How in the world is this even possible?
There have been plenty of “big birds carrying things off” videos in recent years, but this might be the wildest one yet. We’ve seen bald eagles carrying off fish and scooping up foxes and baby lambs, and those all fall short in comparison to this latest footage of a golden eagle in action.
Golden eagles are some of the biggest and most powerful birds of prey on planet Earth. They are found in various habitats across North America, Eurasia, and parts of Africa, and are known for being as majestic and deadly as any other winged creature in the skies.
And speaking of wings, their wingspan covers an impressive six to eight feet, with their bodies usually measuring in at just short of three feet. Though their size is intimidating by itself, they really earn their keep with their sharp-hooked beak and powerful talons (paired with their exquisite, long-range eyesight).
These massive birds are capable of diving at speeds greater than 150 miles per hour, and when you put that skill together with the fact that they have the strongest grip of any raptor, picking up animals of really any size is a rather easy task for them.
Golden eagles usually stick small to medium-sized mammals, like rabbits and marmots, but sometimes they can handle a much heavier payload, which brings us to the unbelievable video below. If you’ve never seen a bird carry what’s basically a full grown deer through the skies, prepare yourself.
In the clip, which is currently going viral, a golden eagle scans a mountainside in search of its next meal. When it spots a chamois (basically a mixture between a goat and a deer), the eagle decides it’s willing to test out its strength in hopes of having a feast.
The golden eagle swoops down and grasps the young chamois by the head with its talons, effortlessly lifting it off the ground. It then starts to flap its wings and gets both itself and its prey up into the air and carries it off to find a good spot to land for dinner.
Once it lands with the chamois, it screeches a call into the valleys of the surrounding mountains claiming the prey as its own. One could possibly even call it nature’s version of a dinner bell?
It just doesn’t make sense that a bird would be able to lift an animal as big as this one high up into the air, but I guess I can’t really spend too much time being puzzled by it considering I can press play on this TikTok and see all the proof that I need to:
@chicanoduke #Eagle ♬ original sound – Chicano Duke
Hunters Use Massive Golden Eagles To Hunt Wild Boar
Rifle hunt, bow hunt… eagle hunt?
In parts of Central Europe and in countries like Kazakhstan and Mongolia, eagle hunting is a common practice. I mean, why hunt down animals yourself when you could just have one of these savage golden eagles do it for you?
This video comes to use from Slovakia, where they use use eagles to hunt wild boar.
Pretty wild, eh?
Fox Narrowly Escapes Death After Golden Eagle Swoops In
This is what they call in my neck of the woods, a fight to the death.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that eagles are incredibly graceful, yet also incredibly vicious at the same time. Basically majestic, flying dinosaurs.
The strength of eagles’ talons are so strong, that they can swoop in and fly off with any small mammals when they want to, and they have dinner on the table for the night.
In this video, we see a golden eagle attempt to swoop in and take hold of a fox.
Luckily enough, the fox caught a glimpse of the eagle swooping in from the sky, and had enough time to react and defend itself.
The eagle tries multiple times to grab the fox with its talons, but the fox is able to avoid them with its quick reflexes.
Sure enough, the fox escapes, and the golden eagle goes home empty handed.
Perhaps the wildest part, is that foxes aren’t even the biggest creatures that golden eagles hunt. These killers will hunt bighorn sheep, deer, bobcats, and even coyotes.
It’s pretty wild to imagine an eagle taking down a brutal predator like a bobcat, but it’s a testament to just how strong these creatures are.
Check it out:
Helluva shot:
