Eagle released at Hooper

Morris, a juvenile bald eagle, takes wing to the delight and awe of Washtucna school children. Morris was released at Hooper after treatment at WSU Veterinary School for a partially fractured shoulder. Photo courtesy Carla Danielson. For more eagle photos, see pages 1A and 2A of the weekly pages.

An eagle rescued in mid-January near Hooper has been rehabilitated at the WSU Veterinary School and was last week released back to the wild.

“Morris” the eagle was found by Howard Morris about half a mile from his home in Hooper.

“It had been around here for a week or so, and it couldn’t fly,” Morris told the Gazette this week.

Morris said that he decided to help the bald eagle, so he returned home after he saw it and got his welding gloves and his wife.

“I grabbed him with my gloves and sat on the back of the pickup and held him,” Morris said. “My wife was the getaway driver!”

Morris said that he called the WSU Veterinary School when he got him.

“We put him in my ol’ blue pickup cab and called WSU,” he recalled. “He sat in there and looked around like he owned the place.”

The eagle was treated for a partial fracture in its shoulder, which prevented it from flying. He was released back at Hooper on Friday. Morris said that about 50 people were there for the event, including a group of students from the Washtucna school.

“They turned him loose, and boy he got out of there like a shot!” Morris exclaimed. “As soon as that door went open, he was gone and up in a tree.”

Morris the rescuer said he was glad to be able to be there when Morris the eagle could take flight and return home.

“We’re just tickled everything went well,” he said.