[CINC] Dr. Peter Sharpe to the Rescue!

[paul jr petrich]

Hello Ocean People,
 Yesterday's SB News-Press had an interesting article about how the Santa Barbara Zoo enlisted the help of Peter Sharpe, the Channel Island's Bald Eagle expert extraordinaire, to solve a very unique zoo situation. It seems that on August 29th a juvenile Bald Eagle perched itself on top of the condor exhibit within 10 to 20 feet of passing visitors, oblivious to their presence. Was he or she educated in the ways of our island foxes?!

 Anyway, said visitor overstayed his or her stay, and on September 11th Peter Sharpe was called to solve what was feared by zoo authorities to be a looming problem. They had already moved 16 macaws, 13 otters, 4 chuckwallas, 4 rabbits, 2 cranes, 2 hornbills, 2 meerkats, and a swan into covered, protected areas! The new uninvited resident was not recorded to have harassed any of the aforementioned, but his or her constant eagle eying was deemed more evil than that of other paying visitors. He or she is said to also cause consternation amongst other zoo critters when "bathing and drinking" from the elephant, giraffe, and flamingo pools!  So, Dr. Sharpe eventually caught this juvenile delinquent: Now he or she is reported to be doing fine, maybe looking for another zoo to terrorize, in the Mt. Shasta region. 

 Questions remaining: was this eagle a juvenile born and bred on our islands? Was the reporter right in informing we readers that said eagle fed only on wild cormorants in the adjacent bird refuge and shoreline? And, why was she or he relocated in the Sierras instead of on one of our outer islands?  Good Tidings to all, Paul