Injured bald eagle rescued from N.J. backyard after 3-day effort

[Donna]

http://www.nj.com/hunterdon/index.ssf/2015/12/injured_bald_eagle_rescued_from_nj_backyard.html

[patsy6]

 

[Donna]

Lily turned out to be a male but who cares!!

Eagle Update: 12/28/2015

More good news, more bad news.

Much to our surprise, Lily's lead poisoning levels are back up above normal and we have resumed the chelation treatment. It's unusual but not unheard of for lead levels to shoot back up like this. There are several possible explanations, though whatever the cause, we need to treat it. Not the best news.

Lily seems to be fending off the infection at the gunshot/surgery area reasonably well. We removed the pin from his leg during surgery yesterday and did not see signs of any further infection. Still, that area of the leg was badly traumatized from the gunshot wound, and further traumatized by infection and multiple surgeries. While we do see some ability to move the muscles in the leg, it's not enough yet to say confidently that the leg is healing well and the bird - a top predator - will need full use of that leg in order to be released back into the wild.

One bright note: yesterday Lily ate on his own. Not much - a little fish - but it's the first time in the nearly three weeks he has been in our care that he has eaten on his own. He's been perky, angry and alert since he came in, and now he's beginning to eat independently. Lily has a long way to go and we are still very cautious about predicting any sort of outcome, but we like seeing this kind of fighting attitude.

Thanks once again to the Heath Family of Pittstown, NJ in whose yard much of the initial interest in this case began. Help support Lily and learn about the Heath family's fundraising efforts here:

https://www.crowdrise.com/lilythebaldeagle/fundraiser/

Thanks and Happy New Year,
All of us at The Raptor Trust

[MAK]

Keep fighting Lily! 

[Donna]

Eagle Update:
* Reward increased
* Eagle's condition more or less unchanged
In cooperation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, another local organization, Crime Stoppers of Hunterdon County, has added $500 to the reward for any information leading to a conviction in the shooting of this eagle. The total reward available is now $8000.
Anyone with information about this crime may make an anonymous call to US Fish and Wildlife at 908-787-1321 or 1- 844-FWS-TIPS (397-8477).
Our eagle patient, Lily, remains in unstable condition. Another round of chelation treatment is underway for lead poisoning levels that remain elevated.
Lily has been moved to a larger outside enclosure in an attempt to encourage him to eat on his own. We hope that more space, and perhaps a more natural view of the sky and the outdoors will make him more comfortable so he will begin to eat on his own. The injury to the leg makes it almost impossible for him to grasp and tear food on his own, so we are still hand feeding him daily, which is stressful for the bird.
One bit of good news is that the bone in his fractured leg is healing and the infection has cleared up. Unfortunately we suspect significant nerve damage. Lily is still barely using his leg at all - unable to grasp and barely able to put any weight on it - and we should have seen some improvement by now.
We really can't say just yet what the final outcome will be for Lily. If this nerve damage does not heal, we will have a continued and potentially unsolvable problem. We remain hopeful and we're doing every thing we can. We hope to consult with a small animal neurologist in the next few days about the nerve damage in the leg to see if there are any further medical options to explore.
We thank everyone for their support and all of the various media outlets for helping us spread the word about the reward.

[MAK]

I hope they catch the SOB that hurt Lily. 

[Bobbie Ireland]

All these wonderful people - worldwide! - who work so hard for the wild things and places. And one complete poope who does this. I despair.

[Bobbie Ireland]

All these wonderful people - worldwide! - who work so hard for the wild things and places. And one complete poope who does this. I despair.

OK. I will accept "poope" - tho it is not the word I used. (And the word I used was not that offensive. Seriously.)

[Donna]

EAGLE UPDATE: WEEK 6.
Our patient, Bald Eagle "Lily," remains in our care, 6 weeks later. We have not seen significant improvements to the nerve damage from the gunshot wound in his leg, though we do have some other news. Yesterday and again today, Lily ate on his own. Until now, we have had to hand feed (actually force feed) the eagle every day. This is a very stressful procedure for the bird, requiring us to capture and handle the bird daily and quite literally shove some food into him. Over the last week, Lily also vomited up the food he had been fed on several occasions. This concerned us greatly, as it could indicate the beginnings of some sort of failure.
We don't know exactly WHY Lily hasn't been eating, but there are a number of possible reasons. No doubt he feels generally awful from a combination of things - lead poisoning among them. In addition to that, he has been on a variety of medications, including antibiotics. While these meds have been completely necessary, they may have also contributed to what we might call a tummy ache.
Lily's lead levels are down and we have discontinued to treatment for that, so he may be feeling a bit better. And he is gradually needing fewer and fewer other medications, so maybe his stomach just feels better and he's finally hungry and willing to do something about it on so own.
We also moved Lily to a larger outside enclosure last week, outside of our infirmary, further away from people, where he has some room to stretch his wings, perch on large branches, etc. It's a slightly more natural looking environment and perhaps that has made him feel more comfortable.
So yesterday, Lily had a big meal on his own and kept it all down overnight. And this morning he ate again. He has expensive taste! Fresh caught whole trout and huge salmon fillets. But we are happy to see him eating.
This is only a small step forward - Lily has been here 6 weeks and has only eaten on his own a handful of times, and not at all very recently - but we know that many people have been following this story, so we thought we would provide this update. And this is not at all a prediction of any final outcome because Lily still has serious nerve damage to his leg and is unable to use the leg much at all.
A large, top predator like this eagle needs to be able to hunt and if Lily cannot regain almost all of the use of the injured leg, he will not be able to be released. If he is unable to use the leg even a little bit - just to balance, shift weight, hold food - he won't even be a viable candidate for life in captivity. There are still a lot of unknowns.
We will be scheduling a consult with a veterinary neurologist soon. We are actually holding off on that for a little bit right now since Lily has begun to eat on his own and we want to give him some time to get back into the swing of acting and eating like an eagle without being handled, stressed and subjected to further medical procedures.
That's all we have for now. Still fingers crossed and good news/bad news on our end.
We appreciate all of your support!

