Metro Transit Police worked with the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia and Alexandria Animal Control to rescue an injured American bald eagle on Saturday near the Van Dorn Street Station on the Blue Line in Virginia. (Courtesy of Metro)
A special Metro train rolled down the rails Saturday on one of the transit system’s more unusual missions: saving an injured bald eagle.
The bird, the proud symbol of the United States, had been spotted a couple of days ago inside the fence that lines the Blue Line in Alexandria, Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said.
After wildlife specialists decided that the eagle, with an apparent broken wing, could not fly out on its own, a decision was made to send a special train for it.
Carrying wildlife specialists and transit police, the rescue train headed from King Street to pick up the eagle, about 300 yards outside the Van Dorn Street station, behind the 5300 block of Eisenhower Avenue. Regularly scheduled trains were routed onto single tracks around the site for a time.
The bird was found, stabilized and taken to the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia in Falls Church for rehabilitation and eventual release, Metro said.