- Nature World Wildlife Rescue and Gainesville Police released Majesta, a five-year-old bald eagle, after rescuing her from a dumpster on Feb. 1.
- Majesta was bruised and exhausted from a fight with a young male bald eagle but had no long-term injuries after rehab.
- GPD officers and wildlife rehabbers collaborated to safely capture, treat, and restore Majesta to the wild near UF animal hospitals.
Majesta wasted no time taking to her wings.
In a couple of flaps, she found the wind, took to the northeast and began to circle ever higher and further away from her captors. Although she might be a little biased in saying captors.
Nature World Wildlife Rescue and Sanctuary and the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) released Majesta, an adult bald eagle around five years old, on Thursday behind UF’s animal hospitals. Majesta stayed with the rehab group in Homosassa for a few weeks after being rescued from a dumpster behind Jiffy Lube on SW Archer Road.
Ross Bedard with Nature World Wildlife said Majesta did not like being around the humans helping her, making her a perfect, if impatient, patient ready to return to the wild.
“She wanted nothing to do with people,” Bedard said.
GPD’s Cpl. Rob Rogers responded to a call on Feb. 1 about an eagle getting into a fight and landing in the dumpster. Rogers showed up and found Majesta, a name given to her by the rehab group, in a cardboard box inside the dumpster.
Rogers hopped into the dumpster, armed with a moving blanket and tote. He quickly realized how outmanned he was.
“I decided it was the smart idea to jump in with it until I realized it had probably a six-foot wingspan,” Rogers told Mainstreet.
Peeking over the top of the dumpster, he spotted reinforcements with Florida Wildlife Care, who had heard GPD’s call. Together, they corralled and transported Majesta to UF Small Animal Hospital. After an overnight stay, she was released to Nature World Wildlife for rehabilitation before being released.
Bedard said Majesta’s fight was probably with a young male bald eagle that hadn’t yet molted into its adult feathers, including the white head. The callers who reached out to GPD said it was a vulture, but Bedard said a vulture wouldn’t mess with a full-grown eagle.
As for Majesta’s injuries, Bedard said she was a little bruised and battered from the fight and extremely exhausted, but without long-term injuries.
The rehab crew said bald eagles are fairly rare, but they’ve handled five eagles in the last three months. The nonprofit deals with most any wildlife, from possums and raccoons to barred owls and songbirds.
Rogers said GPD deals with wildlife fairly regularly, too. A bald eagle is a first, though, and as an outdoors guy, he said its one for his bucket list.
“Oh, man. Look at that. That’s incredible,” Rogers said, viewing a photo of Majesta taking off from her cage. “That’s incredible.”