> Officer frees bald eagle with one bullet
>
> Tue Jan 9, 11:42 PM ET
>
> A bald eagle owes its life to the sharpshooting skills of an Iowa
> conservation officer. Though the bird has yet to offer any thanks, Jason
> Sandholdt is getting plenty of recognition from those who saw him use a
> single bullet last weekend to free the bird from a branch that hung over a
> cliff at Lake Red Rock.
>
> "There were accusations of sheer luck," said Brian Lange, one of the
> kayakers who discovered the bird Saturday and alerted authorities. He
> added: "It was really a heroic shot."
>
> Sandholdt, who works for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources,
> responded with state colleagues and county workers after the eagle was
> found hanging about 60 feet above the lake southeast of Des Moines.
>
> With binoculars, they could see that the bird appeared to have caught a
> single talon in a knothole in the branch when it landed. Apparently, the
> bird tried to take off, losing its balance. It hung from the talon, upside
> down.
>
> Because the eagle was hanging over a cliff and high in the air, ropes and
> ladders seemed unlikely rescue tools, Sandholdt said. Many in the group
> thought a mercy killing was the best option.
>
> Sandholdt said he asked for a chance to free the bird with his rifle,
> figuring at best the bird would fall into the lake and have to be rescued
> for rehabilitation at a clinic.
>
> "It's safe to say no one had any confidence that I could do that,"
> Sandholdt said of his proposed sharpshooting. "My buddies were waiting for
> a poof of feathers."
>
> Sandholdt bent a tree sapling over to use as a brace. He used the
> muzzleloader's scope to take aim, and the bullet traveled 60 to 70 feet,
> cleanly through the edge of the knothole. Sandholdt figures he hit the
> talon, too.
>
> The eagle flew away. Officers waited for it to collapse. Instead, the bird
> kept flying, disappearing over the horizon.
>
> "Wow, now that's what I call sharpshooting," said John Pearson, a state
> botanist who was with Lange when the bird was discovered.
>
> No one is sure of the eagle's odds for survival, but it faced certain
> death before the rescue, Pearson said.
>
> ___
>
> Information from: The Des Moines Register,
> http://www.desmoinesregister.com
>
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