After eating some gophers one day in Yellowstone National Park, a female bald eagle began convulsing, fell to the ground and broke her wing.

The gophers had been poisoned, veterinarians later found.

The bird now lives in Linwood under the care of a nonprofit animal-rescue agency called Operation Wildlife. On Sunday the bird sat on a perch inside Building 21 of the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds, twisting her head from side to side and occasionally squawking at onlookers.

The eagle — known as “Moose” to her handlers — was one of many birds on display at the seventh annual Eagle Day, an event to raise awareness of natural life in the Lawrence area. An estimated 1,000 visitors walked through the building, running their hands over animal skins as they went.

Toads, snakes, baby snapping turtles and falcons all made appearances, but the bald eagle symbolizes the spirit of the event, organizers said. It’s the national bird, and it’s a species that’s been endangered by pollution, Jayhawk Audubon Society member Ed Shaw said.

Researchers learned in the late 1960s and early 1970s that the pesticide DDT was causing bald eagle eggs’ shells to thin.

“Eagles don’t survive all by their lonesome,” Shaw said. “They survive in an ecosystem.”

In 1995, the U.S. government reclassified the bald eagle from endangered to threatened.

Karla Hughes, Lawrence, holds up her son Arthur, 2, so he can touch the head of a preserved bald eagle during the annual Eagle Day event at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds. Eagle Day was celebrated Sunday.

“Moose” can’t survive in the wild because of damage from the broken wing, said Operation Wildlife staff member Laurie Doud.

Still, bald eagles can be found in the wild near Lawrence, and an eagle-viewing trip to Clinton Lake was part of Sunday’s events.

An opossum named Violet, a ward of Prairie Park Nature Center, was the favorite attraction at the fairgrounds for members of Brownie Troop 744.

“The tail feels like a fish,” nine-year-old Caitlyn Tilden said.

¢ Eagles on the Kaw

“A dry fish,” Natalie Hiebert, 9, added.

Other exhibitors included Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance, Lawrence Recycling, and Thunderbird Theatre from Haskell Indian Nations University, which performed “Songs of Life.”

Eagle Day’s sponsors were the Jayhawk Audubon Society, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and Westar Energy.