Eagle soars again after being treated for poisoning
Gardeners urged to avoid using pesticides
ESPAÑOLA — Three days were all it took for a bald eagle to go from a dying tragedy to the soaring symbol of the United States once more.
Last month, the New Mexico Wildlife Center received its third bald eagle of 2018, and each showed signs of environmental toxins: seizing, struggling to retain food and lacking energy. Of the three, two survived and were released as strong as ever.
“It was spectacular,” said Hilary DeVries, a wildlife rehabilitator at the center near Española. “Just seeing that bird fly off and being responsible for that health was great.”
The wildlife center is a nonprofit that receives ailing animals and organizes educational programs for the public. The three eagles were found around Española and Taos. Because of restricted funding and no requirement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the center did not send blood tests from the eagles to the federal agency for testing.
While staff members at the center do not know what specific toxins poisoned the birds, DeVries said they suspect the eagles ate rodents that previously had consumed pesticide-covered plants.
“We want to get the word out to help these guys,” DeVries said. “I think in our community, environmental toxins are always going to be a problem until we eliminate them.”
With spring’s arrival, there are many ways people can have a negative impact on the season of new growth. The wildlife center urges people to act with awareness.
“I’d like people to keep thinking how everything affects the world around them,” said Melissa Moore, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Center. “Santa Fe does a pretty good job, but the truth is, we all get a little forgetful that it’s not just our yard.”
Pesticides can have detrimental effects on animals, DeVries said, as well as another poison: the bright green blocks of rodenticide. The center recently treated a ring-tailed cat that came in with green slime on its paws and was vomiting the toxin. It did not survive.
“Just a small change within [people’s] lives can completely help an ecosystem,” DeVries said, advising gardeners against the use of pesticides.
Not only can people watch what they put into the environment, but DeVries also urged caution in what they take away.
“We get people who think babies are orphaned,” she said, and try to rescue the young animals. But what they’re really doing, she said, is kidnapping them from a mother who is likely close by.
“Mom is going to be their best chance of survival,” DeVries said.
If someone finds an animal that seems to be in distress, she said, the first response should be a call to the New Mexico Wildlife Center — talk before taking action. The next step, if the animal is determined to be in critical need, will vary depending on the species.
In most cases, practicing a hands-off approach is key.
Above all, DeVries said, gloves are top priority. “We don’t want you getting hurt trying to handle an animal.”
Once someone has taken in an injured animal, it’s best to keep it in a safe, quiet and dark space, DeVries said, emphasizing that it’s important not to give the animal any food or water.
“Each animal has a specific diet, and if you give it the wrong thing, it can completely wipe their digestive system,” she said.
After an animal arrives at the wildlife center, the staff and volunteers try to continue the hands-off approach as much as possible — limiting human contact, not talking around the animal and avoiding giving it a name.
“We try to keep them wild,” she said. “There’s no baby talk here.”
Overall, the center stresses education and intentionality.
“We live in a beautiful part of the world and we take it for granted,” Moore said. “Living lightly on the Earth is taking care of us as well.”