The fox, the bunny, and the eagle
If this were a fable, I’m sure there’d be a moral to the story. But I’m not sure what it would be, except that if you’re a fox, don’t mess with an eagle. But you have to admire this fox for trying.
As for the bunny—well, nature red in tooth and claw, I guess:
[Bald eagles are] also masters of something scientists call kleptoparasitism: the art of stealing food from others. In my book The Year of the Eagle, I documented bald eagles stealing food from crows, great blue herons and even other eagles.
A couple of days ago, however, I captured an especially dramatic act of thievery. I saw a bald eagle steal a rabbit from a young red fox. Even more impressive: at times, this battle played out more than 20 feet in the air.
Author Kevin Ebi is a wildlife photographer, and he got a series of fabulous photos. You can view them at the link, but here’s just one:
There’s also an amazing video that I can’t embed, but you can find it if you scroll down here.
There should be a Fable in that somewhere ….
I confess to thinking of the song from “1776” where Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin propose different symbols for the new United States (the Eagle, the Dove, the Turkey).
Franklin’s description of the eagle matches its reputation as a kleptoparasite.
I saw the video a couple of days ago and admired the tenacity of the young fox. The moral of the story is don’t be a rabbit, foxes should look up after catching prey, and theft pays off if you are an eagle.
Frigate birds are called that because of their habit of stealing food from gulls. They look like gulls but are much bigger.
I am listening to an audio version of a book called Coyote America. It’s not uncommon to see them in the heart of Minneapolis, where the park system girdles the city and gives them cover. And I’ve had the encounter: in the city, in broad daylight, a coyote lopes past you a few feet away, giving you a “How you doin'” glance as he passes.
They live in every state but Hawaii.
Stole the fox’s lunch money, it did. Nature in a nutshell.
A very wise farmer friend of mine says “All deaths in nature are violent.”
Someone with time on their hands & cleverness in their head needs to put some “dialog” over the top of that video.
I am wont to hesitate to say this small thing. Nature is not red in tooth and claw. It’s just nature. I have been trying to figure it out by hunting. Which, I already understand, makes many of you hate me or at the very least not want to understand me. All I can say is this. It’s all part of God’s master plan.
Now, if any of you have it figured out let me know. But in the mean time at least I can feed you.
And fishing. I’m not good at farming. Stone age creature that I am.
A twenty foot drop would be hard on the fox, I should think.