'So powerful': Sask. woman recounts experience aiding in bald eagle rescue

The eagle is recovering well at the Silverwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. (Photo courtesy of Tricia Mogstad)

A bald eagle who was hit by a vehicle on a Saskatchewan highway one week ago is expected to make a full recovery.

Kimberly Lafontaine, a volunteer with the Wildlife Rescue Society of Saskatchewan (WRSS), said she received a call from one of her teammates about the eagle after the Saskatchewan Association of Conservation Officers received a call on Friday.

“They all know pretty well when it comes to an eagle, I’ll drop everything and go,” she said.

Lafontaine, who has been with the WRSS since January 2021, said she worked out a plan with a conservation officer (CO) named Travis, who then waited with the eagle on the side of the highway for two hours before she was able to get there from Yorkton, Sask.

“Lots of people when it comes to a faraway rescue, try and keep track of the animal but they won't actually stay put,” she said. “Normally when we go for important rescues like that or one that can be difficult, it's a huge team effort… it was awesome. It was just like, I had my team, my crew with me.”

Lafontaine has had plenty of experience in rescuing bald eagles but the encounters are always special to her.

“When you're holding an animal like that, that's so powerful,” she said. “Eagles are just amazing, period. Every time, it's just the same rush of adrenaline, the same rush of passion, I guess, when you're dealing with them because they're just so amazing.”

Lafontaine said that the eagle was struck by a vehicle twice but luckily, her injuries were not severe.

“It was soft tissue damage,” she said. “It’s still bad enough because that grounds her, but luckily no broken bones.”

The eagle was taken to Silverwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre the same day, where she was assessed by the team and seen by a vet.

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Tricia Mogstad, a wildlife rehabilitator and founder of the Silverwood centre, said the eagle is doing well. When she was first brought into the centre on Friday, Mogstad said she gave the eagle a brief exam to make sure she was comfortable and warm and then the next day, she took her to the vet clinic in Esterhazy.

“We were quite pleased to see that there were no fractures anywhere,” she said. “It was like a little happy dance.”

“We still decided to go with some meds because she did have a droopy wing,” she added. “One wing was not resting as high as the other.”

Mogstad said because of the soft tissue injury, the eagle needed some painkillers and anti-inflammatories to keep her more pain-free and keep the swelling down.

“Then she’ll be on that for a good couple of weeks, and some daily movements after the first few days just to keep those wings active,” she said. “She gets daily physio and after a couple of weeks, she’ll move into a little bigger pen that she can actually stretch out those wings at will and then she’ll carry forward in the rehab process.”

Since the eagle has a full white head, the team said she is a mature bird at about four or five years old.

Mogstad said she has seen many eagles come through the centre, but this one is different.

“She's very sensitive, so she responds to stimuli sounds,” she said. “You literally have to go in and get her out of that kennel. She won’t move, she’s like, ‘Nope, I’m going to sit here.’”

(Photo courtesy of Tricia Mogstad)

Lafontaine said she keeps in contact with Mogstad every day about the eagle. The team hopes to get her home sooner than later.

“She’s eating well and I have full confidence that she’s going to make her full recovery,” Mogstad said. “It’s just a matter of time.”

Mogstad said she expects the eagle can go home in about four or five weeks after making sure that her wing muscles are working right.

When she’s fully healed, the team will bring the eagle back to where she was found, where she has someone waiting for her.

“The conservation officer said when he first arrived on the scene, the male, her mate, was in the trees around us,” Lafontaine said.

Mogstad several animals that she has taken into the centre have been hit by vehicles.

“That would be my biggest message is slow down,” she said. “Slow down and call for help, don’t assume that animal is dead.”

The rescue took place near Pelly, Sask., which is about 300 kilometres from Regina and about 111 kilometres from Yorkton. Silverwood Rehabilitation Centre is located southwest of Wapella, Sask. The Wildlife Rescue Society is located in Saskatoon.