Decorah eaglet dies of electrocution.

[Village Idiot]

www.kcrg.com/decorah-eaglet-dies-of-obvious-electrocution-20140709

After Tuesday’s electrocution, Anderson said he had an epiphany.

“You hear so much about the dangers posed by wind generators to eagles and other birds, but it just dawned on me — they may actually pose a lesser threat to eagles than power distribution and transmission lines,”

[sekhmet]

it is very sad. It's been an odd nesting year, what with the eaglets fledging very early and one ending up with a broken wing, one electrocuted and one more actually managing to get the wind under its wings. I wish they would deal with the high power lines in the Decorah area. The remaining free eaglet has a transmitter now, and that should prove interesting when we see if she follows D2 on a first year trip up north. The hurt eaglet will not likely be able to be freed this summer as it will take another operation to remove the pin in the wing, but he is recovering very well indeed. Poor mum and dad Decorah.

[epaul]

It would be an irony if when the radio transmitter was sending a signal, it generated just enough electrical energy to allow a ground to occur.

I have no idea if this is possible, I am highly doubtful it could be. But, it would be an irony. Start checking electrocuted eagles and see how many have electrical transmitters fastened around their necks.

[sekhmet]

It wasn't the eagle with the transmitter who died Paul. I am very uncomfortable with the transmitter - but I do appreciate knowing that juvenile eagles .. at least the girls .. go walkabout in their young years before settling down when they mature. D2 is on the way to Polar Bear Provincial Park at the moment and she made a trip to the border her first year. She spent the next two summers at the park, returning to Decorah by Christmas. One wonders if her brother traveled with her.

[Village Idiot]

Eagles have made a huge comeback, and that's great. I never saw one in Iowa until about 20 years ago, and now they are a common thing in the winter, when they should be here. That is because of dangerous pesticides such as DDT being eliminated, but the plight of the Decorah eagles tells us that there is more than one factor necessary to keep wildlife thriving, and again the culprit is something that we humans depend on. We solved the last crisis by doing chemical things. How we'll solve the electricty crisis, who knows. We most likely won't.