Photographer captures golden eagle attack on white tailed deer in Illinois

[Ian David]

A golden eagle attacks a white-tailed deer in the Illinois and a birder from Zion, Illinois was there to capture the whole episode. Once in a while amazing wildlife photographs or video circulates through the web. A good example of this was the showdown in Kruger National Park in South Africa a couple of years ago. A lion took a water buffalo baby only to have the herd retake it by brute force and it was all captured on amateur video and was the craze of youtube.

One expects these types of phenomenon from parks in Africa. Unexpectedly, the next big episode in animal photography has not come out of Africa or even Alaska or Florida. The most incredible wildlife photographs taken in a long time has surfaced on the web from a park in Illinois only two hours from Chicago.

The Nachusa Grasslands near the small town of Franklin Grove, Illinois was the scene of an attack by a golden eagle on a white-tailed deer. First of all it is uncommon for a golden eagle to be seen at anytime in Illinois, but especially in winter. If they are seen it is usually during migratory season.

The size of the prey of course is the most incredible aspect of this confrontation. Golden eagles main diet consists of smaller mammals like rabbits, squirrels, marmots, prairie dogs, and mice. However, according to wikipedia they have been known to take animals as big as foxes, mountain goats, and young deer. The photos show that this deer was not full grown, but far from being a fawn.

More:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1sthEx/www.examiner.com/x-10429-Chicago-Adventure-Travel-Examiner~y2010m3d5-Golden-Eagle-attacks-white-tail-deer-in-Illinois-and-most-amazing-wildlife-photos-ever/r:t

Oh, noes!

[peace13]

1. Lock up the little kids .

Or shall we say Snackables!