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

[SMSgt]

'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

People need to realize bald eagles are just pretty buzzards.

 

[jpage]

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

 

[Golddollar]

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

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.

 

[JohnRippert]

Red-tailed hawk attempting thievery against a osprey.

 

[ladder13]

Symbol of America?

 

[mtgianni]

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.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

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.