Daily Sitka Sentinel

‘Zapped’ Eagle Rescued from Power Pole

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    A small adult eagle was rescued from atop a power pole in downtown Sitka Sunday and taken to the Alaska Raptor Center, where it appears to be doing fine, Jen Cedarleaf, avian director at the center, said today.
    Cedarleaf said she received a call around 1:30 p.m. Sunday reporting an eagle involved in a power line accident near the Lake Street and Lincoln Street intersection.
    She said she expected to find a bird on the ground, but instead she found people looking up where an eagle appeared to be stranded on the wooden cross beams of a power pole and very much alive.
    “I panicked, I called Dr. Vosburg (the Raptor Center veterinarian),” Cedarleaf said. “She called the fire department, and they called the electric department.”
    Cedarleaf couldn’t tell the exact problem, but could see the bird was panting, and likely in pain or distress.

Alaska Raptor Center’s Sheila Swanberg carries an injured bald eagle that had been caught up in the lines at the top of the power pole pictured at left, on Sunday. (Photo provided by Earl Williams Jr.)

    The electric department linemen who brought the eagle down said the bird stopped panting once the power was cut. The bird was taken to the Raptor Center, where it was examined by Vosburg.
    “He was lying in the kennel last night. Today he was standing and he has a lot more energy,” Cedarleaf said of the eagle, which the Raptor Center has named “Zappa.”
    Zappa had no broken bones, but may have been injured from contact with the power line. It’s too early to tell, Cedarleaf said.
    “If he was zapped, it’s hard,” she said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen till a week later. The current can run through the bone, and cooks it from the inside out. He could be dying but we don’t see it for a week.”
    She said Zappa is in the convalescent mews, which is being kept dark to help with his recovery. When he’s ready, he’ll be moved to the flight area, with 26 or 27 other eagles, and released in March, when the herring return, she said.
    Cedarleaf said Zappa is a small adult male, at least five years old, with a wingspan of about 6 and a half feet and weighing 3,840 grams (8.47 pounds).
    She said she doesn’t know what led to the accident, although it may have been because someone was feeding ravens or eagles in the area, which is full of power lines and other obstacles.
    “It’s best not to feed birds in an area where they might get hurt,” she said.
    The electric department said some customers in the area lost power for about nine minutes – from 2:37 to 2:46 p.m. – during the rescue operation.