THUNDER BAY — She went to great lengths, travelling by land, through the air and on the water to save a one-footed bald eagle.
Jenn Salo even jumped into a cold northwestern Ontario lake to retrieve the injured bird, but in the end her valiant efforts failed, as the creature had to be euthanized in Thunder Bay.
Word of its plight broke last Friday on social media after the Canadian Raptor Conservancy received a call from the owner of Agich's Kaby Kabins, a fly-in fishing lodge north of White River.
She said people had seen the eagle in a scrap with an osprey, and believed that's how it suffered its devastating injury.
When Salo heard the story Friday morning, she phoned the lodge-owner and arranged to get to White River as soon as possible.
Salo operates ThunderBird Wildlife Rescue, which provides care and rehabilitation to sick, injured or orphaned wildlife.
She gathered some gear including a large kennel, and jumped into her car for the 4.5 hour drive.
At White River, the lodge provided a float-plane ride to its camp, followed by a boat ride to a rocky, driftwood-strewn shore where the eagle was located.
"It was kind of tricky securing him. I ended up having to go swimming for him but I was able to herd him back to shore and use a blanket to cover him and gather him up to put him in the kennel," Salo said in an interview Monday.
She could immediately see that the eagle was in rough shape, with its entire left foot missing above the ankle.
Salo said an infection was already well-established, but it was "mind-blowing" to her that he had survived such a serious injury.
Staff from the resort had been bringing fish scraps to it by boat every day, as the eagle also had an infection in its other foot, was emaciated, and was unable to hunt for itself.
After examining its injury and consulting with the Canadian Raptor Conservancy and other experts, Salo concluded that the bird most likely had lost its foot in a leg-hold trap.
"This was clean, sheared off. That's not an injury from an osprey...they all agree the injury was consistent with a leg-hold trap," she said.
Salo was already feeling somewhat pessimistic about the eagle's long-term chances as she prepared for the long drive home.
Two Thunder Bay veterinarians as well as advisors with The Owl Foundation agreed that, considering its condition, it was not a good candidate for captivity.
"The kindest thing that we could do was to euthanize him. That's not what everybody wants to hear, but we have to think about quality of life," she said.
Salo defended the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, which has come under some criticism on social media for not trying to retrieve the bird after being contacted initially by the lodge.
"Rescuing wildlife is not the MNR's mandate. They are there to enforce the rules...They are not trained wildlife rehabilitators...If MNR was to answer every wildlife call, that's all that they would do."
She said the incident, despite its sad conclusion, points to the need for a fully-functioning wildlife rescue facility in Thunder Bay.
Salo has seen more than 40 birds of prey pass through her doors in the past year.
"The ones that I can help, I stabilize, and find other facilities for them, usually in southern Ontario," she said.
On her Facebook page, Salo paid tribute to the eagle she tried desperately to save.
Despite his injury, "he still led me on a chase and made me go swimming before he would allow himself to be caught. Immense respect for the power of these birds," she added.
