WAYNESBORO, Va. (WTVR) - Four bald eagles on the Eastern Shore have died from lead poisoning. A couple alerted wildlife experts after finding two eagles in a ditch. Then a wildlife expert found a family of three more eagles laying lifeless in a field behind some woods.
"They just opened up their beaks, spread their wings, and tried to hop away. You could tell he wasn't going to fly," Art Shear, who discovered two of the birds, said.
The two eagles that were still alive were taken to Eastern Shore Animal Hospital, where one of them died within a few hours. The other surviving birds are now being cared for at the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro.
Veterinarians found metal particles in the digestive system of one of the birds.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is investigating to find out how the birds were poisoned.
They say it is too early to tell whether it was done intentionally, or if the bird ate something that was tainted.
