Eagles fly again
After rehabilitating at the Raptor Education Group Inc. (REGI) located in Antigo, Wisconsin, three eagles took to the skies. The eagle release facilitated by REGI, was held last Saturday afternoon at the Veterans Memorial park located on the Wisconsin River in Prairie du Sac.
Hundreds of people gathered together to cheer on the eagles’ release, including Mary Pasky from DeForest, Wisconsin. “I heard about the release earlier in the year, but then that was canceled. So, I’ve been watching to see when they were going to come back and do the release.” She said it was a great experience to have and is excited about the comeback eagles have made over the past few decades. “It’s amazing! It’s great to see as you drive along the Mississippi.” Pasky said it is amazing to see eagles rehabilitated and released back into their world.
The eagles’ release was made possible in no small part by REGI, a non-profit organization dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of injured or orphaned native bird species and the public education of wildlife issues.
“We released three younger eagles, one was a juvenile and the other two were immatures that were hatched in the beginning of the year,” REGI Co-Founder and Executive Director Marge Gibson said. She continued, “It’s a perfect place to release them because the water stays open and there is plentiful food. The habitat is good and it is a natural wintering area, which means that they selected it, not us. That’s an important thing because they certainly know, better than we, what’s good for them. They teach us if we listen.”
Gibson, a co-Founder of REGI, shared that title with her beloved late husband Don. The two started REGI after moving back to Wisconsin from California to care for family. “We had one of those (rehabilitation center) in Southern California, my husband is from Southern California. We moved here in 1990, my parents were getting older. I’m from Antigo, so I kind of moved home,” Gibson said.
Helping Gibson was Audrey Gossett, REGI’s Director of Rehabilitation. Gossett, originally from Oconomowoc, gained some of her experience in wildlife rehabilitation through internships at the Wildlife in Need Center and the Wisconsin Humane Society, and also worked at the SPCA for Monterey County's Wildlife Center in Monterey, CA, according to their website. Gossett has been involved with REGI since January 2013.
Each of the eagles released, had their own stories of hardship. One of the babies had lead poisoning in the nest, which Gibson said is very unusual, because usually it comes from something they are eating; some carrion whether it be a goose or turkey or rabbit that someone had shot with lead shots, or a deer with lead ammunition fragments embedded in their tissue. “The lead fragments look like a snowstorm inside of the animal. People think it is natural to put out the gut piles when you take your deer out of the woods, however when you use lead, the gut pile is full of lead fragments. The birds can’t see it or taste it. It’s not like a chunk of a bullet, they look like flakes, like flaking paint. All it takes is a piece of lead the size of a grain of sand to poison a human child, and of course our eagles are a lot smaller than that. It doesn’t take much at all. They can’t get rid of it because it is a heavy metal. Once they have it, they die unless they are brought in and we can treat them,” she said.
Unfortunately, the eaglet’s mother and father probably brought the tainted meat to the nest. His sibling was found dead under the nest, and his parents disappeared at some point. Gibson said they probably were sick at the same time.
The eagle was found by Kyle Carlson and his uncle John Carlson both of Sauk County. “My folks had property that they let youth groups use right along the river called Camp Carlson. The property has a lot of acreage along the river. There is a nest on the property. We’ve been watching it. Kyle was getting picnic tables for his daughter’s birthday party (around the 2nd week of June) and noticed there was a young one where it shouldn’t have been on the ground. He came and let me know and we went back to find it, but couldn’t. A couple days later, Kyle said, ‘I found the eagle, it’s way on top of the hill.’ It must have gone several hundred yards further. We tried to catch it and we weren’t too successful. We have a friend Donna Schmitz. We called her and she came over and told us exactly what to do. We got it corralled and Kyle put a blanket over it, and it got it’s trip up to Antigo, which is a fantastic facility,” John said. Schmitz had the honor of releasing this particular eagle.
Kyle added, “It’s definitely a cool thing. To see it on the verge of death, and to see it now is just an amazing experience, what they were able to do and how they were able to bring it back to health.” Kyles uncle agreed saying, “I’ve seen other ones released, but this one kind of has a special spot. We’ve grown up watching eagles all of our lives, but to get one that close and be a part of it, it’s amazing!”
Gibson noted it’s a proposition, referring to the pharmacy cost that runs from $500 to $1000 per bird to rid them from lead.
“Then, of course they have to stay with us 6 or 8 months sometimes to get their muscles stronger again. Of course, they are eating the whole time and getting other care from us so it’s an expensive proposition,” she said.
