“Direct your children onto the right path, so when they’re older they’ll stay on it." ~ Psalms 22:6
Eagles dominate the sky, spreading wings as vast as they
are glossy black. Its hood is white against the sunrise, as bright as the
clouds they glide among. But this is the story of Murphy, a spectacular male
bald eagle, who, because of a wing injury, resides permanently at a St. Louis sanctuary.
Two years ago, the
staff noticed that Murphy was guarding what appeared to be a large earthen depression.
Turns out, he was carefully nurturing an inanimate rock. As time progressed,
Murphy became more and more protective of his ‘offspring,’ screeching and
charging at the four other eagles in the aviary when they ventured too close.
Eventually, Dad and ‘RockBaby’ were moved to their own enclosure for everyone's
protection.
Sanctuary staff considered
replacing Murphy’s rock with a real egg, but spare eagle eggs are rare for
wanna-be dads. Additionally, hatching an unrelated bird's egg would likely be
dangerous for it.
So, they waited, assuming
that Murphy’s fatherhood fantasy would pass after the season.
News came that a young eaglet had fallen from its nest
during a windstorm and needed someplace to recover. Slightly bruised, but
otherwise healthy, the chick was placed at Murphy’s shelter.
Camouflaged staff
began feeding the eaglet to prevent it from imprinting on humans. What the baby
really needed was a foster parent - an adult eagle who would feed and care for
it.
At 31 years old, Murphy
had never raised a chick before. But this could be his big chance!
To test Murphy’s
surrogacy potential, keepers began a bonding process between the two birds.
They removed the “RockBaby” and placed the eaglet, protected by a cage, into
the enclosure with Murphy to allow some interaction between the two.
Soon, Murphy began responding to the eaglet’s peeps. A week
after their introduction, the cage was removed, allowing the two to interact
more closely. They were each given food, a whole fish for Murphy, and
bite-sized pieces for his young eagle. Rather than each eating from their
separate dishes, Murphy took his portion and ripped it up to feed the baby.
Months later, the eaglet was released back into the wild. The
separation didn’t affect the eagle Daddy because it’s natural for bird parents
to let go of their babies.
For Murphy, his residency comes with many perks, such as
being entrusted as the primary caregiver for any other orphaned eaglets and
bathing in perhaps the world’s largest bird bath.
Murphy passed away on March
15, the day after tornadoes ripped across Missouri, from a head injury.
Holy Father, like the eagle uses wind
currents to determine its flight path, allow the Holy Spirit to direct our path
as we acknowledge You in all our ways and allow us to reach greater heights than
we could ever achieve on our own. Amen
