'Injured' Bald Eagle Was 'Too Fat to Fly'
Injured Bald Eagle - Above Maximum Take Off Weight
X-rays revealed it had eaten a raccoon

'Injured' Bald Eagle Was 'Too Fat to Fly'

A bald eagle that Missouri Department of Conservation officials thought was injured just needed more time to digest a big meal. In a Facebook post, Wilson's Creek National Battlefield said the bird captured along the boundary of the park was found to be healthy, but full of raccoon, USA Today reports. The park, site of the first major Civil War battle west of the Mississippi, released X-rays from the Dickerson Park Zoo showing a raccoon's leg and paw inside the eagle's distended stomach.

The park said the eagle "was found to be healthy," but "engorged" with what they suspect was roadkill. "In other words, too fat to fly." In comments on the park's post, residents of nearby Springfield said the bird had been spotted in yards and "was having a hard time getting off the ground," the Guardian reports. "The eagle has been rehabilitated and released back into the park," said the park, a unit of the National Park Service. KSDK reports that according to the American Eagle Foundation, a bald eagle's diet is mostly fish, but they "will feed on what is most available, and requiring the least amount of energy to acquire it."

Bekeart

The same thing happens to me at Waffle House.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

I've seen turkey vultures here that need a B-52 runway to get airborne. Then there was the time I found a big gopher snake too engorged to skedaddle. I don't know what he had recently eaten, but it was a lot bigger than a gopher.

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Release the Kraken

I'm sure Mr. Eagle's wife will talk to him.

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No baby we aint

When the eagle recovers, CAJUNLAWYER could adopt him. Caje could use a raccoon-eating eagle about now.

Racoons got my pet duck

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What, me worry?

"The eagle has been rehabilitated and released back into the park,"

Translation "They kept the eagle in a cage until it took a dump and then let it go". Nothing more liberating than a big BM-makes you feel like you could fly

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Forum consigliere

I have seen a pair on a dead deer that were too fat to fly. They would flap and hiss at you and it could be intimidating.

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Front sight and squeeze

I suspect that what was really going on is that the stress of Caje's recent anatine travails, combined with his partial native American ancestry, transformed him into his spirit animal, the bald eagle, overnight, and he exacted revenge...

I can relate to that poor eagle; I feel the same way after hitting Golden Corral. I definitely don't want to see an xray of it.

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213th FBINA

Had a BIL (RIP) up in Indiana who headed a group who rescued and rehabilitated Raptors.
Once saw him with a Redtail Hawk with a busted wing.
He was headed to a meeting and a Vet there wanted to examine the bird.
He asked my Son to retrieve his small cooler.
When he opened the cooler, it was a look you can’t unlook.
It was filled with chicken heads.
A local chicken processor provided him with unlimited free chicken heads!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

"It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut."

Direct from my wardrobe.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

I’ve watched red tail hawks grab a fish and skim the water forever trying to get a little altitude lol

it landed in my backyard and drank from one of my small bird baths. I was shocked to see a bald eagle in Springfield, MO. I live about 4.5 miles from Wilson's Creek Battlefield. when it left my yard it went just over a 6 ft fence and landed my neighbor's yard for a short time and then just cleared their fence. wish I had had time to get my camera. glad it is okay. Lee

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VFW, NRA, VVA, S&WCA 1758

We lived on the water in Alaska. I saw an Eagle grab a Salmon that was a little to large and she did a "Breast Stroke" to shore and was so exhausted when reaching shore, she couldn't stop the other Eagles from eating it.

You can fly? Impressive!

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50 Years of Wish You Were Here

Take a trip and never leave the farm.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Picked a buddy up at airport so we stopped at a nice steak house and because steak is out of my budget and he was paying I ordered the biggest one they had. Could only eat half before I was stuffed. Glad I didn't have to do anything physical after that.

I went by my favorite Asian place on the way home from the funeral home where I was setting up Mom's funeral. I am now only good for a nap.

So, local pattern only?

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50 Years of Wish You Were Here

People need to realize bald eagles are just pretty buzzards.

That fat, lethargic Bald Eagle could be a metaphor for a certain country .....

My brother lives in a house overlooking Lake Erie. One day we were out in the yard and an eagle flew over our heads toward the lake. We could see the eagle lowering its talons like landing gear on an airplane. We watched the eagle fly down to the lake and the next thing we saw was the eagle flying straight up with a fish bent double in its talons.

Red-tailed hawk attempting thievery against a osprey.

Attached Images

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Symbol of America?

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I’m your Boogie Man, uh huh.

A friend with a deadpan delivery told a witnessed story in which they saw an Eagle take a 2.1 lb trout from a local lake.
The obvious question is how did they know the weight. The answer is that the Eagle dropped it on his hood.

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Front sight and squeeze

Eagles come this way in the Fall and Winter.
I often see them at a distance where it’s difficult to close for a good pic.
Then there is often a lack of cooperation.

Attached Images

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NRA LIFE MEMBER