Our snares are set, our net is at the ready, and we've been standing around in the snow since dawn, waiting for the eagles to come in. We keep a close eye on our snares and bait with binoculars and spotting scopes.
Each time an eagle nears a perch we've erected, or flies over the bait
in front of our net launcher, we hold our breaths. Typically, the eagle moves on, or perches nearby. We sigh, and wait for the next close encounter.
Then, unexpectedly, an eagle flies down and lands next to the chum carcass set out in front of our ballistic net. It looks around, cautiously, before beginning to feed. We wait until the eagle has its head down, focused on tearing a nice, juicy bit of chum off the carcass, and then-- "Fire!" We trigger the ballistic net remotely, and the .22 gauge blanks power three padded projectiles, launching the net from its housing out and over the bird.
"We got it!"
Everything is a rush. We sprint from the roadside, where we've been watching, down the river embankment to our freshly-netted eagle. We must move quickly, to ensure that the eagle doesn't escape from the net, or get too tangled. Immediately, we secure the talons of the eagle in our hands, and place a hood over its eyes. Eagles receive most of their sensory information visually, so when they can see what we're doing, they get stressed. With the hood on, however, they immediately calm down, and are relatively docile in the hand. Unlike many mammals, birds do not need to be anesthetized during handling. The hood keeps the eagles calm enough.
We then begin the process of extracting the eagle from the net. Here, Steve Lewis and Dr. Scott Ford work the netting off the eagle's wings.
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| Steve and Scott work the netting off the eagle |
Read more »Labels: Alaska, Alaska bald eagles, bald eagles, birds, Chilkat, eagles, fieldwork, Haines, Haines eagles, wild birds
