Bald Eagles Are Back. And They Want to Eat Your Pets.

[question everything]

(snip)

It wasn’t long ago that birdwatchers considered the odds of a bald eagle sighting just this side of a unicorn sighting. Through conservation efforts and the banning of chemicals like DDT, the population recovered to numbers that warranted the bird’s removal from the endangered species list in 2007. A recent report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department found that numbers have quadrupled to more than 316,000 in 2019, from 72,000 in 2009.

(snip)

The spike in numbers has prompted joy among animal-lovers—and anxiety among others. Owners of small pets have outfitted little dogs and cats in spiked collars and armor-like vests to keep them from becoming bird food.

“Eagles are strong enough to carry a 12-pound salmon, so a four-pound dog is nothing,” says Mark Robokoff, owner of AK Bark pet shop in Anchorage. His shop sells CoyoteVest, a protective jacket covered in Kevlar and spikes, intended to protect small pets from coyotes. Mr. Robokoff immediately recognized its potential in a state with an estimated 30,000 bald eagles. The vest is topped with bright red nylon whiskers that he says scare off the birds from above.



More..

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bald-eagle-population-endangered-pets-vancouver-11621012685 (subscription)

[ret5hd]

1. I can haz flamethrower?

[Ocelot II]

2. An eagle expert says eagles can't normally fly away with anything that weighs more than 4-5 lbs.

Eagle Flight and Other Myths: Eagles Don’t Eat Children or Pets

Every few years a story makes the rounds about a bald eagle carrying off a dog or trying to snatch someone’s cat. Biologists who study birds of prey and folks who live around eagles have seen plenty snatching and carrying – as well as swooping and swimming – and they offered insights into what eagles really can and cannot do.

Bald eagles are strong, aggressive birds but like everything that flies they are governed by aerodynamics. The wings of an eagle need to support the eight to 12-pound bird as well as whatever the bird is carrying, and best estimates put the lifting power of an eagle at four or five pounds. But it’s not quite that simple...

Eagles will carry heavier loads a short distance. Mike Jacobson spent decades as an eagle management specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and recently retired.

“There used to be stories about eagles carrying off babies and little kids, and none of that has ever been documented,” he said. “They can pick up and carry four or five pounds, maximum, and actually fly off with it. They can lift a little more and hop it along, but they can’t carry it off.”...

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=343#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThey%20can%20pick%20up%20and,birthright%2C%20but%20it%20requires%20skill.&text=%E2%80%9CEagles%20don't%20hunt%20cats%20and%20small%20dogs.%E2%80%9D

[question everything]

3. I liked the dog vest which is called CoyoteVest, but from the same story

Flocks have been spotted along highways in the Pacific Northwest, feasting in a landfill in Vancouver. Earlier this year, a ravenous raptor stalked and killed a seagull in front of shocked onlookers at a busy Vancouver golf course.

Also

But Ms. Pesce, who owns a consulting agency, has had to explain some National Geographic-worthy encounters to her 5-year-old daughter. “One day I watched an eagle drag a Canadian goose back and forth across rocks for hours,” she says. “I was told that’s how they tenderize their meat.”

Also

Tom Abraham, a Nelson, British Columbia-based trip planner with active travel company Butterfield & Robinson, has had to worry about bald eagles stalking his lambs and his daughter’s chickens.

“We lost one [chicken] to an eagle last year,” he says. “I string flags overhead to create an obstacle. It gives the chickens more time to take cover.”

[marble falls]

4. Well, there is that. Even so, I'd rather have the Eagles.