Nature
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Next time you do something embarrassing, just think: “At least I’m not a wild bird that had to be rescued, only for the humans to discover I wasn’t hurt, just full.” And if this example seems a bit left-field, boy do we have the story for you. A bald eagle was recently rescued in Missouri after well-meaning onlookers thought it was injured – only to discover that nope, it was simply “too fat to fly.”
The eagle was captured by rescuers from the Missouri Department of Conservation near the border of the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, the site of the first major Civil War battle fought west of the Mississippi. An iconic location for the raptor that is the literal emblem of all things Americana – it’s really quite the comedown for the poor chap.
People had reportedly grown concerned for the eagle’s welfare after it was spotted “shambling around” on the ground and generally looking a bit forlorn. Assuming it was injured, perhaps with a broken wing, it was taken straight for veterinary treatment, but the X-rays showed no evidence of any issues.
What they did show, however, was that our eagle friend had recently gorged itself on a substantial quantity of raccoon.
As the caption on the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield’s Facebook post reveals, a raccoon paw was actually still visible inside the eagle’s bloated stomach. The only conclusion was that the bird had overindulged on some probable roadkill, leaving it unable to take to the air.
Imagine trying to run 10 miles after finishing Thanksgiving dinner and you will understand.
Bald eagles generally favor fish, which can constitute up to 90 percent of their diets according to the American Eagle Foundation. However, they’re known opportunists, and will happily munch on whatever they can get their beaks on, from other birds like ducks to small mammals like groundhogs. They’re also more than happy to pick at carrion, so this individual likely thought it had hit the jackpot by happening upon a raccoon carcass.
After some R&R, the eagle was successfully released at a location near to where it was found, in a coordinated effort by experts from the National Park Service, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the Dickerson Park Zoo.
For a bald eagle, a belly full of grub is clearly something of an impediment, but that’s not the case for all birds. Pigeons, for example, have a nifty adaptation in their digestive systems that allows food to be stored in a structure called the crop for several hours after eating. It works great, provided the birds don’t munch on a load of fruit and perch in the sun all day – then you could have some very drunk pigeons on your hands.
But in case our unnamed eagle is reading this, please rest assured you’re not the only one who has been deemed too fat to fly. The same label was applied to an adorable owl called Plump (kind of adding insult to injury there) who was found in a ditch in Suffolk, UK, back in 2019. That tale also ended well – after Plump’s rescuers put her on a diet, she was soon back to a healthy weight for her species and released back into the wild.
[H/T: The Guardian]
