HINTON — Last October, a three-year-old bald eagle hunting for prey over an expanse of farmland near Greenville, in Monroe County, flew into a game farm’s tall wire fence, became entangled and struggled to free itself, breaking a wing in the process.
The injured bird was spotted soon after becoming ensnared, and West Virginia Natural Resources Police Officer J.C. Wheeler was made aware of its situation and location. After driving to the scene and carefully carrying the eagle to his vehicle, Brooks drove the injured bird to the Three Rivers Avian Center at Brooks, in Summers County, about 25 miles away.
“When I first saw the extent of the eagle’s injuries — the broken bone and all that lacerated tissue — I didn’t know if he would make it,” said Wendy Perrone, executive director at Three Rivers. An analysis of a blood sample from the bird did nothing to brighten that prognosis. “There was enough lead in his system to make him very sick,” Perrone said.
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