Bald eagle found on side of road

There he was, the emblem of America, hanging out on the side of the road like he was waiting for the bus.

Henry Lorin was cruising the Low-country on his motorcycle Sunday afternoon when he saw the bald eagle standing in the grass next to Bennett's Point Road, just off U.S. Highway 17, halfway between Jacksonboro and Green Pond.

Now that, he thought, is something you don't see every day. He decided to stop.

As he approached the bird, Lorin could tell it was hurt. But he didn't act scared, just looked at him as if to say "Can I help you?"

"It was majestic, but kind of intimidating," Lorin said.

Unsure what to do, and knowing it was illegal to mess with bald eagles, he just stood there until someone who knew a Department of Natural Resources officer stopped.

They made a call to DNR and were told someone would be there in half an hour.

So Lorin spent the better part of an hour standing there, making sure the eagle didn't wander into the woods.

"I didn't want to lose sight of him," Lorin said, "but he just stood there. He'd take a couple of steps toward me, and I'd take a couple of steps back."

A DNR officer picked up the eagle and took it to the International Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw, a nonprofit that tends to hundreds of wounded raptors every year.

There, they found the symbol of the Land of the Free was just putting on a brave front. He — it's probably a he, given its size — was nearly dead.

Jim Elliott, director of the birds of prey center, says it's not clear what caused the injuries, because right now the bird is too weak to really examine or operate on.

"It's been hurt for awhile. We're just trying to keep the infection down for now," Elliott said. "It's in bad shape."

Grace Gasper, medical clinic director of the birds of prey center, said the eagle has three deep puncture wounds, two on its chest, one in its abdomen. The wounds have been there so long that insects infested the eagle's body, adding to the infection.

Today, Gasper hopes to X-ray the bird to get a better handle on what happened.

It could be one of a thousand things. It could have been shot, but it's more likely he was fighting with another bird.

One thing's for sure: If doctors can't get the infection down, Elliott says, there's a chance the bird will have to be euthanized.

Lorin hopes the bird pulls through, and he thinks it has a chance. He was struck by how tough this bald eagle was.

"I was very impressed that the eagle was not afraid of me at all," he said.

Maybe that's why they made it the emblem of the country.

Reach Brian Hicks at 937-5561 or bhicks@postandcourier.com.