Injured eagle rescued from tree in Bremerton

A young bald eagle got tangled in bailing twine and was suspended from a tree for possibly more than a day before it was rescued in East Bremerton Wednesday.

The eagle was badly injured and had likely been stuck up there for 24 hours or more, said wildlife rehabilitator Sandy Fletcher of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

A guest at a nearby bed and breakfast was walking on the beach and spotted the eagle in distress at about 8 a.m. He reported the incident to the bed-and-breakfast owner, who spent more than an hour trying to find someone who could help, said Fletcher.

"We're awfully lucky anybody saw him at all," said Fletcher.

A tree climber was hired to fetch the panicky bird, entangled at least 70 feet up a tree on a cliff.

The eagle's right leg was deformed and it had at least two visible fractures, said Fletcher. It was taken to an area clinic for X-rays.

The Northwest Raptor Center in Sequim will rehabilitate the eagle, hopefully for reentry into the wild, if the injuries can be fixed, said director Jaye Moore.

"If it's going to be a repairable bird, it will come up here," she said.

Fletcher said it is possible that the eagle got the twine stuck on its foot, flew into the tree and panicked after getting caught in the branches.

Moore said this was a highly unusual scenario.

"This isn't a norm. Something weird happened," said Moore. "What it was we don't know."

Christina Siderius: csiderius@seattletimes.com