Sorry vegans, but this proves America is the land of being free and eating meat.
The bald eagle, on top of being one of the apex predators of the sky, is a long standing symbol of the United States of America, representing the freedoms and opportunities available to those who live here. There’s no way to see one of these badass birds soaring down a river and not get a tear in your eye or look for a flag to salute…
But along with their ties to American culture, the birds are extremely fascinating in many ways.
For one, they have a very large wingspan, up to 7.5 feet, and can weight in the neighborhood of 14 pounds. While diving for food they can reach a top speed of around 100 miles per hour and build the largest tree nests of any animal on the planet, weighing up to 1 ton.
While they mainly eat fish, they aren’t afraid to go after other birds, mammals, and a huge variety of other species. In fact, only the red-tailed hawk is known to have a wider diet range than bald eagles, which clocks in around 400 individual species known to be consumed.
Which is why this video still a bit shocking, but not completely unexpected.
According to MeatEater, the video was captured at Lake Noquebay in Marinette County, Wisconsin. You know, up there past Green Bay.
A professor of conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told MeatEater contributor Pat Durkin that this eagle most likely has attacked fawns before
“Birds of prey learn quickly. In falconry, falconers often encourage their birds to go after prey that’s a little bit bigger and more difficult to capture in the wild. Once they learn how to do it, they’ll keep doing it.”
I can see the person filming now, probably thinking they’re watching a cute little fawn swimming just off the lake’s shore when BOOM the tides turn on a time and a Bald Eagle decided he’d had enough of fish and wanted to spice it up with some fresh red meat.
He attacks the fawn from the back, who gives out a yell for help but it’s to no avail. The eagle pushes the poor guy underwater, drowning him in a quick, but still harsh, death.
Hey, that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes. The eagles got to eat too…
God bless America.
