Buck of Brookville Lake
"It's not everyday you get an eagle on a Dye course."
"Buck of Brookville Lake" had seen better days. Jack Harris realized this the second he spotted the injured eagle hobbling near the 17th tee here at Buck Point Golf Club. The course was still under construction and on April 16, 2002, Jack was out there with a crew surveying some water damage that occurred over the weekend. "I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was big and brown and I knew immediately it was a juvenile eagle." Jack has seen eagles on the course before. He called the Indiana Conservation officials, who dispatched a representative. "I think they wanted to make sure it wasn't just a buzzard" Jack said. Being that Jack is originally from Hinckley, Ohio home of 'buzzardfest,' he was quite sure this wasn't a buzzard. Indeed, it was a juvenile American bald eagle an elusive bird, at that. It took 12 conservation officers and one canoe to net the bird, which swam 300 yards across a flooded cove while the humans gave chase. Jack said that a swimming bald eagle was a sight that he would never forget. "I told one of the conservation officers that I didn't know that eagles could swim. The conservation officer just looked at me and said "I didn't either." But the eagle was exhausted and badly injured. Jack said that he saw a bone protruding from the bird's fractured left wing. There was not a container large enough to transport the bird, so he was loaded into a Dell computer box and sent to Hueston Woods State Park Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in nearby Oxford, Ohio. That is when Dr. Gary Burt got a call. The Oxford veterinarian is the areas only doctor who can work on bald eagles. For 14 years he has volunteered for the Hueston Woods State Park Wildlife Rehabilitation program. "The eagle suffered two bone fractures and substantial tissue damage, indicating it may have been burned by an electrical wire," Burt said. The injury site is like an elbow in humans. Imagine pulling your elbow apart and then pushing both the bones through the skin. Not a very pleasant thought. "He would not have made it very long," Burt continued. "I was even worried about him making it with our intervention. A bird his age should be around 20 pounds. He was 8 or 9 pounds. Dr. Burt conducted surgery on April 18 at his Lynn Avenue clinic in Oxford. He repaired some of the tissue damage and inserted two stainless steel pins to hold the bones together. Everyone was surprised how quickly the eagle began to bounce back. The day after surgery "Buck" was trying to use his injured wing and his appetite began to come back full force. Since eagles are federally protected animals, it wasn't long before the government stepped in and took over the decision making and care. "Buck" was transported to a raptor center in Xenia, Ohio to begin rehabilitation. The last that was heard, "Buck" is now in full adult plumage and has been moved to a facility in Michigan that has a larger cage where he could learn to hunt; hopefully a positive step to releasing him back into the wild. "The wild" would be this bird's home, the 17th tee of Buck Point Golf Club. When Jack found "Buck" he was untagged. The conservation officer told Jack he could name him whatever he wanted. "Buck of Brookville Lake" seemed appropriate. It is not everyday that you get an eagle on a golf course, you know. Hopefully someday soon we will see "Buck" soaring, not swimming, over that cove once again.
Excerpts taken from an article that appeared in the Hamilton Journal-News story that ran in April, 2002.
It seemed that Buck knew we were trying to help him. He "allowed" human contact on his terms. The strength and nobility of this animal during his ordeal touched me. It is a small wonder why our fore-fathers chose the American Bald Eagle as our national symbol.
Jack.
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