Decorah's bald eagles are getting some protection against electrocution

New protective devices have been installed on 27 utility poles in the neighborhood of the Decorah bald eagles' nest in an effort to prevent future electrocutions, such as the one that claimed the life of an eagle in 2014.

Crews from ITC Midwest completed the work recently, installing guards on the power poles, as well as yellow spirals that will help the bald eagles stay away from power lines.

ITC Midwest Communications Director Tom Petersen tells decorahnews.com that his group consulted on the project with members of the Raptor Resource Project and with staffers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

ITC custom-designed and custom-built the insulators it installed to the southeast of the eagles' nest, along Trout Run Road.  Each insulator is 10 feet wide, covering an area 5 feet on either side of the utility pole.

The project is aimed at discouraging the bald eagles from perching on utility pole and decreasing the likelihood that a bald eagle is electrocuted when it touches two wires at once.

A bald eagle looks down from its perch in a nearby tree