Wildwoods Rehabilitation is an organization that rehabilitates wildlife. They're a nonprofit and they mostly focus on bringing orphaned or sick animals back to health. They shared a post recently that got my attention as I couldn't believe how old this bird was!

Google Maps
Google Maps
loading...

They shared the photos on February 24. The bald eagle was suffering from lead poisoning. Wildwoods says a tell-tale sign of lead poisoning is the green mute on the tail feathers. That's the bird's poop, and it's green from lead poisoning.

How does a bird get lead poisoning? In most cases, it comes from lead ammunition or fishing lures being used. There have been efforts to outlaw lead ammunition and lures for years. Wildwoods says that this has been causing a devastating impact on animals, especially our national bird.

What's cool about this bald eagle was that it was banded when it was just a little eaglet, before he could even fly. Records show that it was banded in June of 1989 in Wisconsin. Do the math- that's almost 33 years ago!

Eagles normally live around 20 years in the wild. Rarely do they reach the age of 30. This 33 year old eagle has a pretty good prognosis to get back into the skies and keep flying. Think of all the things this guy has seen from the sky in over three decades!

Wildwoods thanks everyone who helped with the rescue of this eagle. He's now in the care of The Raptor Center at the U of M, where they will hopefully continue to bring him back to full health.

What Each Month Really Means When You Live In The Northland

 

 

 

More From MIX 108