Homer considers regulating nontraditional eagle feeding

HOMER (AP) The Homer City Council is considering playing a role in prohibiting nontraditional eagle feeding.

At a council meeting earlier this month, council members voiced their support for 20-year eagle feeder Jean Keene, the ''Eagle Lady'' who lives on the Homer Spit, where she has long offered scraps to the local eagle population. Still, the city is setting its sights on other nonregulated, nontraditional feeders.

Homer Mayor Jack Cushing asked the council whether the city should get involved by writing its own ordinance outlawing eagle feeding, or whether the city should just encourage the state to enforce existing laws against feeding wild animals. The topic has surfaced following reports of an eagle attacking a 90-pound dog, which was in the immediate vicinity of its owner, Glenda Korn, in January.

''If they've already sunk their claws into a 90-pound dog, it's just a matter of time before it's a 30-pound kid,'' said Cushing.

Council member Doug Stark said the city should not regulate the matter itself, but rather prompt the state to enforce existing statutes.

Some on the council noted that eagles are being illegally fed at various locations throughout town, lending to disproportionate numbers of the birds staying in the Homer area.