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America’s bald eagle population continues to soar

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Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar

#151

Post by Floegipoky »

frankfrankfrank wrote: post #74
tw04 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why you have dogs to protect your livestock. I think people forget that man's best friend became that way by doing jobs for us. Want your cattle and chickens protected from wolves, fox, eagles, etc? Train some dogs to protect them.

Are you actually aware of dogs protecting free-range chickens against bald eagles? I am not sure that bald eagles really care about dogs. A bald eagle will swoop down and snatch a chicken or even two and fly away without even landing. That being said I think an even very loose "netting" that can consist of simply rope criss-crossing with certain gaps can sufficiently dissuade eagles and even other prey birds.

Livestock guardians as a general rule don't protect by fighting, but by convincing the predator that the risk is too high to bother. The guardian alerts and the flock reacts to the danger, seeking shelter, making noise, looking up, etc. Without an easy meal the predator moves on. Arial predators are especially risk-averse because it doesn't take much to cause a mortal injury.

I've even heard of people using guardian geese instead of dogs. They're supposed to be very effective at preventing arial predation and orders of magnitude cheaper than dogs, though I've never heard anyone talk about them in the context of something the size of a bald eagle.

Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar

#154

Post by wiredfool »

kirubakaran wrote: post #108
sethammons wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait til you see Golden Eagles :) We have a mating pair of Balds and it is fun to watch their young get bigger and then take off. Every year around the same time, we have a giant Golden that cruises around the lake and forest. The first time I saw it, I couldn't believe how big it was. Like, over a 7ft wingspan. I realize Balds are close, but this Golden one is a monster.

Wait till you see Albatrosses :) 11ft wingspan :-p

An albatross isn't likely to drop out of a fir and fly off in a huff while I'm figuring out why the chickens are seriously unhappy.

Also, semi off topic -- Great horned owls like using inflatable pools as bird baths.

Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar

#155

Post by systemvoltage »

post_below wrote: post #128

As superpower mascots go, I think the eagle turned out to be pretty much perfect. Large, powerful, masters of their environment, noble from a distance. Up close, easily scared, shameless scavengers who love the opportunity to steal prey from other creatures. Note: No intention of starting a political conversation, as a resident of said superpower I just love the irony.

If your intent wasn’t to start a political flame war, what is the insight you’re providing here?

Every animal needs to survive and will do anything to get by including scavenging. That’s nature. At this very moment, millions of things are getting eaten alive. Welcome to the brutality of Mother Nature.

It’s not very charitable to say something deeply provocative and putting a note to defend. It only reflects your prejudice.

Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar

#156

Post by yosito »

I was just thinking this past weekend about how bald eagles are endangered and how it would be so cool to see one some day. I'm American, but I've spent very little of the last 10 years in the US. I was taught in grade school that bald eagles were endangered and I had no idea that they were making a comeback. Very cool!

Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar

#157

Post by oblio »

rdiddly wrote: post #115

This seems as good a time/place as any to remind everyone that the sound an eagle makes isn't the screech Hollywood has made you believe it is (that's a red-tailed hawk). It's actually relatively non-macho (for a superpower's mascot anyway) and sounds like it's laughing. The hawk says: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/sounds The eagle says: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle/sounds

The whole thing is a lie.

The bald eagle screech is not that of the bald eagle.

Plenty of eagle species are bald yet the "bald" eagle isn't bald.

If you think about it, it's a fantastic metaphor for the US :-p

Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar

#158

Post by verall »

systemvoltage wrote: post #155
post_below wrote: post #128

As superpower mascots go, I think the eagle turned out to be pretty much perfect. Large, powerful, masters of their environment, noble from a distance. Up close, easily scared, shameless scavengers who love the opportunity to steal prey from other creatures. Note: No intention of starting a political conversation, as a resident of said superpower I just love the irony.

If your intent wasn’t to start a political flame war, what is the insight you’re providing here? Every animal needs to survive and will do anything to get by including scavenging. That’s nature. At this very moment, millions of things are getting eaten alive. Welcome to the brutality of Mother Nature. It’s not very charitable to say something deeply provocative and putting a note to defend. It only reflects your prej…

> Every animal needs to survive and will do anything to get by including scavenging.

Yea, and so do nations. The descriptors they used feel conformable describing both the nation and the mascot. It's not deeply provocative. It is a comparison that is interesting to read, because it describes how nations and animals can act similarly, but on difference scales.

Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar

#159

Post by mongol »

kebman wrote: post #87

Man, I really want to see one some day! Made me think of this story telling of an eagle allegedly swooping down and snatching a toddler right from the ground on the island Leka in Norway. She was apparently playing in a blanket, so the talons didn't scratch her, but she was carried almost two kilometres away. The ordeal triggered a search party that eventually found her almost 200 metres up the mountain side, unschat…

Why did the eagle not start to feast on her?

Re: America’s bald eagle population continues to soar

#160

Post by whyenot »

oasisbob wrote: post #149
mkl wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tangentially, why do Americans call their middle 48 states the "lower 48"? Alaska is north of them and Hawaii is south of them. Does "lower" mean "east" somehow? If lower meant south as on a map, the actual lower 48 would be everything except Alaska and Minnesota.

"Lower 48" is a term from Alaska, and predates Hawaii's statehood. ie, an updated version would be "Lower 49".

...but Alaska and Hawaii both became states at almost exactly the same time (January and August 1959). Maybe it makes sense if Alaska considered themselves a state in the years before they officially became one? Otherwise, there would be no need for the "lower" part.
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