Although there are eagle fatalities that may be natural, Gibson stressed that REGI finds some of the birds that they take in have injuries due to human interaction that include shootings, and being hit by cars. “There are some things that are purposeful and some things that are accidental. Maybe 98% of what we see here in rehabilitation are human caused. We feel it becomes a human obligation and responsibility to try to mitigate that and make what was wrong, and at least try to make it right, or make it better and give it a second chance. That’s why we do what we do.”
REGI has adult eagles that serve as foster parents who are not releasable, who in turn raise them as if they were their own. “They teach them everything that they need to know from an eagle’s perspective. Vocalizations, behaviors, how to interact with each other, socialization, things that I can’t possibly because as much as I respect them, I am not an eagle. I try my best to figure out what is important, but they know what is important. They are best to raise babies, and they do,” Gibson said.
Another of the eagles released had been hit by a car in LaCrosse and also had lead poisoning. Lead causes mental confusion and muscle weakness. The confusion can cause a bird to become disoriented when a car passes, prompting them to flee into a vehicles path. Gibson stated that when they get a bird that looks like it has been hit by a car, they look deeper into the bird’s overall health to rule out any type of poisoning.
The third eagle was a victim of last year’s severe storms. “We lost so many trees in July and he was part of that. He was pinned under a tree and not found for a couple of weeks until they were cleaning up the timbers that had fallen. They found him, and of course by that time, he was starving. He did well and recovered. We are proud to be able to take them home and let them be free again, giving them a second chance at life.”
REGI takes in all federally protected avian species covered under the Migratory Treaty Act and species protected by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. “We do hummingbirds, a lot of trumpeter swans. We were the only facility in the state that used to do trumpeter swans, but now a few others do since they are off the endangered list. We do sandhill cranes and some common species, pretty much anything in feathers. If we can help it, we do, and get it back out,” Gibson said.
Keeping with REGI’s acknowledgment and respect of Native Americans’ connection with eagles, Gibson asked Menominee and Potowatomi elder Art Shegonee, to bless each eagle before its release. Shegonee, a well-known artist, dancer, and singer, who’s Native American name is Canasa (Little Golden Eagle) shared, “I feel like this is a great blessing, a great honor, what I am doing to bless these eagles that have been hurt from different amenities, like eating fish and getting poisoned or flying into the wires. Sometimes they fly into the wires and get their wings broken, and then they have to go get fixed. This lady named Marge in Antigo; I feel she is a blessing on what she does with her team of people. I heard that this past year, Marge lost her husband, so she is doing a two-fold here, getting the eagles released and going through her own grief. It’s a blessing for me to come see these blessings as eagles and to see this wildlife. We, as Native Americans, believe that the eagles are a direct connection to the Creator when they fly. We put our tobacco down into the water or onto the earth, we get our prayers answered through the smoke and through the tobacco that we put into the fire. That smoke goes up, and the eagles capture that smoke upon their wings and fly higher up into the heavens. They give that tobacco that we say those prayers to, to the Creator and his face.”
Hocak (Ho-Chunk) tribal member and Rights of Nature advocate Bill Greendeer, came to the release for many of the same reasons as Shegonee. “I came down here because I represent the eagle clan and the Nation. For me, this is a nice thing to see- the actual release of eagles that have been damaged by lead, and so many different contaminants out here. It’s neat to see them go back into the wild. To me that is the main thing- to see everything try to get back to normal. To be at an eagle release and watching deer across the river is pretty cool too,” Greendeer said. He feels there are too many people out there contaminating what we have left of our sacred earth and sacred water. He stressed; we have to start taking care of the earth. “To watch the eagles take off, that is a right that they should be able to have- to not be impeded upon. The rights of nature are a good thing. That’s the reason I came down here, to watch nature go back into where it should be. It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, and eagles are flying! That’s great!” Greendeer exclaimed.
When asked about the day’s release Gibson shared, “It’s always a real joy. I love that Art was there to bless the eagles. I think it helps people understand how respected eagles are in other cultures. Personally, to me, the respect is so important and I think we’ve lost that in a lot of parts of our world. It’s kind of driven home that this is really important. It’s not only a beautiful ceremony, but it is meaningful. I love that he is able to be there and express that. The birds are so quiet during it, and they know.”
It is important to note that REGI relies solely on private donations and does not receive state or federal funding. Their permits are considered a privilege, much like a hunting permit or any other permit. In other words, it is a privilege for them to work with birds like this, but Gibson is optimistic and hopes at some point this changes and they see REGI as partners rather than people who are trying to take up a resource.
You can learn more about the Raptor Education Group Inc. by visiting their website or on Facebook.
Be sure and watch the release video.
Photos and video by Driftless Now’s Paul Arentz.
