Hair-raising rescue for fire crew as bald eagle gets stuck on pylon near Gleneagles

Firefighters may be used to rescuing cats from trees, but a crew faced an unusual call-out when a 21-year-old bald eagle got stuck in a pylon.

The team had to use a height appliance to reach Pilgrim, who had got into trouble at the Phoenix Falconry near Gleneagles, on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite regularly flying around the electricity pylon, the bird got stuck on cords at the top of the power line.

Once electricity was isolated, firefighters managed to reach Pilgrim and return him to falconry staff.

Station manager Ricky Stroud described it as one of his most unusual call-outs''.

He added: The eagle was stuck at the very top of the power line which was around 20ft in the air.

It was clear the animal was in a state of distress and it was crucial we acted quickly so the animal didn't injure itself.

After safety partners isolated the power supply we were able to use the height appliance to go up and safely recover the eagle and return it to its handler.''

Phoenix Falconry owner Adrian Hallgarth said the bald eagle lost a few feathers but was quickly back to normal.

He said: Pilgrim has flown up to that very same pylon during his exercises every day for the last nine years so it was a real surprise that he got into difficulty on this outing.

When you fly raptors they wear short cords on their legs but on this occasion the cords seem to have become stuck in between two plates that are common at the top of power lines.

I'm just glad Pilgrim is fine and I can't thank the firefighters enough - they were here within minutes and were extremely understanding and supportive of the whole situation.''

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said statutory responsibility for animal rescue lies with the Scottish SPCA, but crews attend where there is a risk that a members of the public might put themselves in danger to assist an animal in distress