A mature eagle, shown in a photo provided to wildlife rehabilitator Wendy Ebersole Looker, is flying in the Gettysburg area with its talons caught in a small-game leg trap.
© Wendy Ebersole LookerA mature eagle, shown in a photo provided to wildlife rehabilitator Wendy Ebersole Looker, is flying in the Gettysburg area with its talons caught in a small-game leg trap.
An Elizabethtown native is circulating photos of an eagle that's flying in the Gettysburg area with its talons caught in a trap.

"Horrors!!!" Wendy Ebersole Looker, who now lives in Hanover, wrote on her Facebook page Sunday.

Looker, a state-certified wildlife rehabilitator, said the photos were sent to her by a local photographer who hoped she could track down and save the eagle.

But, she noted Monday, "until he weakens or gets snagged we cannot catch him."

The eagle appears to be caught in a steel leg-hold trap designed for small game.

EAGLE
© Wendy Ebersole Looker

"If it was legally set, it was incompetently set," she said in a telephone interview Monday. She noted the photos don't show a required identification tag for the owner, and also that a bird of that size shouldn't be able to trigger a trap like that.

The photos have gone viral in southcentral Pennsylvania, with hundreds of people sharing them and expressing concern for the eagle's welfare.

Karen Lippy, a York County birdwatcher who keeps tabs on the Eagle Cam eagles on private land near Codorus State Park, outside Hanover, has also joined the search for the wounded raptor.

Lippy posted on Facebook that the state Game Commission has been notified but, because the eagle is still capable of flight, there isn't much they can do.

Looker said volunteers on Monday tracked down a likely nest near Bonneauville, between Gettysburg and Hanover in Adams County. A female eagle was seen perching there all day, she said, but the male hasn't been in sight.

"We're pretty sure that it's the male we're looking for," she said. "We did find out that a property owner nearby saw the eagle in his yard with the trap and chain attached."

The bird is likely scavenging for food, since it's improbable he's able to hunt with the trap and chain attached.

Closeup photos show a blackened toe, which means infection is probably setting in, she added.

"Obviously, he's going to get snagged or eventually weaken and succumb to infection if we can't help him," Looker said.

If they can find out where the eagle is perching, Looker said they can use a raptor-specific trap to try and catch him, free him from the steel trap and allow him time to regain his strength before releasing him back into the wild.

"It's his only shot," she said.

Based on previous observations of the nesting pair, Looker said the eagle is "an 8-year-old bird in perfect health, who now is dragging a trap around that could cause his demise."

His mate also won't be able to raise a clutch of eaglets without him, she added, "so a breeding season has been lost."