Injured bald eagle in The Woodlands euthanized

A bald eagle found injured in The Woodlands on Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, was euthanized due to the extent of its injuries. Experts believe the eagle was at some point hit by a car. A bald eagle found injured in The Woodlands on Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, was euthanized due to the extent of its injuries. Experts believe the eagle was at some point hit by a car. Photo: Ray Gedaly Photo: Ray Gedaly Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Injured bald eagle in The Woodlands euthanized 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

Veterinarians trying to save an injured bald eagle discovered in The Woodlands had to euthanize the national emblem.

Rescuers believe the bald eagle, discovered Monday by a resident in the Village of Panther Creek, was struck by a vehicle.

Ray Gedaly was taking his dog for a daily walk Monday afternoon near Lake Woodlands when he spotted what he thought was a "water bird" waddling on the banks. He approached the bird – cautiously – to take a better look.

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"It was the size of a duck," Gedaly said. "But it had a white head and looked like a bald eagle. I was telling myself there was no way it could be a bald eagle. As I approached it, it seemed very tame."

He continued his walk with his dog but was still intrigued and worried about the bird.

"Even though my dog was with me, the bird just looked around but didn't move," Gedaly said. "I put my dog up and went back to it."

Gedaly knew he was looking at a bald eagle as soon as its defined, white head came into full view. The eagle's definitive golden beak was broken and its eyes injured. Experts later found the eagle's leg was scraped up and "necrotic," meaning the skin was dead and essentially beyond repair.

He began to scour for phone numbers of local animal rescues and made several phone calls before getting in touch with a game warden. Evelyn Heyde, who is the vice president of Friends of Texas Wildlife in Magnolia, said the game warden had been out in The Woodlands just the day before to check on the injured eagle, but it managed to fly off before the warden could get to it.

But this time, she said, he was able to scoop it up and bring it to Pets Paw Animal Hospital in Conroe. Once trained veterinarians got their eyes on the eagle, they knew they had a tough call to make.

"His injuries were just too far beyond the ability to ever give him a chance to be (on) display or released again," Heyde said.

She likened the leg's state of repair to third-degree burns on a human; the skin cannot naturally regrow, said Heyde, leaving few options moving forward. Heyde consulted with the veterinarians on the eagle's case, who ultimately decided to put the eagle down.

Her best guess was that the bird was somehow in the middle of a road days earlier and was struck by a passing car. As the days passed with the eagle's injuries going untreated, its condition worsened so much to where it could no longer survive.

Eagles typically feed on fish, Heyde said, but can sometimes eat roadkill if fish populations grow smaller. That's not the case in The Woodlands, she said, saying she could not exactly pinpoint what the eagle might have been doing in the road to begin with.

"Animals don't know that cars are predators, nor do they recognize the speed," Heyde said. "A lot of times they'll fly up and get hit."

The Courier previously reported on two bald eagles living near Lake Woodlands, although Heyde could not say whether the deceased eagle was one of those. She knows of other bald eagle sightings throughout the area, including in Conroe, Magnolia and as far away as Livingston.

Gedaly's experience was bittersweet. On one hand, he was able to have a close encounter with America's national bird – on the other, the eagle wound up dying.

He's lived in The Woodlands for two decades and has seen its resident bald eagles a handful of times. But never this close.

"It is really a magnificent creature," Gedaly said. "I really feel bad they had to euthanize it. I thought I'd call in today and hear it's doing well."

Once endangered in North America, bald eagles rebounded while protected on the endangered and threatened species lists, ultimately being removed from both by 2007. The raptor's wingspan can reach up to 7-1/2 feet. It is both the national bird and national animal of the United States and has been the country's national emblem since 1782.