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 ...
Earlier this year, a ravenous raptor stalked and killed a seagull
You can keep 6 pinks if you need dog food.
Big Dogs are good
The first time I saw a bald eagle was when one grabbed a dead squirrel off a road without having to land.
I live on the coast of Florida and I now normally see bald eagles several times a year.
I believe they are considered fish hawks but they aren’t really picky.
I have hawks regularly. The local hawks want to eat snakes. I’ve only seen one squirrel who was a hawk’s meal.
Eagles beware! You have white heads, you are predatory and you are definitely meat eaters. Who says you are no longer endangered.
In my neighborhood, several neighbors have posted on Next Door that their ankle biters had been pinned down by hawks/owls.
The eagles are very welcomed to the yapper dogs in the neighborhood. A few years ago they snagged a rabbit right out the window in the back yard. Wish they’d now go for the yapper dogs that won’t shut up.
I think Bald Eagle are mainly scavengers.
I see them a lot here in the cascade foot hills.
The surprise for me this Saturday was seeing a couple of Turkey Vultures buzzing the yard.
I didn’t t know that they inhabit in this area.
I just saw red headed hawks...had to look it up.
They are scavengers too.
I see red hawks often and on rare occasion I see great horned owls.
If a bald eagle buzzes the yard, I usually hear them first, their wings really swoosh.
I seem to recall a story a few years ago about people watching a Bald Eagle cam who were upset that the eagles had killed a cat and brought it to their nest to eat.
lol. thanks funny.
Eagles are predators but lovely. That is their job.
Do not put small animals outside that are not native to the area. Native animals understand the danger. Non native animals are just lunch.
Yes, Sitka is crawling with eagles. Rather neat to see them on the deck railing in the morning when I’d visit my parents there.
Coyotes here in N Florida got all the feral cats (and the occasional small dog). Now all the rats are back.
I once watched about 20 bald eagles playing tug of war with a big octopus who was trapped in a tide pool. They took a few chunks but the incoming tide saved him. Spasski Bay, Chichagof Island, SE Alaska 1981.
Where I live they’re about as common as crows.
Years ago when I was shrimp fishing, we were getting a fair amount of bycatch and we must’ve had 70 or 80 following us, picking up the ‘floaters’...the fish with engorged bladders that couldn’t dive below the surface. They’re pretty good at grabbing them off the surface of the water and eating on the wing. They also liked to mug seagulls and take their fish away.
Earlier this year, a ravenous raptor stalked and killed a seagull in front of shocked onlookers at a busy Vancouver golf course.
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I wish I’d been there. I would’ve loved to have seen that. I’m sure they have their place in the food chain, but seagulls are a menace.
Yeah, around here they feast on road kill deer carcasses, it’s literally a buffet.
Couple years ago one came out of the tall grass attempting to take off right in front of me. I had no chance to avoid it, good thing for me I have a heavy duty brush guard that has survived two deer collisions. Last I saw was a feathery mess rolling behind me in the mirror.
Let’s make the turkey the national bird. It looks better, doesn’t eat road kills and makes a far better dinner.
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