Missouri Department Of Conservation Says “Injured” Bald Eagle Was Really Just “Too Fat To Fly”

Tough look for our great country's national bird . But then again, this might be the most American thing that a bald eagle could do. The large predatory bird that the Missouri Department of Conservation found along Wilson's Creek National Battlefield in Republic, Missouri was presumed to be hurt as it was unable to fly. So wildlife officials captured the bird to take it in for rehabilitation, and apparently the bird didn't put up much of a fight. Once they were able to get the iconic creature back to a facility at the Dickerson Park Zoo, they began examining the eagle, and even did x-ray tests to see if there was anything internally that had gone wrong. And technically, I guess there was something going on inside the bald eagle's body - but it was far from serious. After thoroughly looking over the bird, the MDC eventually concluded that the flying creature wasn't hurt at all. In reality... it was just "too fat to fly." Those are the national park's own words, not mine: "The Missouri Department of Conservation captured a bald eagle along the boundary of Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. The eagle has been rehabilitated and released back into the park. The bird, originally reported to be injured, was found to be healthy but engorged with racoon - in other words, too fat to fly. The x-rays, provided by Dickerson Park Zoo, show the outline of what we suspect is raccoon roadkill. Its release was a coordinated effort between NPS, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the Dickerson Park Zoo." "Engorged with raccoon." That's hilarious. The bald eagle just had a stomach packed full of roadkill and couldn't successfully lift off. Because of a bald eagle's tendency to feed opportunistically, they have often been called "buzzards with good PR agents." This eagle could have used some better PR than "too fat to fly," though I think plenty of people will get a boost of patriotism from our national bird being too big for its wings to lift it off the ground. AMERICA!