Birds and electricity do not mix

Over the 60-plus years I have been working with birds, I have found electrocuted raptors all around Oregon: Umatilla (two dead eagles under high-line transmission towers); Burns (eight dead eagles under one transformer); Paisley (three dead eagles under a line of power poles); Silver Lake (several dead hawks, eagles and owls under power poles adjacent to Hwy 31); Brothers (three dead bald eagles under an irrigation pump transformer); etc., etc., etc...

But as Bob Dylan sang, "The Times They Are A Changin'." Today, there are federal laws that require power companies to make transmission lines, poles and towers safe for raptors where mortality has occurred. Wildlife biologists contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, then with cooperation of state wildlife agencies identify those facilities and the power company does something about it.

Such was the case recently on private and city lands adjacent to the Lazy Z Ranch, east of town. Another example are the power poles, transformers and lines along Highway 20 near the hay farms between Sisters and Bend.

Over the last two years, two golden eagles have been electrocuted by perching on poles and coming into contact with high voltage in the power lines east of Sisters. Gary Landers, who operates the local raptor rehabilitation facility "Wild Wings," responded to the incidents and started the ball rolling to eliminate the electrical hazards.

"I received my Christmas present a little early this year," Gary said recently. "December 16 was a good day for me - that's the day Central Electric Co-op (CEC) crews came to Sisters and volunteered necessary manpower and equipment to insulate power lines that were electrocution hazards to raptors."

Following the electrocution of a golden eagle on the lines earlier this spring, Gary identified hazardous poles in an area stretching from City of Sisters property, Highway 20 at Jordan Road, (across the highway from the horse sculpture), the Lazy Z Ranch and R&B Ranch, ending at Highway 126. This area is an ancestral hunting territory for golden eagles and bald eagles, as well as a variety of hawks, owls, and falcons. Fiberglass insulators and excluders have now been installed on those power poles to make them raptor-safe.

"Excluders" are triangles mounted to the upper-side of the cross-arms that support the wires. The point on top is uncomfortable for most raptors to perch on, but as you can see in the illustration, ravens don't seem to know, or care, about Man's best intentions.

Other power poles, however, continue west into Sisters and east towards Jordan Road and pose the same shock hazard as the one that electrocuted the golden eagle. CEC representatives told Gary that raptor proofing these additional poles would be cost prohibitive. Currently, power companies are obligated to insulate only the one pole where the electrocution took place.

Gary monitors and treats injuries to electrocuted raptors, but rarely do birds recover from these wounds to the point they can be released. Treatment can be very difficult and because injuries are deep in the bird's body, blood flow ceases to a leg or wing. When this happens, federal regulation requires the bird be euthanized. In this case, the golden eagle electrocuted outside of Sisters was treated for electric shock burns for 10 weeks, but it sustained irreparable damage and was euthanized.

Gary contacted Eileen Stein and Brad Grimm from the City of Sisters and requested permission to situate raptor perches on the City parcel to provide raptors alternative perching sites. 'Wild Wings' was willing to fund or find voluntary support for all materials and installation, with no cost to the City of Sisters. Jim Bell had offered to use his construction equipment to put the perches in place.

Several weeks later, however, Alan Guggenheim of CEC contacted Gary stating CEC had decided to devote resources to insulate the hazardous power lines in that area. Consequently, there was no longer a need to place perch poles on the City of Sisters property.

So, there you have it. As you drive along Hwy 20 near the Lazy Z you can see the excluders mounted to the cross-arms and fiberglass insulators on the wires near the top of the poles. Hopefully this will eliminate the possibility of the raptors being electrocuted while hunting in the open spaces east of town. Good going Gary and CEC! A "Win-win" deal!