January 14, 2009

Eagle Lady, Jean Keene, dies at 85

Jean Keene, "Eagle Lady" of Homer, died Tuesday evening in her home on the Homer Spit. Keene was most famous for feeding hundreds of bald eagles daily during the winter and early spring on the Homer Spit.

From WIKIPEDIA:

Jean Keene (born October 20, 1923 as Jean Marie Hodgdon), also known as the "Eagle Lady", is most famous for feeding hundreds of bald eagles daily during the winter and early spring on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. Born in Minnesota, Keene was a trick rider in a traveling rodeo in the 1950s, until a riding accident cut short her rodeo career. She moved to Alaska in 1977 and began by feeding a few returning eagles on scraps from the seafood plant where she worked. She currently gets food trucked in by donors, and feeds hundreds of eagles up to 500 pounds of fish a day. Her activities have been widely publicized in national media in the United States, and she is the subject of a biography by Alaska author Cary Anderson.

Keene has been criticized by environmentalists for drawing large populations of eagles to Homer, with potential effects on their own health and safety as well as populations of other birds..