The eagle pair that nested near Garland for years had a fan club.
But now it’s become a posse, too, intent on finding the person who shot the female bird and left it to die — leaving its mate to raise their chick alone.
“There are people who are just flat pissed off,” said Layne Hans, who would drive from Seward just to watch the birds take turns hunting and tending their nest. “Why would somebody do something this stupid?”
The birds were fixtures in that part of Seward County, plucking bass and bluegill from a nearby pond, roosting on power poles, fortifying their nest.
“This family of bald eagles has been like family to so many of the neighbors,” said Scott Dinslage, who lives nearby. “That’s why it feels like we lost part of our family.”
State conservation officer Dina Barta took the first call on the injured eagle, and her phone is still ringing.
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“I have never seen a community so emotional and so invested in any wild animal. I have received so many calls, including one gentleman who got choked up.”
And the nest’s nearest neighbor considered the birds almost as her pets. “We could always look out and see an eagle,” she said. “It brought us so much joy. We were just devastated when we heard about the female.”
The bird was found struggling but still alive near its nest late last month. Barta performed a necropsy after it died and discovered a gunshot wound.
Game and Parks officers have received several tips, but haven’t made any arrests yet, said Duane Arp, assistant administrator of the commission’s law enforcement division.
Dinslage and Hans hope enough money can change that. Each has launched a campaign to bolster the Nebraska Wildlife Crimestoppers reward for information leading to an arrest.
“We can’t just sit by and wish and hope and pray that someone’s going to turn themselves in,” Dinslage said. “I want to raise enough that even this person’s mother is going to turn them in.”
He created a page Wednesday, and had raised nearly $2,500 toward a $15,000 goal by Friday. Hans is collecting donations through Facebook posts and word-of-mouth, and was up to $1,300.
“It seems like the more people I talk to, the more donations I receive.”
Both men will forward the donations to the Nebraska Wildlife Protectors Association for future rewards if they’re not needed in this case, they said.
Since the shooting, state conservation officers, members of the Raptor Conservation Alliance and several ornithology students from Concordia University have monitored the nest, making sure the male eagle is still caring for the chick.
And he is, spending most of his time hunting and feeding the young bird, while still calling out for his mate.