It's the Fourth of July and coincidentally, an eagle was rescued by a veteran. Such an inspiring story to start another American Independence Day.
Jason Galvin and his neighbors noticed an eagle dangling from a tree near Rush City. Its leg was caught in a piece of rope that was wrapped around a branch, about 70 feet off the ground.
Jason and his wife Jackie called the police, the fire department and the DNR but they get the same answers. Authorities had known about the eagle being there for 2 1/2 day and they couldn't do anything.
But Jason wouldn't take no for an answer.
The army veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan grabbed his .22 rifle, bellied up to the back of his truck, and used his own eagle eye to shoot the four inches of rope that were holding the eagle.
Jason took shot after shot, trying to break through the branch and the rope. He never thought he'd be using his military training for something like this -- an animal rescue.
It took him an hour and a half and 150 shots before the branch, the rope and the eagle all came free.
"We watched it fall into the branches. It was a perfect fall," Jackie said.
The DNR officer on the scene complimented Jason for being such a good shot and basically hit the same spot every time.
A neighbor and a conservation officer helped wrap the eagle in a blanket, and was taken to the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. It is expected to survive.
The neighbors named the eagle "Freedom," based on the fact that it was up to them to free it and that it was coincidentally Fourth of July weekend.
If the eagle recovers in the next few weeks, it will go back to where it was found. If it takes longer, it will go to a nature center first where older eagles can teach it how to hunt.
Source: CBS Minnesota
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