PHILADELPHIA — Something was just not right.
High up in a tree in the dark of night in Gloucester County's South Harrison Township, an American bald eagle had been flapping its wings for hours, with no sign of taking flight.
Alerted to the great creature's obvious distress, county animal control officers sought the help of local fire companies. They came with ladder trucks, aiming to capture the bird. Any healthy eagle, even an injured one, would have soared away. But not this fellow, tethered, it seemed, by some invisible trouble.
