"Christmas Eve anglers on the Mississippi River were stunned as Bill Doms paddled past them with a bald eagle perched on his kayak. But the bird's odd placement wasn't a stunt. It was sign that something was very wrong."

"Doms paddled hard to get the eagle to waiting Wright County sheriff's deputies and a volunteer from the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota, hopeful that the whatever ailed it could be treated.

But toxicology tests showed otherwise. In the end, the majestic bird had to be killed, yet another victim of lead poisoning."
 
Mary Lynn Smith reports for the Minneapolis Star Tribune January 16, 2012. [2]