UMaine cited in BDN article on ill eagle found in Bangor
The University of Maine was mentioned in a Bangor Daily News follow-up article on an adult female bald eagle that fell ill in downtown Bangor more than a year ago. The eagle some call “Bangor Mom” has had a productive year since her rehabilitation and release into the wild, finding a new mate and raising a pair of eaglets, according to the article. The female eagle, which had ingested a toxin in May 2014, became ill and was taken to Avian Haven in Freedom. The same day its mate, also ill, flew into a power line and was electrocuted, the article states. After working with scientists at UMaine, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife solved the mystery surrounding the illness of Bangor Mom and her previous mate. “We found that [the male had ingested] pentobarbital,” said Erynn Call, a wildlife biologist with DIF&W. “That’s the chemical that’s used to euthanize animals.”