When wild animals are in danger, many people look to Wildlife Inc. for help.
The Bradenton Beach nonprofit, led by Commissioner Ed Straight and wife Gail, responded Feb. 22 to an emergency call from a woman reporting an eaglet dangling from a cell tower near 66th Street and Cortez Road in west Manatee.
Damen Hurd and Devon Straight of Wildlife Inc. responded, contacting the company that owns the tower to assist. While rescuers from the tower company climbed to free an eaglet caught in a clamp, Hurd and Straight looked for a second eaglet. Spooked, the bird attempted to fly from the nest and landed about half a mile away.
“It may have been the first time that eaglet tried to fly,” Hurd said.
The first eaglet suffered a broken leg, which veterinarians at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay determined was inoperable. The eaglet was euthanized Feb. 24.
The second eaglet was taken to Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland, where it will be raised and released once it’s old enough to survive on its own, according to Hurd.
For more information, contact Wildlife Inc. at 941-778-6324.
— Kristin Swain