It’s no secret that bald eagles are some of the most fierce birds to roam the skies.
Hell, why else would they be the national bird of the United States, a unifying symbol of strength, freedom and courage.
These majestic creatures perfectly exemplify the 50 stars and 13 bars, by God.
With that being said, I’ve seen a countless number of videos of the majestic birds taking down prey with ease, and that even includes them flying off with house pets (a few of those house pets got lucky, like the pet goose who was saved by its topless owner who was breastfeeding her baby).
Needless to say, the bald eagle wins more than it loses, and the only predator who I’ve seen it struggle against is a mama bear, going to every extent to feed her cubs.
However, this video from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, has changed my mind… and it’s from an animal that you’d least expect.
We’re talking about an octopus, who basically made this bald eagle its b*tch.
Now, I have no clue how the bird got into the tentacles of the octopus, maybe it was trying to snatch up a fish, or the octopus itself, but it definitely found itself on the wrong end of a losing battle.
All I know is that the bald eagle narrowly escaped a brutal fate at the hands (or tentacles) of the octopus. And by narrowly escaped, I mean it had to pretty much be rescued by these dudes in a boat.
Of course, octopus are some of the most intelligent creatures to roam the ocean, so maybe this video isn’t quite as surprising as it may seem.
Check it out:
Bald Eagle Delivers House Cat For Chicks To Eat
A man’s gotta eat and so does his family…
Unfortunately for us, our favorite furry critters can be easy targets for those birds that decide to make a home near an urban environment.
It’s notoriously rumored that many nests that belong to birds of prey are littered with many different collars from cats and smaller dogs. It’s no question that these birds are absolute killers… assassins of the sky.
Eagles in particular are crazy good at hunting. They have vison far better than humans and it’s said that what we can see at 5 feet away they see the same at 20 feet. They also see in UV meaning any trace an animal leaves is easily picked up and draws them in.
Yup, that means your yard covered in dog piss is a clear target these birds are keeping an eagle eye on.
The funny thing about this particular video is that it involves a housecat. Cats are known to cause more bird deaths in North America than any other cause by far. Seriously, they kill millions of birds a year.
So, if we think its cute when our pet lands on the front step, proud of his kill, it’s hard to be to upset when something comes after it, isn’t it?
I mean, I get it… they are pets… there is a difference. But we need be realistic about what goes on out in the wild.
These eagles here are shown with one parent and two chicks in a nest. It’s a common research tool and its often live-streamed to watch an eagle’s nest. Lots of cool stuff can be captured, just like this instance right here.
The mature eagle in the nest looks back and another flies in and lands in the nest.
At first its hard to tell what, but this eagle brought home dinner. After we get the slo-mo replay you can see that it has a house cat that is done for in the nest… all you can really make out is the head…
According to the author of the video, this eagle’s name is Harriet:
“Harriet flies in to the nest with roadkill cat (head and foot). She most likely picked it up from the side of the road after the cat had an unfortunate run in with a car and brought it to the nest as prey for the E’s.
Eagles are opportunistic hunters, nothing is wasted in nature. It may be difficult to see the cat head on the nest and some viewers may want to limit their watching until it is disposed of one way or another. Poor kitty…”
Keep you kitties close if you have any birds of prey around.