[MAK]

Hang in there Lily! 

[Donna]

EAGLE UPDATE: WEEK 8
Our friend, Bald eagle "Lily," is doing well this week. We are delighted to report some positive news and that there have not been any recent setbacks.
After weeks of force-feeding, Lily has been eating on his own quite well lately. It began just with certain species of fish, but now Lily is behaving like the scavenger he was born to be and eating fish, rats, quail and other goodies. This is most encouraging.
Lily is feisty and strong. He is in a small enclosure and has very good use of his wings, so we are considering a move to a larger enclosure soon.
Also encouraging is that Lily's wounded leg, shot by an irresponsible gun owner and criminal in early Dec, is slowly - very slowly - regaining some muscle control. Lily cannot yet grasp anything very tightly with the talons on his injured leg and he may never be able to hunt again, but he IS able to balance on the leg a little and move it some. While this is only a small victory, it is still a move in the right direction after weeks of what appeared to be complete loss of use of the leg. There is no question that the leg has suffered severe nerve damage, but nerve connections can heal, and we're hopeful that this process will continue so Lily can live a life with some quality somewhere. It's still too early to say whether or not he will ever be able to be released back into the wild, or even if he will be a good candidate for captivity at some licensed wildlife center like ours, but recently we have been encouraged by Lily's progress, slow though it may be.
Reminder: there is still an active investigation into the shooting of this bird and an $8000 reward remains for any information leading to a conviction in the crime. Anyone with information can contact US Fish and Wildlife at 908-787-1321.
Lily's care has been intense, ongoing and expensive. We thank all of you for your support and donations. Lily, and 4501 others like him, were treated here at The Raptor Trust in 2015 and we could not have done that without your dedication to our mission.

 

[MAK]

 

[Donna]

EAGLE UPDATE: WEEK 10
Our adventure with Bald Eagle, Lily, continues. Bird ID #15-3542 was tested again last week and much to our surprise and dismay, his lead toxicity levels had risen again so we have begun yet another round of treatment. The reasons for this are not entirely clear. Typical lead poisoning in wild birds occurs through ingestion - for example, they eat fish that have lead built up in their systems or they scavenge on a deer carcass that may have lead pellets in it from being shot.
For almost two months now we have been feeding Lily food that is 100% NOT contaminated. We do know that Lily was shot and that small fragments of the pellets remain in his leg. Somehow those pellets must have lodged themselves close enough to the open compound bone fracture area that lead is leaching into his system. The pellet fragments are too small to remove, and even if we could, that process would cause even more tissue damage to an already traumatized area of the leg.
The nerve damage to Lily's leg has been very slow to heal. In this new photo you can see that his right leg is still bandaged and that he is not really resting his weight on it. We had considered having him examined by a neurologist, but at this point, we believe a neurologist would only be able to tell us what we already know. Our medical team are reaching out to other wildlife centers to see if we might find a neurosurgeon with considerable wildlife experience who might be able to reconnect some of the damaged nerve bundles without traumatizing the leg any further. It's a long shot.
In the meantime, Lily continues to eat well, and that is encouraging. And he has been moved to a large outdoor flight enclosure where he can fly and move his wings. He also has a companion (seen in this pic)! We have a juvenile bald eagle also here for rehab and they are together in the big aviary.
The investigation into the shooting continues and there is still an $8000 reward offered for info resulting in a conviction in the crime. Any info can be reported anonymously to the US Fish and Wildlife Service at 908-787-1321, ext 311.
That's the update for now. We appreciate all of your support during this long, emotional and expensive process. It's not over yet.

[MAK]

Hmm, kinda strange about the lead level. Glad he's got a friend-they're important! 

[AlisonL]

EAGLE UPDATE: Week 12

The injured adult Bald Eagle known as "Lily", shot in Hunterdon County in December, remains in our care.

This week our amazing vet, Dr. Jennifer Norton, was able to remove one of the remaining lead fragments from the eagle's leg. We had hoped we would not need to subject the bird to any more surgery as the leg is already compromised and traumatized from the not just the gunshot, bur from multiple surgeries to set and align the bone as well as to remove other lead fragments. However, neurological issues continue and the bird is still not using its leg as it should.

In consultation with other surgeons we decided to make one final attempt to remove the last large lead fragment. Other fragments remain, but are too small to consider removing. This last large fragment, seen circled in red in the photo, was lodged in the bird's leg above the fracture. After speaking with several other medical professionals, it was determined that it is possible that this pellet may have been pressing against the sciatic nerve in the leg. So we made the decision to attempt one final surgery.

Using live ultrasound imaging, Dr. Norton was able to remove the pellet. Truly well done, Doctor, and we applaud you!

Will this be the fix for this eagle? We still don't know. Now he must recover from a 4th surgery. Are the nerves in his leg still too damaged to heal? Will the removal of this pellet help him regain use of his leg? We have to wait and see for the answers to all of these questions. Fingers crossed.

We appreciate so much the interest and public support we have received around this story. The weather is warming up. Please come visit to see our facility and the dozens of other resident hawks, falcons, eagles and owls who live here.

God bless. The Raptor Trust staff...