Bald eagle hooked and tangled in fishing line rescued from near-drowning in Texas
A bald eagle is recovering at the Houston SPCA's Wildlife Center of Texas after a near-deadly encounter with discarded fishing gear.
The bird, about four years old, was spotted tangled in fishing line hanging from a tree over the Neches River. His wing was caught, and he was left dangling-trapped in chest-high water, too exhausted to fight and too stuck to fly. With no way to fly or find food, his chances of survival were shrinking by the hour.
Thankfully, someone saw him and called for help. Within hours, a team was on site, wading into the river to cut him free. The hook had pierced his wing, and the line had wrapped tightly around his body. But the rescuers worked quickly and carefully to free him.
He was rushed to the Wildlife Center, where specialists sedated him, removed the hook and stabilized him. Now, he's in the Center's Outdoor Flight Complex, relearning how to stretch, fly and navigate the open air-rebuilding the strength he'll need to survive in the wild.
(Photo credit: Houston SPCA)
(Photo credit: Houston SPCA)
Bald eagles can dive at nearly 100 mph. Their wingspan can stretch wider than the length of a compact car. Once on the edge of extinction, they came back, thanks to decades of focused conservation.
As fishing season picks up, it's a good time to remember: one loose hook, one piece of line left behind isn't just litter. It can be life or death.
You can watch the eagle's recovery live on the Center's wildlife cams. He's not out of the woods yet-but he's getting closer to flying free again.
The bald eagle, recognized as the national bird of the United States, is a year-round resident in Texas. These birds mainly feed on fish and are most commonly found near the coast or in areas with open water, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In the wild, bald eagles can live up to 20 years. They typically form lifelong pair bonds and nest between October and July.
Under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act-first passed in 1940-it is illegal to shoot, harm, capture or disturb bald eagles. Violations of this federal law can result in serious penalties.
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USA Today
04-06-2025
- USA Today
Man kills 20-plus bald eagles, hawks; public is livid over penalty
Man kills 20-plus bald eagles, hawks; public is livid over penalty A Virginia man pleaded guilty to killing in excess of 20 juvenile and mature bald eagles, and hawks in an effort to protect the waterfowl on his property so he could hunt them. The defendant was found in possession of a pole trap he used to attract the birds of prey to land and then he snared them, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. The man, who built a small waterfowl impoundment on his property, also used a banned pesticide, carbofuran, to poison the eagles and hawks. The defendant was sentenced to one day in jail, two years probation, and nearly $10,000 in fines. 'We're fairly familiar with the guy. We'd dealt with him before on some waterfowl violations,' Virginia Conservation Police Master Officer Brian Bratton said. 'He showed us what was going on and told us what he was doing and why he was doing it. He was killing the hawks and eagles because they were killing all the ducks he was attracting to his impoundment. 'It was the time of year when hawks are migrating through. And in very late winter, the food supply really gets short, so these birds are looking for prey. He was very aware it was illegal, but in his mind, the ends justified the means, because he's getting rid of the predatory birds to protect the ducks. That many hawks and eagles is pretty significant, so I feel like it's a win for protecting the resource from further loss.' Commenters on the VDWR Facebook page vehemently disagreed about it being a win. Many were livid over the man's punishment, and were angry that the VDWR withheld his identity; he was identified as William Custis Smith by court records, according to The Charlotte Observer. Among the comments: 'He got ONE DAY IN JAIL?!!!! One day?!!! One Day?!!!! So it's open season on bald eagles in Virginia now apparently.' 'The sentence should have been much longer, and the fines should have been much higher.' 'Someone certainly dropped the ball here, either the U.S. Attorney, or the judge.' 'Where's the justice for those birds?' Also on FTW Outdoors: Texas fisherman catches record bass, releases it 3 months later 'This truly is a travesty.' 'They probably spent more than $10k in labor in the investigation.' 'Something seems fishy here. No named defendants, a `well known' hunter with numerous violations and only one day with some fines.' The U.S. Attorney prosecuted the case, and the suspect pleaded guilty to violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act can result in a fine of $100,000, imprisonment for one year, or both, for a first offense. Penalties increase substantially for additional offenses, and a second violation of this Act is a felony. The criminal penalties are for persons who 'take, possess, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, at any time or any manner, any bald eagle…[or golden eagle] alive or dead, or any part (including feathers), nest or egg thereof.' Take is defined as 'pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, molest or disturb.' The investigation, which included the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, began during the 2023-24 waterfowl season when a tip was received about an individual trapping and poisoning hawks and eagles on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. While talking with Bratton, Smith admitted to killing in excess of 20 juvenile and mature bald eagles, and hawks, primarily red-shouldered and red-tailed. He also surrendered a can of carbofuran, the pesticide he used to commit some of the crimes, using it in a pile of fish heads. Bratton located traps and multiple eagle and hawk carcasses to confirm the original information. The investigation concluded on March 31, and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources announced the results last week.
