News and Investigations

A 3 ½-year-old bald eagle named Beauty who was injured last month, was released back into the wild Friday, May 14, 2021, at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Winter Haven.

Nancy Murrah from the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay initially took in the injured eagle after volunteers Llloyd and Kathy Terry rescued her from the Polk County North Central Landfill at DeCastro Road and Winter Lake Road near Winter Haven, on April 20^th. The bird had suffered fractures to her shoulder area.

According to Ms. Murrah, the large female eagle was originally thought to be male, and was called Beast, but after realizing the error, they began to call her Beauty.

Once Beauty became healthy enough to return to her normal life, she was brought to the PCSO’s Sheriff’s Operation Center where she was set free, due to the necessity of the release taking place relatively close to where she was found. The Raptor Center of Tampa Bay and the Audubon Society regularly works with Polk County Animal Control to receive, transport, rehabilitate, and release injured wildlife.

Several members of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and PCSO Animal Control were on hand for the release, along with volunteers from the Raptor Center.

“The people at the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay do great work to help injured birds from this area. Animal Control has a wonderful relationship with Nancy Murrah and her volunteers, and many birds have been saved due to this partnership.”- Grady Judd, Sheriff.

According to Ms. Murrah, the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay rehabilitates over a thousand birds each year, with about 40% of those birds coming from Polk County.

“Imagine the feeling of helping our nation’s icon take its first flight back to freedom. This is the very reason we do what we do at the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay. We wanted to share this experience with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in appreciation of the great work their Animal Control officers do to help wildlife.” – Nancy Murrah, of the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay.