STEVENSVILLE, Mich — An Indiana man believes handling animals while growing up on a farm helped give him the skills needed to catch an injured bald eagle.

Mark O’Donnell, 29, is now a professional trapper catching animals like squirrels, raccoons and groundhogs that damage homes. He is owner of Michiana Wildlife Trapping, LLC near LaPort.

His efforts quite possibly saved the life of the injured bald eagle turned over to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

“I’ve handled large birds before but nothing that large or that powerful,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell was heading to Benton Harbor, Michigan on March 28 to remove a squirrel from a trap he set in the attic of a home when he spotted two police vehicles with overhead lights flashing and the eagle in the median of Interstate 94 near Stevensville in southwest Michigan.

The nearest conservation officer was at least 90 minutes from getting there and given his qualifications was asked by police to help.

O’Donnell said the eagle appeared dazed and confused possibly from being hit by a vehicle while swooping down for some food.

The bird started lashing out as soon as he tried restraining it.  

“The eagle’s feet were the size of my hands and each one of its claws was like four inches long,” he said. 

O’Donnell using a catch pole fed a 12-inch loop around the midsection of the eagle and tightened it to keep its wings from flapping.

He fastened its legs together with zip ties and placed a sweater over the eagle’s head to calm it down.

O’Donnell placed the bird into the back end of a police vehicle for transport to a MDNR conservation officer, according to Lincoln Township Police, 

“That bird had some power.  It was every bit as strong as me,” he said.

O’Donnell didn’t know the extent of the bird’s injuries but said its left eye seemed badly damaged.

“He didn’t have any broken bones that I could tell,” he said.

Ken Kesson, a MDNR wildlife biologist at Crane Pond State Game Area Field Office at Jones, said the eagle was taken to a rehabilitative center.

Kesson said he no information on the bird’s condition.

O’Donnell helped raise various animals like chickens, turkeys, and pigs while growing up on a farm north of LaPorte and started trapping animals damaging homes as a licensed professional in 2018.

He also showed many of his farm animals during his ten-years in the LaPorte County 4H program as a youth. 

“God put me on this earth to do what I do. I felt God put that eagle in my path to see what I would do,” he said.

O’Donnell’s father passed away in 2018 but his eight brothers and sisters retained ownership of the farm but no longer farm the property.