04-06-2025
New South Korean President Lee faces crucial challenges at home and abroad
SEOUL, South Korea -- Winning a tense election that capped off months of political turmoil, new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung described his victory as the start of the country's return to normalcy following the crisis sparked by then-conservative leader Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law in December. But the outspoken liberal, who assumed office immediately on Wednesday without a transition period, takes the helm during a highly challenging time for the country, which has struggled mightily to revive a faltering economy battered by months of political paralysis and compounded by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff hikes. Lee also inherits from Yoon the escalating threat of North Korea's nuclear ambitions, now further complicated by Pyongyang's deepening alignment with Moscow over Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine. Here's a look at the key challenges facing Lee's government: In his inauguration speech, Lee identified the economy as his top priority, vowing to immediately launch an emergency task force to wage a 'head-on battle' against the looming threat of recession and to boost government spending to jumpstart economic activity. South Korean economic institutions have repeatedly sounded the alarm in recent months over the state of the economy, citing sluggish business investment, weak consumer spending, a deteriorating job market and a trade environment worsened by Trump's tariffs and other America-first policies. Despite the country's strikingly high household debt, the central bank last week lowered borrowing costs in a desperate bid to inject more money into the economy and slashed its 2025 growth forecast to 0.8%, which would be the weakest since a 0.7% contraction during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020. Lee won't have much time to negotiate with Washington before July 9, when Trump's 90-day pause in global reciprocal tariffs is set to expire, potentially exposing South Korean products to 25% tax rates. Although a U.S. federal court recently ruled that Trump lacks authority to impose his planned tariffs, the White House has appealed, leaving the outcome uncertain. Trump has also pushed for product-specific tariffs on key sectors like autos and semiconductors, which make up a major share of South Korean exports. Trump could also seek a broader deal requiring Seoul to pay significantly more for the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea to deter North Korean threats. While Seoul's previous government had aimed to reach a 'package' deal with Trump by early July, Lee has preached patience on tariffs, saying it would be against national interests to obsess with an early agreement. In his inaugural address, Lee promised to reopen a communication channel with North Korea to ease tensions. But prospects for the early resumption of dialogue between the rival Koreas are dim, as North Korea has been constantly rejecting dialogue offers by South Korea and the U.S. since 2019, when talks between Washington and Pyongyang collapsed over disagreements on economic sanctions. North Korea's priority in foreign policy is now firmly Russia, which has received thousands of North Korean troops and large amounts of military equipment in recent months for its warfighting in Ukraine. During campaigning, Lee acknowledged that it would be 'very difficult' to arrange a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un anytime soon, though it's something he will seek. Lee said he would support Trump's efforts to restart nuclear diplomacy with Kim, saying that improved ties between Pyongyang and Washington could allow aid projects for the impoverished North that will likely require South Korean support. Lee nominated former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, a dove who espouses reconciliation with North Korea, as his spy chief. The nomination likely reflects Lee Jae-myung's hopes to revive inter-Korean dialogue, given the behind-the-scene roles of the National Intelligence Service played to reach out to Pyongyang under the past liberal governments. However, many experts also note that Lee Jae-myung does not share the same level of Korean nationalist zeal as his liberal predecessors, and they question how firmly he would stick to his appeasement approach if provocative actions by North Korea, such as high-profile missile tests or border incursions, undermine public support for his policy at home. Lee was previously accused by his critics of tilting toward Pyongyang and Beijing and away from Washington and Tokyo. He once slammed a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea as a source of tensions and likened strengthening U.S.