Posted on 05/17/2021 4:04:19 PM PDT by nickcarraway
America’s majestic emblem conjures feelings of awe. They also attack small dogs and scavenge a landfill.
The bald eagle population has made a remarkable comeback. But the majestic symbol of American pride is turning out to be a nuisance, especially in Canada.
Flocks have been spotted along highways in the Pacific Northwest, feasting in a landfill in Vancouver. Earlier this year, a ravenous raptor stalked and killed a seagull in front of shocked onlookers at a busy Vancouver golf course.
Dignity, my fellow American eagles. With an 8-foot wingspan and a distinctive snowy-white head, America’s national emblem conjures feelings of patriotism and reverence.
“You’re in awe every time you see one,” says Jeanine Pesce, who recently moved from New Jersey to British Columbia and now sees the raptors almost daily. “Their physicality and presence is so profound you feel a need to pay homage to them.”
But Ms. Pesce, who owns a consulting agency, has had to explain some National Geographic-worthy encounters to her 5-year-old daughter. “One day I watched an eagle drag a Canadian goose back and forth across rocks for hours,” she says. “I was told that’s how they tenderize their meat.”
It wasn’t long ago that birdwatchers considered the odds of a bald eagle sighting just this side of a unicorn sighting. Through conservation efforts and the banning of chemicals like DDT, the population recovered to numbers that warranted the bird’s removal from the endangered species list in 2007. A recent report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department found that numbers have quadrupled to more than 316,000 in 2019, from 72,000 in 2009.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Each year we count the seasons’ turn when the “Fluffy Missing” posters start to turn up at the Post Office. Last year some idiot let her Teacup Pomeranian run free. Bad, bad idea.
Last year some idiot let her Teacup Pomeranian run free.
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Free range Pomeranians.
I was fishing just north of Juneau, AK one day.
Pinks were running. One guy with a really expensive rig was killing them. he caught a particularly big one as he fought it in on his fly rig, an Eagle swooped down grabbed the fish mid air and proceeded to the opposite shore of the creek and started to eat. The guy cut his line and re-rigged his gear.
Eagles and Law are more important than human food.
I am proud to have a bald eagle as a neighbor.
It’s great every time I see it.
(I have big dogs)
Are you allowed to catch unlimited pink? I could only catch one king salmon per day there?
We had a pair land in our backyard a couple of months ago here in Florida. My wife and I were in shock and awed by the sight of them in our yard. Neither of them had a pocket poodle in their clutches though.
That seagull was a fish murderer. It wouldn’t eat the vegan substitutes provided it.
I’m fortunate enough to see them occasionally landing in the tall trees behind my house. Truly magnificent and wing span much bigger than the hawks and owls living around me.
My Mother had a Chihuahua and when he was a puppy she would go out in the yard with him to make sure the crows didn’t get him ,LOL
Ha - great scene!
Pinks are garbage anyway. Ice immediately, or they turn to mush.
I go out with my dog to make sure things are okay but only thing getting pounced on in my yard are birds and a dove now and again by HAWKS. Nothing but a pile of feathers when they’re finished. Burp.
I saw that porcupine-dog get-up on shark tank. Mr. Wonderful told the inventors they should electrify it. They already had a model that would would shock an attacking animal (if the owner with the remote control was nearby).
A couple of years ago near me, an owl scooped up a small dog and flew off with it as the owner watched. It’s amazing how much birds can carry. At our last house, there were houses on the water, a road, and then our house was on the opposite site of the road. Several times a year sea gulls would drop fish on our deck. And these were fish about the same size as the gulls.
Codswallop. I live in a place where I see Bald Eagles on a daily basis and have never heard of a legitimate case where an eagle took a pet. Coyotes on occasion and rarely a cougar or wolf, but never an eagle. As far as animal attacks go, domestic dogs kill far more than every other creature combined.
I keep hoping the ones in my neighborhood would grab more of my next door neighbor’s excess cats, but they seem to stay alive. At least until the coyotes get them.....
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