Rescuers successfully freed a tangled local Internet reality star Thursday.
Flyer the eaglet, who is featured in a live wildlife video stream viewed by millions around the world, had been tangled in fishing line in his Sidney, B.C. nest for the past few days.
Rescuers used a crane to reach the baby bird and free him from the binds that held him to his perch.
Wildlife biologist David Hancock went up in the bucket, untangled the bird and checked him for injuries. He also checked Flyer's siblings, as it was suspected another bird had become caught as well.
Hancock originally used a crane to install the webcams six years ago and to maintain them since then.
When people noticed Flyer was stuck in the nest, water-saturated ground around the tree initially halted a rescue, as the soggy terrain was unable to support the weight of heavy machinery.
Rescuers deliberated for several days, considering multiple possibilities for a feathery rescue.
Flyer would have died from weather exposure and lack of food unless freed from the line, Hancock said. Baby birds are expected to go to the mother bird for food. Since Flyer was unable to move, he couldn't cross the nest to feed along with his siblings.
"We've been very fortunate," Hancock told CTV News.
"Since it got hooked on Saturday, it's been good weather, so the chick has not been overly stressed with cold. It hasn't been stressed with rain."
Hancock determined a climber could not be sent up to help Flyer out because the dead tree that supports his Vancouver Island nest is unsafe.
Rescuers abandoned plans to save the bird via helicopter Wednesday. Local search and rescue crews had offered to use the bird rescue as an air training session, but the plan failed to take flight.
Instead, the crew used large mats, loaned by local company Drains Co., to cover the ground under the tree to keep the crane from sinking.
Mother Nature also lent a helping hand. Warmer temperatures over the last few days dried out some of the dampness.
Hancock said that the fishing line Flyer was tangled in is an item often found in eagle nests, because the birds bring it back with the fish they catch.
Hancock's foundation established the eagle cam that features five-week-old Flyer and his two siblings. Thousands tuned into www.hancockwildlife.org this April to watch the chicks hatch. Flyer's nest is one of the most popular of the foundation's five eagle cams.
