There is a reason that sea lions are named after one of the most powerful big cats in the animal kingdom.
Despite most famously being known for getting eaten by great whites and for their leading roles in countless viral airborne shark attack videos, sea lions are formidable predators in their own right.
Reaching lengths of up to 8 feet and tipping the scales at over 200 pounds they typically swim at about 18 mph and are capable of reaching speeds of up to 35 mph. They also have a voracious appetite, routinely consuming 15 – 35 pounds of food in a single feeding session.
They typically eat fish, squid, clams, and crabs. They are also known to frequently eat seals, which are commonly confused with sea lions.
Though closely related, the two are completely different species with differences in their anatomy and physiology as well as some varying behavioral traits. For example, sea lions have external ear flaps and the ability to walk on land using their front flippers.
Sea lions also have much louder vocalizations than seals.
This particular sea lion was just out here snacking on an onlooker’s leftover French fries when a seagull tried to get in on some of the action.
Not a smart move for the bird…
The poor bird literally got its head ripped off for messing with the sea lion’s snack…. brutal. It wasn’t a clean bite either, that poor bird got shook around like a dirty gym sock in a big dog’s mouth.
Nature is not for the faint of heart, people.
Bald Eagle Attacks Seagull On The Golf Course
What’s more American than waking up in the morning, drinking a cup of Folgers, hopping into your Chevy pickup truck, and hitting the golf course with your buds while a majestic Bald Eagle soars across the sky above?
Nothing. That’s what.
Well… unfortunately this video comes to us from Canada so you can ignore the USA speech entirely.
Here we see a Bald Eagle flying around a golf course in Vancouver (the irony), and it ends up chasing down a seagull. The Eagle took the gull with its talons and pulled it straight to the ground.
As the caption to the Instagram post says, Bald Eagles often times prefer the road of least resistance, but they don’t always take the easy route:
“Rather than track down and murder something everytime they’re hungry, bald eagles will more often than not take the easy way out and steal food off of other predators and/or scavenge roadkill.
This is the reason Benjamin Franklin was not keen on having the bald eagle represent the United States of America, because in his opinion the bird possessed “bad moral character” and “he (the eagle) does not get his living honestly.”
He wasn’t entirely wrong, but they will obviously take matters into their own talons when it suits them.”
How cool is this video though?
Imagine playing an early round of golf with your buddies and seeing a Bald Eagle swoop in out of nowhere. Beats the hell outta getting gored by an elk, eh?
If you listen to the video real closely, I’m sure you can hear an Aaron Tippin song playing somewhere:
Bald Eagle Takes A Run At Brown Bear
Eagles have been known to take down some pretty large prey.
I’ve seen them swoop in on small deer and dig their talons in, I’ve seen them divebomb a fish so big they could barely even get it to shore, I’ve seen them drag goats right off the side of a mountain.
Hell, I’ve seen a golden eagle in Asia actually swoop in on an 8 year old girl and try to fly away with her.
But a damn bear? That might be biting off a little more than it can chew.
My hunch is that there is probably an eagle nest nearby, and this bird is just sending a message to the brown bear.
But nevertheless, a pretty cool sight to see.
At it appears as though she went straight for the eyes, and who knows, with those sharp talons… maybe this bear is walking around with an eye patch these days.
Filmed near Naknek River, Alaska, you can hear the folks behind the camera stunned at the attack:
“WHOA, did you see that?”
Maybe it’s about time to book that trip to Alaska.
And while this is probably a pretty rare occurrence, it’s not unheard of.
This bear on Admiralty Island, near Juneau, Alaska, also got the message from a bald eagle with a nest in the area.
Unlike the other bear though, this fella saw the attack coming and was able to evade contact.
