Almanac: Eagles locked in death grip make it tough on rescuer
21.05.12
Bob Bladet was walking his dog in the woods near his rural Deerwood, Minn., home recently when he noticed movement in the brush.
"When I got closer I saw it was an eagle, obviously wounded,'' said Bladet, 66. He hustled home, called the Department of Natural Resources and a wildlife rehabilitator in Garrison, who told him to wrap the bird in a blanket, put it in a box and bring it to the clinic.
So he returned with a neighbor to help the raptor.
"As I was pulling the eagle out, I noticed there were two of them, locked in a death grip on each others' heads,'' Bladet said. "One had an eye out from a talon, and their heads were bloodied -- it wasn't a pretty sight.''
DNR officials figure the birds were fighting over territory and likely tumbled to the ground during the battle.
Bladet managed to pull the birds apart, then wrapped one in a blanket and put it in a box in his Jeep. He threw a shirt over the bird with the missing eye and was going to add it to the box. But the bird had other ideas.
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune