Submitted Report

BRISTOL — The American Eagle Foundation at Dollywood recently released a rehabilitated immature bald eaglet on South Holston Lake near Bristol.

The eaglet had been found by 17-year-old Joe Slagle near the South Holston dam tangled in fishing line and with a hook in its wing. It had first been transported by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer Jeff Brater to the University of Tennessee Veterinary College in Knoxville and then later transferred to the American Eagle Foundation at Dollywood for further care and rehabilitation, where it had been in a flight enclosure for several months.

The fishing line had caused lacerations and folicle damage in the area of the bird’s primary (wing tip) feathers

Slagle, whose parents own Lake View Dock near Laurel Marina in Bristol, had spotted the eaglet tangled in a limb line used for catching catfish. He reported that the bird had a dead bluegill in its talons that was hooked to the fishing line, and also that the young bird was pretty hungry and fairly motionless when he found it.

After the young man had caught the eaglet up, he placed it in a Rubbermaid container and immediately called TWRA.

Foundation founder and president Al Cecere released the eaglet back to the wild close to where it had been found.

Slagle, TWRA officers Bryan Kegley and David Carpenter, and foundation staff members Kellie Morrison and Tanya Rentz were present to witness the birds’ flight to freedom.