A juvenile Bald Eagle was discovered dangling upside down from a power line. He was caught in a rural part of Madeline Island, part of the Apostle Island chain in Wisconsin. The area doesn’t receive much traffic so we couldn’t be sure how long he had been trapped before he was discovered.

Members of the Bad River Tribe, a local biologist, The Raptor Center in St. Paul, the local fire department, and Xcel Energy and, of course, Wildwoods came together to save the eagle. The isand is only accessible by ferry so Xcel Energy had to get equipment to the Bayfield marina, get it on the ferry, then transport it to the eagle.

Local fireman attempting to free the trapped eagle

The electricity was shut off so members of the local fire department could safely use Xcel’s cherry picker to retrieve the bird. It took several hours to safely detangle the Eagle without without causing more damage.

The juvenile eagle was freed and transported to Wildwoods

The fire department and law enforcement did it! Once freed, the eagle was safely contained and brought to Wildwoods. We administered wound care, fluids and medications to stabilize him before he was transported the next morning to the Raptor Center in St. Paul for further testing and continued care.