An American bald eagle rescued Tuesday afternoon from a coyote trap in Leeds is under the care of raptor rehabilitation specialists in Freedom.

“It’s resting comfortably,” Marc Payne, co-director of Avian Haven, said on Tuesday evening. “We should know more in two or three days.”

Maine Game Warden Dave Chabot saved the mature bird from a No. 2 foothold trap that was set on land off Church Street owned by Dwight Buckley. The trap, along with several others, was legally placed, Chabot said, and were intended to catch coyote and fox that had been feeding on a nearby deer carcass.

A neighbor, Robert Scott, saw the bird and realized that something was wrong when it didn’t fly off. A closer look told him it was trapped, and he called the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shortly after 1 p.m. to report the problem.

Chabot said he was able to determine that the bird was being held by a single talon firmly in the grip of the trap’s offset jaws.

With help and a blanket from Scott, Chabot said he was able to release the bird and bring it to his truck. There he held it while flagging down a passing UPS truck driver to call a rehabilitator.

On way to Avian Haven

Sheri Gee of Minot responded. She and Chabot put the eagle into an animal carrier, and Gee brought it to Augusta, where she met a courier from Avian Haven.

“As far as I know, everything looked really good” for the bird’s recovery, Chabot said.

He said the incident was a first for him involving an eagle, but noted that about three years ago he freed a great horned owl from a similar trap.

Chabot said trapping “is a vital part of our animal-control efforts for fur-bearing animals.” He said the trapper felt awful after learning one of his sets had captured the symbol of the republic.

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” said Chabot, but was so upset that “he pulled all of his traps” from the area and left.

Payne said the nonprofit Avian Haven cares for up to nearly 1,000 wild birds annually, “everything from hummingbirds to eagles.”

“It’s hard to tell” if the Leeds eagle will make a full recovery, Payne said. He said that while the trap held only a single talon, “that one toe, the back toe, is an important toe.”

The trap could have interrupted blood circulation to the point where the talon could be compromised. In the wild, it could freeze or become infected. That’s why he’ll monitor the bird over the next several days, he said.

Chabot said he’s hopeful that the eagle will soon be given a clean bill of health, and freed.

If that’s the case, he said it’ll be returned to the Leeds area for release so it will be able to quickly reconnect with its mate.