NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. — It’s been about a month since the eaglet in the famous Southwest Florida Eagle Cam suddenly died, and now a necropsy is telling us why.
The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife Inc. said rat poison was found in the liver tissue of the eaglet, known as E14. The rehabilitation clinic said rat poison prevents blood from clotting normally and can kill animals when they eat a toxic amount.
When E14 broke its wing, the blood couldn’t clot so it basically bled to death, Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife Inc Executive Director Alison Charney Hussey told NBC2.
The clinic said it isn’t uncommon for hawks, eagles, owls and other predators to hunt and kill rodents that were poisoned and pass it down the food chain. The clinic said E14’s parents, Harriet and M15, had probably also eaten the poison but it didn’t affect them as badly because of their size.
This year, Harriet laid two eggs. One never hatched and then E14 died suddenly in mid-January.
You can read more about the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife Inc. on its website.
To tune in and see what Harriet and M15 are up to, you can watch them on the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam.
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