Over the course of a single week in New York, responders delivered three heartwarming rescues: an injured bald eagle returned to the sky, a trapped fawn was lifted from an abandoned well, and six baby opossums were taken to a wildlife rescue center after losing their mother.
What happened?
After roughly six weeks of care at the Saratoga Springs wildlife center North Country Wild Care, an adult bald eagle was released on June 17 beside the Mohawk River in Minden, close to where it had originally been found injured on the Thruway, according to Syracuse.com.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officers, or ECOs, were involved in all three rescues, which took place in mid-June in different parts of the state.
In Milan on June 18, a fawn was freed from an abandoned well after an ECO and a forest ranger used a neighbor's ladder and pruning shears to clear brush around the opening and climb down to reach it. The animal appeared unharmed and was released into nearby woods near where its mother had last been seen, according to Syracuse.com.
Six joeys were still alive in their mother's pouch when she was found dead in Center Moriches on June 11. An ECO brought them to the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays, where they were placed in an incubator.
Why does it matter?
Highways, abandoned structures, and other human-made hazards can be dangerous for animals moving through their habitat.
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Baby opossums are completely dependent on their mother early in life, staying in the pouch for seven weeks and then riding on their mother's back, making quick intervention critical when they are orphaned.
What's being done?
The rescues relied on trained ECOs and forest rangers in the field, wildlife rehabilitation centers providing specialized care, and a neighbor supplying a ladder.
That coordination allowed one eagle to recover long enough to be released, one fawn to be safely removed from a dangerous hole, and six opossums to be placed in an incubator.
New York's ECOs also enforce fishing regulations to help maintain a healthy ecosystem. ECOs recently issued 201 citations in two weeks for fishing striped bass out of season. After that two-week period, they also issued several other tickets for issues like catching fish exceeding the legal slot size, exceeding the posted one-fish limit, and unlawful disposal of fish.
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