We just spotted a Golden Eagle sitting on top of a tall pine tree across the road

[1monster]

from my house.



These are really HUGE birds! They have wingspans of six and a half to seven and a half feet, length is from twenty-seven to thirty-three inches, and weight is from seven to fourteen pounds.

While Golden Eagles are not totally unknown in the Eastern Seaboard, they are rare east of the Mississippi. They are mostly found in the Western U.S. and Canada.

I love living in an area where I see all kinds of birds on a regular basis. This is the first Golden Eagle I have ever seen in the wild, although we do have a healthy population of Bald Eagles in our area... I occasionally see one flying over my home.

I do have one worry, though. I've had to make sure my cats are in the house before it gets dark because we have a mating pair of Great Horned Owl living in the empty lot across the street.

If the Golden Eagle continues to hang around, I won't be able to let them out during the day either.

And a couple my cats get down right nasty (claws and teeth!) when we won't let them out when they want out.

[Kolesar]

1. Wow. Nice pictures, too.

[Lisa]

2. beautiful!

Goldens are my favorite kind of eagle. I used to work at a vet clinic in Ontario (Canada), and we once had one brought in that had been shot in the wing. Luckily it wasn't a major break, and her wing healed up so we were able to release her back into the wild.

[1monster]

3. Really gorgeous coloring... We could only see him/her from the middle chest

up, but there was no disguising that eagle beak!

[DS1]

4. I once caught 2 large Red Tailed hawks circling over my cat as he nibbled on grass

in the back yard. I told him to run and he did. Good kitty.

[1monster]

5. It is a little scary having birds of prey nesting across the road from us, and something has killed

and eaten two of my cats in the past two years. The cats went missing a year apart and both were found in the same wooded lots across the street... a small pile of kitty cat bones and just enough fur to make an identification possible.

One of those cats was weight seventeen pounds, stayed very close to home and came indoors every evening. I can only guess that what ever got him did so in our front yard and dragged or carried him across the road in to the wood.

The other cat was a rescued street cat and she did roam. But she ended up in the same wooded lot.

Sigh.

[orleans]

7. Chihuahua pup nearly food for hungry hawk

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Illinois Chihuahua puppy Tico el Bandito is recovering after a nightmarish attack by a red-tailed hawk.

Tico's frantic barking caused his owner, Janice Flores of Downers Grove, to run into her backyard Monday, only to find the two-pound dog in the talons of a hawk she said was "the size of my Thanksgiving turkey," the Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday.

Flores -- still in her pajamas -- drove the bird away by screaming and pelting it with anything handy, including jumper cables and a bottle of Gatorade, the newspaper said.

Finally, a shovel did the trick, but Tico, who suffered a puncture wound to the head, has been a nervous wreck since, the owner said.

An emergency room veterinarian at the animal hospital that treated Tico said there is potential for a full recovery, but "only time will tell."

After Flores posted a warning to other pet owners online, she received some harsh criticism for leaving her dog unattended, but bird experts say hawk attacks on dogs are very rare.


© 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Quirks/2007/12/24/chihuahua_pup_nearly_food_for_hungry_hawk/9472/

PICTURE OF LITTLE DOG IN SANTA SUIT HERE:
http://www.glam.com/blogs/dogster_for_the_love_of_dog/chicago_dogster_mom_fights_hawk_off_chihuahua_tico/?cat=Pets

[Xithras]

6. We have quite a few of them around here.

A healthy eagle typically won't attack an adult cat, prefering smaller prey with fewer claws. Attacks do happen sometimes, but they're uncommon and usually only happen when the bird is starving and can't find any natural prey.

A very hungry eagle will attack just about anything though...they've been known to take down deer, large dogs, and even attack people on rare occasion. I know of one case where an eagle brought down a good sized dairy calf.

While the attacks are uncommon, you should keep your cats inside anyway. Eagles don't differentiate between "wild" and "domestic"...their line is "easy prey/hard prey", and their preference is predicated solely on how long it's been since they've eaten.

On Edit: Here's a video of a golden eagle taking down a small deer. The video was apparently originally taken by an avian rescue group as they trained the birds how to survive in the wild again. It's taken from a distance so you can't see any gore: http://nerdnirvana.org/2007/07/14/golden-eagle-vs-deer/

[1monster]

9. I'm hoping this guy is only passing through, much as I enjoyed seeing him.

Because we have seven cats, five of whom insist on going outside.

My husband used to bring home cats that had been dumped on the street near where he worked.

When the number cats living in our home reached ten, I was forced to tell him that if he brought home one more cat, he was going to be singing Tammy Wynette's old saw, D.I.V.O.R.C.E. ... Since then, he hasn't brought home any more cats.

He did bring home a dog. :eyes:

[annabanana]

13. That is some wild piece of footage!. . . . .n/t

[1monster]

18. Whew!! After seeing that, I'm really not comfortable with the idea of a

Golden Eagle across the road! Heck, if it can take out a small deer, it could take out my kid too! :scared:

[On the Road]

8. You Have Golden Eagles in Valdemar?

In central Maryland, I have seen a lot of birds of prey including bald eagles and red-tailed and marsh hawks, but never a golden eagle. Great sighting.