-Japan ties to a 1905 Washington-Tokyo agreement that he said eventually helped Japan colonize the Korean Peninsula. But Lee has recently refrained from making similar contentious comments, instead repeatedly pledging to pursue pragmatic diplomacy. He has vowed to enhance South Korea's alliance with the U.S. and their trilateral cooperation with Japan, while also emphasizing the need to reduce tensions with North Korea and avoid frictions with China and Russia. While Lee may eventually take steps to improve ties with North Korea and China — relations that deteriorated under Yoon, who prioritized the U.S. and Japan — experts say Lee is unlikely to take drastic actions that might undermine the alliance with Washington or negatively impact South Korea's financial markets. Lee has stated that he will address thorny historical disputes with Japan separately from matters of security, trade, and other issues. However, many experts believe he is unlikely to completely reverse the progress made in Seoul-Tokyo relations in recent years. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Wednesday that he hopes to hold summit talks with Lee 'as early as possible' and expressed a desire to further strengthen bilateral ties. Long accused by critics of being a divisive populist, Lee pledged unity throughout his campaign, vowing not to target conservatives and calling for an end to South Korea's deep political polarization and a return to dialogue and compromise. 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New York Post
04-06-2025
- New York Post
Virginia hunter gets single day in prison for killing 20 juvenile bald eagles and hawks in poisoning scheme: authorities
A Virginia hunter got a slap on the wrist for poisoning over 20 young hawks and bald eagles during migration season to stop them from preying on ducks, which he wanted to kill for sport, according to authorities. William Custis Smith was sentenced to one day in prison and received a $9,800 fine for killing 20 'juvenile' red-shouldered hawks and bald eagles in 2023, which he claimed were 'encroaching' on his duck hunting impoundment, according to court documents. 4 The corpse of the juvenile bald eagle, which was poisoned with an insecticide by hunter William Smith. U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia 'He's a big duck hunter, and he was in the process of trying to really get it going [and attracting ducks],' Virginia Conservation Police Master Officer Brian Bratton said of Smith in a statement. 'He was killing the hawks and eagles because they were killing all the ducks he was attracting to his impoundment. It was the time of year when the hawks are migrating through,' Bratton said, adding, 'He was very aware it was illegal.' Smith baited the migrating raptors with rotting fish heads he had poisoned with the insecticide carbofuran and set up pole traps — which are designed to ensnare birds' legs, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. 4 An illegal pole trap on Smith's property ensnared the young raptors who were attracted to perch on the raised platform. U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia Investigators found a 'fresh carcass of a juvenile bald eagle' on the bird killer's Delmarva peninsula property and seized it as evidence shortly after opening their investigation, which was spawned from an anonymous tip, according to court documents. Agents installed a 'plot watcher camera' near the illegal pole trap and documented several birds being killed, including one that struggled for over seven hours before Smith beat it to death with a pole, court documents stated. A necropsy report on the bald eagle revealed the presence of carbofuran, an insecticide that was banned in 2008 because of its toxicity to humans, according to the documents. 'This particular poison acts so quickly that nine times out of 10, when an eagle, hawk or whatever eats something, it acts so quickly that they die with whatever they're eating still in their claws,' Bratton said. 4 Investigators found dead fish heads that Smith had poisoned and laid out for bait. U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia Smith admitted to investigators to 'killing in excess of 20 juvenile and mature bald eagles and hawks, primarily red-shouldered and red-tailed,' and handed over his batch of poison to authorities, according to the VDWR statement. A single, first offense violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act — which outlaws killing the birds among other offenses — can carry with it a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for up to one year, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. A second violation is considered a felony and results in even steeper penalties. 4 The birds were killed during migration season in an area flush with nature preserves. Jane Scott Norris via Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources Smith was charged in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges of Unlawful Taking of a Bald Eagle, Unlawful Taking of a Migratory Bird, and Unlawful Use of a Pesticide, according to court documents. As part of the plea deal, he was ordered to pay $9,800 in restitution, serve 24 months' probation, 50 hours of community service, and spend one day in jail, according to the VDWR. Smith's hometown of Hallwood, Virginia is near several protected areas including Saxis Wildlife Management Area, Mutton Hunk Fen Natural Area Preserve, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, and Wallps Island National Wildlife Refuge. US Fish and Wildlife did not respond to The Post's request for comment.
