A baby eagle took its first shaky flight from the nest at 12 weeks old, just when its wings were fully developed. However, the initial period of leaving home was fraught with danger as it often landed on the ground, at risk of colliding with cars and trucks.
Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Giralde had a memorable encounter on July 11th. While on duty at a construction site, he spotted a brown-feathered old eagle moving on the asphalt road about 100 feet behind his car, dangerously close to passing vehicles.
“It kept getting closer to the road. Even as cars whizzed by it, it didn’t fly away,” the officer told Epoch Times. “At one point, it left but soon came back. We tried to keep it away from the traffic, and at that moment, it went under a construction worker’s car.”
Sergeant Giralde snapped a photo of the eagle and sent it to the Arizona Raptor Center, which confirmed it was a juvenile golden eagle. They dispatched staff to retrieve the eagle in Kingman. At the same time, they answered Giralde’s question of whether he could catch the eagle and bring it into his unit to cool off in the air conditioning.
They responded, “Yes, if you can catch it.”
Efforts were made to move the construction worker’s vehicle. Giralde said, “As I approached the baby eagle, it seemed indifferent to me as I tried to lure it away from the roadway. It then crawled under my car.” He added, “The bird on the ground seemed exhausted.”
He picked up a large piece of cloth, walked over to the bird, covering it in his shadow. The officer crouched, draped the cloth over the eagle, scooped it up, and brought it to the back seat, where the eagle hardly moved.
“When I picked it up, it didn’t resist, just lay there for a while in the backseat. After about 30 minutes in the car, it stood up,” the officer said.
The car’s camera captured the moment Giralde picked up the bird and placed it inside. (Click here to watch the video)
Giralde allowed other officers to photograph the eagle, while his car’s camera recorded the extraordinary moment. The video was later posted on the Mohave County Sheriff’s Facebook and received nearly 2,000 responses.
The critical period for a raptor baby leaving the nest is when it perfects its flying skills, starting to hunt insects and other small animals to supplement the temporary food still provided by nearby parents until the baby becomes independent and flies away to fend for itself.
During this time, dangers are high, making the actions taken by the officer crucial that day. Hunting and wildlife officials strongly advise against disturbing struggling or grounded juvenile raptors, with park officials intervening when necessary. While most eagles cannot survive after their wings are fully developed, during this period, they must learn to hunt on their own to sustain life.
In the case of this baby eagle, Giralde was informed about its situation.
“The Raptor Center also sent someone that day to take the eagle back to their rehabilitation center, where they teach it how to hunt,” he told our reporter. “They also mentioned to me that eagles exhibit such behavior a few days before starving to death because they haven’t learned how to hunt yet.”