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BMP eagle to be ‘education ambassador’
Those founding fathers knew what they were about when they picked our national symbol: an American bald eagle is one impressive bird.
Nick and I got to meet Spirit Augustus, the 15-year-old female bald eagle who now makes her home at Balsam Mountain Preserve, earlier this week. We watched with awe as Balsam Mountain Trust Director Michael Skinner coaxed her onto his gloved hand, and “Spirit,” as she’s known around the Nature Center, didn’t disappoint.
The big (10.5-pound) bird unfurled her wings to their full 7-foot spread and posed for Nick’s camera, and she flapped them vigorously several times as if she were about to take off.
According to Michael, Spirit, who is not able to survive on her own in the wild, will be an education ambassador for the Trust, which is the educational non-profit housed at Balsam Mountain Preserve.
Michael said his goal is to train Spirit to “free fly” – to soar on her own, unconnected to the line he uses now while training her on the BMP golf course – but whether that happens or not is entirely up to the eagle.
“I hope she’ll fly, but I’m not going to push her,” Michael said. “Her health and well-being are the most important thing.”
Spirit was born in Michigan in captivity, and the intent was to release her into the wild. Several attempts were made, but Spirit didn’t adapt to life on her own in part because she doesn’t relate well to other eagles, Michael said. After the final attempt, when Spirit ended up in Georgia where she tried to snatch someone’s family pet, it was determined she was not “releasable,” and she ended up at the Eagle Foundation in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
The Foundation decided to “loan” Spirit to the BMP’s Nature Center in the hope that more consistency would benefit her.
“The idea was that maybe with one handler – me – in a place where she’s the only eagle, she might calm down,” Michael said. “She and I get along really well.”
Michael’s theory is that Spirit experienced incomplete imprinting as a hatchling. Typically handlers of eagles raised in captivity put on eagle costumes while feeding and handling the young birds so the babies will relate to their caretakers as eagles rather than humans; however, one of Spirit’s handlers did not take that precaution, and Michael said that’s his theory as to why Spirit doesn’t interact properly with others of her species.
Bringing Spirit to BMP was not easy. Because bald eagles are an endangered species, it took more than a year to obtain the necessary permits from the Eagle Foundation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Michael said. Technically, Spirit is on loan to the Trust, but that could change if either the Eagle Foundation or USFW finds fault with her care.
“They can come and inspect at any time,” Michael said.
While the Nature Center provides a home to Spirit and several other birds of prey, Michael emphasized that it is not a bird rehabilitation center.
“We’re not set up for that,” he said.
Instead, his idea was to develop a teaching collection at the center, and he decided to focus on snakes and birds of prey because he didn’t want to duplicate the offerings of other area environmental education facilities.
“Every nature center director puts a ‘stamp’ on that center,” he said. “I’ve worked with birds of prey the better part of my professional career, so that seemed to be the direction to take. We don’t want to become a zoo.”
Remaining in captivity will likely add years to Spirit’s life. While she might live to be 30 in the wild, she could easily reach 50 in her roomy quarters on the BMP grounds. Having a comfortable place to live and someone to feed her every day and treat parasites and illnesses will relieve a lot of the stress that Spirit would likely encounter on her own, Michael said.
When asked what Spirit does on a typical day, Michael said she spends a lot of time just sitting on one of the many perches in her roomy house beside the Nature Center, and that’s the same thing she’d be doing if she were on her own.
“Wild animals don’t expend energy when they don’t have to,” Michael said. “If they did, it would mean they had to hunt more often.”
Spirit has calmed down a lot in the few months she’s been at Balsam, and she and Michael are beginning to make a few local appearances. They visited Fairview Elementary recently, and the kids were really excited since the school’s nickname is Eagles, Michael said. And this week, according to Michael, he and Spirit will visit the Sylva Rotary Club.
For more information about the Balsam Mountain Trust and its mission to provide community environmental outreach, call 631-1060. The Trust sponsors a variety of educational programs both at the BMP, which has placed 3,000 acres – including 38 miles of streams – in a permanent conservation easement, and in public schools in Jackson and Haywood counties.
Its Nature Center is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., but visitors must call 631-1060 for an appointment. Church, civic, school and Scout groups are welcome, Michael said.
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