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Bald eagle swiping dinner
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Last: 6 yr ago by I-Haul
Amazing , would be cool to see in person.
Reminds me of watching a hawk swoop down on our neighbors tea cup poodle and trying to carry it off. Got about ten feet in the air and dropped the dog. That dog has never been the same.
Reminds me of watching a hawk swoop down on our neighbors tea cup poodle and trying to carry it off. Got about ten feet in the air and dropped the dog. That dog has never been the same.
On the Homer Spit we saw a Bald Eagle snatch a sea bird that was riding a wave just off the beach. They get accused on this board of being vulture like, but they can hunt with the best of them when they want to.
I'd almost be frozen in awe if that happened in my boat. Lucky enough to be fishin' that area anyhow but to catch this on video. Wow. I've watched it on loop for the past 10 minutes.
I watched a bald eagle and an osprey battle in the sky over a fish that the osprey had pulled out of the bay. The osprey was more nimble and eventually kept his fish. It lasted a few minutes.
I spent a few months in the Aleutians and they are very much scavengers up there. They don't have to hunt with all of the fishing boats around. They swarm the boats picking fish out of the nets and carcasses out of the dumpsters.aggiedent said:
On the Homer Spit we saw a Bald Eagle snatch a sea bird that was riding a wave just off the beach. They get accused on this board of being vulture like, but they can hunt with the best of them when they want to.
Quote:
"For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.
"With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country...
--Benjamin Franklin
To be fair I'm probably the main perpetrator Eagle besmirching on this board. I believe my usual quote is something like, "buzzards with better publicists." They're pretty amazing birds and CAN hunt very well. But in most cases they choose not to, instead bullying other birds out of their kills, or scavenging. Somehow to me that makes it even worse. If you were a cripple living on handouts that's fine... but a bald eagle is like if LeBron James chose to live on welfare. All the talent in the world and instead chooses to live off the system. Give me a Golden or an Osprey any day of the week.
Doesn't this pretty much describe nature? Opportunistic?
Sometimes, but not necessarily as a rule. Bears, coyotes, eagles, ursusguy, etc. will readily scavenge but a lot of predators don't.
Prey on the weak or crippled, yes. Eat roadkill, only some species (and generally not the ones Americans hold in high regard, hence my point).
Prey on the weak or crippled, yes. Eat roadkill, only some species (and generally not the ones Americans hold in high regard, hence my point).
Sean98, with your attitude toward "opportunistic" predators, do I assume correctly that you don't use a grocery store or eat at a restaurant? You grow your own crops and hunt all your own protein, right?
mellison said:
I watched a bald eagle and an osprey battle in the sky over a fish that the osprey had pulled out of the bay. The osprey was more nimble and eventually kept his fish. It lasted a few minutes.
Saw the same fishing in Minnesota last year.
Osprey snatched a fish near our boat and started flying away to eat it.
A bald eagle saw the osprey hit the fish from the other side of the lake - must have been close to 1,000 yds away. Anyway, the bald eagle starts booking it and catches the osprey in no time flat.
The started rumbling a bit before the osprey dropped the fish and noped the hell out of there. Eagle grabs the fish, found a nearby tree, and went to town on the fish.
Was awesome seeing the closing speed the eagle put on that osprey.
2 things... 1) You'd be pretty close to right. I bet I haven't bought meat in a store in probably 5 years. Venison, turkey, pheasant quail makes up the vast majority of my protein. But I need tortillas and avocados, so I do go to the store.aggiedent said:
Sean98, with your attitude toward "opportunistic" predators, do I assume correctly that you don't use a grocery store or eat at a restaurant? You grow your own crops and hunt all your own protein, right?
and 2) I said predators to "hold in high regard." I think very little of people in general. Certainly don't think they're something to emulate.
I am going to frame this and hang it on my office wall.Sean98 said:
I think very little of people in general. Certainly don't think they're something to emulate.