[1monster]

10. Of course! You did know that Valdemar's founder and creator, Mercedes Lackey, rehabilitates raptors

didn't you?

She releases all of her exotic rehabs in Valdemar when they are well enough to be released.

She released a whole bevey of Griffins here once, and they are all over the place. Fortunately, they kind of like cats, but not in an entree form...

[On the Road]

25. Actually, Was Trying to Draw a Bead on Your Location

so I'll know where to keep my eyes peeled.

[1monster]

26. Northeast Florida...

It used to be God's Country. Then all the souless condo builders and land developers moved in.

Now there are only tiny pieces of God's Country left here in patches and peices.

[XOKCowboy]

11. One of the coolest things I ever saw....

I was driving the backroads just south of Steamboat Springs. I was driving on a 2 lane dirt road up the side of a small hill. The road dropped off on my left down a couple hundred feet and overlooked a large valley with a little river bisecting it and stretching out for miles to the next mountain range. It was very early in the morning and I was just tooling along enjoying the morning when a golden eagle soared up on my left! It was only about 10-20 feet off the edge riding a thermal. It was HUGE and obviously not afraid of me. For what seemed like forever we paced each other up the mountain before he went above me and out of sight. I stopped immediately and grabbed my camera but he was headed over the ridge by then. I just stood there, heart beating fast, out of breath and in awe.

They are truly beautiful birds.

[TomInTib]

15. Dang, I wish I had been with you.

Those oh-so-rare times when one is able to glide parallel to a large bird (especially a bird of prey) are absolutely prime.

[XOKCowboy]

24. My first thought was Dang I wish someone had been with me!

Telling it's not the same as experiencing it. :)

[1monster]

16. Sounds exciting. The closest I can come to that was once, while driving to pick up my

stepson from school, a large hawk emerged from the bushes right beside the road and right into the path of my car, carrying a petrified bunny rabbit. I hit the breaks big time and swerved slightly.

I just missed hitting the hawk and its prey by inches.

But the hawk dropped the bunny.

On my way back, the bunny was gone, so either it ran quickly of and lived to see another day, or the hawk came back and got it.

[elocs]

12. I can see dozens of bald eagles on the river just a block from my house.

They are very common here in the winter where they catch fish where the ice is open. It's funny to see a large group of gulls sitting on the ice and nervously looking over their shoulders at the eagles sitting a ways off behind them. Then once in awhile an eagle flies over and buzzes the gulls, making them scatter. Then, just when the gulls get settled again, the eagle comes flying back from the other direction causing the gulls to scream and scatter again.

[1monster]

14. Just the eagles getting their jollies while enlivening the lives of those lazy gulls...

What part of Wisconsin? My stepdaughter lives in the general area of the Dales.

[me b zola]

17. Que bonito!

We live across the street from a small, wooded park complete with red-tail hawks. There is a squirrel that we have named Sammy that crosses from the park via the wires to the tree in our front yard, jumps onto our roof and then crosses to our backyard tree then onto our garage and from there accesses the neighbors trees, fences, & yards. We call this the 'super highway' as our cats use the same route with the exception of the wires that Sammy uses to go to and from the park.

A few days after we had discovered a juvenile hawk at the park, I was sitting here at the computer where I have a wonderful view to the backyard where I watch Sammy run his route usually coming back with a nut in his mouth and looking over his shoulder for one of our cats. This in itself has made for eventful viewing as I watch the 'cat & mouse' games that Sammy & the cats play with each other. Then one day as I sat here the juvenile hawk (Harry) landed in my backyard tree! Harry must have noticed Sammy & the squirrels path and decided to stake it out. I was mixed with feelings of joy for seeing this magnificent creature right out my computer room window (maybe 20 feet from me), and the fear of Harry plucking one of my cats or Sammy from the roof top of either our house or garage.

I haven't seen Harry since, and so far everyone is safe. The 'super highway' has slowed down considerably since the cold weather has set in. Sammy hasn't been here everyday as he was in the fall (although I still occasionally see him), and consequently my cats are content to stay on the ground under the cover of our yard's trees.

I have been wanting to post about the show outside my window but thought that perhaps nobody else would find this as fascinating as I do. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share.


on edit: Yes, I realize how ridiculous it is to name the wild animals that come into our yard. But at least in Sammy's case he truly seems like a member of the family.

[1monster]

19. You are welcome, and thanks for your word picture of Sammy's Super Highway.

The interaction of our pets and wild life can be amusing... And sometimes scary!

[kimsterdemster]

20. I took this photo..

a few weeks back here in Oklahoma and I thought it might be a young golden eagle.

[malaise]

21. What a lovely pix n/t

[kimsterdemster]

22. thanx..

here's another one

[Vinca]

23. Wow - exciting to see such an amazing bird, but keep those kitties in the house.

My poor, little guy is recovering from a close encounter with an owl.