FORT MYERS, Fla. — It’s been a year full of ups and downs for the eagles of the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam.
On November 12, 2019, Harriet laid her first egg of the season. Not long after on Nov. 16, Harriet laid egg number 2 for the season.
M15 was on the nest on Dec. 19 when E14 made his way out of an egg. The eagle family was just waiting for Egg 2 to hatch.
But sadly, it never did.
E14 was growing and had captured the hearts of eagle fans across the state and country. The Southwest Florida Eagle Cam blog called him a “bright and joyful addition” to Harriet and M15’s world.
Early on Jan. 15, E14 died. Months later a necropsy revealed the famous eaglet died from rat poisoning.
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.
The nest was not empty for too long. Harriet and M15 welcomed their third egg of the season Feb. 22. The good news didn’t stop there. Egg 4 arrived on Feb. 25.
The incubation time for bald eagles is about 35 days, according to the National Eagle Center.
That means we could be seeing Egg 2 and Egg 4 hatch pretty soon.
You can read more about the Southwest Florida Eagles on their website.
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