Scot wrote

"This is the second interaction I've noted between GOEA's and large mammals.
In July 1978, a group of us watched a pair harrass a spike Mule Deer on Hart
Mountain. This time though, the deer appeared to be terrified as it raced
back and forth across a steep slope littered with large boulders. I
wondered if the eagles were attempting to cause fatal injury to the deer.
The wildy frightened deer could have easily broken a leg in this terrain.

Has anyone else observed this behavior in Golden Eagles?"


I haven't but here is some material from A. C. Bent's Life Histories of North
American Birds

" The list of mammals recorded includes deer and their fawns, antelopes,
lambs of moutain sheep, goats and their kids, domestic calves, lambs, dogs,
cats, young pigs, foxes, hares, rabbits, ground and arboreal squirrels,
raccoons, prairie dogs, woodchucks, marmots, spermopiles (?), porcupines,
opossums, skunks, weasels, martens, pocket gophers, rats, mice, and moles. "

What is a spermopile?

Here is an account of an incident with a deer
"The deer had been pounced upon by one or more eagles as it floundered in the
deep snow, and its back was fearfully lacerated by the talons. After it had
succumed, the carcass was dragged down-hill over one hundred yards until it
lodged against a large boulder. Three eagles were feeding on it when first
discovered by some prospecters."


Jim Rosso
Issaquah
206-392-8440