rounds.

[rgG]

He might have saved the bird's life, but if there is a bird version of PTSD, I'll bet that bird has it. Poor little guy.

[JoeH]

I would assume that if something like that was an option, they might have considered using one. But that would have required that a location was near enough that the rig could be located with a stable base.

As for climbing, more of the tree is visible in the picture with the article. Not very suitable for climbing, especially high enough to reach the eagle.

The article does mention that a conservation officer did okay his attempt before he started. Now a .22LR might not be the most effective round to clip branches, but it worked. It probably would have taken a lot fewer rounds of .30 caliber ammo to have done the job, but the rounds would have carried farther.