# Bird Carrying a Snake



## Eric

This is from my neighborhood, it's a golden eagle that I captured as it was bringing this snake back to its nest atop a nearby tree to feed the babies.


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## lizkat

Eric said:


> This is from my neighborhood, it's a golden eagle that I captured as it was bringing this snake back to its nest atop a nearby tree to feed the babies.
> 
> View attachment 90




Wow, great shot.

Heh,  god knows it's not every bird thinks to bring a snake to its nest...  but then raptors are way higher on the predator food chain than your average house finch.

Here a shot (not mine) of a snake making lunch of some bird's eggs.  I prefer to think of snakes being useful controllers of rodent populations but of course they've evolved to have more upscale tastes as well.  Eggs are evermore a simple and fast menu item, certainly not just for humans.




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## Chew Toy McCoy

There are some of my smaller animals I won't take outside to play because of birds of prey that are common in the area.  

Unfortunately no pics or videos available, but a guy I know who breeds praying mantises told me he once took one of them outside and positioned it to attack a butterfly but when the mantis pounced the butterfly took off with the mantis in tow.


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## lizkat

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> There are some of my smaller animals I won't take outside to play because of birds of prey that are common in the area.
> 
> Unfortunately no pics or videos available, but a guy I know who breeds praying mantises told me he once took one of them outside and positioned it to attack a butterfly but when the mantis pounced the butterfly took off with the mantis in tow.




Yeah gee, you wouldn't want your little skink Butters to end up on some critter's  lunch plate...  so sweet looking, that one.

As for the mantis v butterfly tale, there's certainly an educational opportunity now and then regarding how the food chain does work versus how a critter might figure it logically works from earlier experience.

For all the devastation that feral cats (or just outdoor pet cats) wreak on the songbird population,  one hasn't lived until seeing a bunch of barn swallows school some cat that thinks to go hang out under the rafters waiting for a nestling to fall out or fail to stay airborne in a first attempt to fly.   Who knew a cat could run 35mph scrunched down with belly just inches from the ground?  So comical... unless you're the terrified cat.  The swallows here are territorial enough about this or that rafter for a nest, but when the chips are down they holler for their whole community to get in on teaching a cat "how things work" in a barn or shed, and they really mean business when they go after that cat together.


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## jkcerda

wonder if the snake was a democrat or republican? anyways cool shot


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## Alli

Eric said:


> This is from my neighborhood, it's a golden eagle that I captured as it was bringing this snake back to its nest atop a nearby tree to feed the babies.




Beautiful shot from what I can see. I clicked on it to view the full image, but it refused to load.


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## hulugu

I once took a girl on a hike for a date. She was apparently, not a hiker, but game anyway and after about 2 miles in, she was starting to tire. So, I found a shady-enough spot, and brought out some food—cheese, sausage, apples, etc. 

As she was eating, an eagle decided to land on the highest branches and eat his lunch as well, which was a diamond back snake. And, well, hilarity ensued. 

The bird ripped through the snake and fumbled the end, dropping the rattler's tail still quivering and bloody, and it landed on this poor girl's shoulder. 

She screamed bloody murder. I laughed. We didn't go on another date.


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## Alli

hulugu said:


> We didn't go on another date.




I can see where that could make or break a relationship.


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## Eric

hulugu said:


> I once took a girl on a hike for a date. She was apparently, not a hiker, but game anyway and after about 2 miles in, she was starting to tire. So, I found a shady-enough spot, and brought out some food—cheese, sausage, apples, etc.
> 
> As she was eating, an eagle decided to land on the highest branches and eat his lunch as well, which was a diamond back snake. And, well, hilarity ensued.
> 
> The bird ripped through the snake and fumbled the end, dropping the rattler's tail still quivering and bloody, and it landed on this poor girl's shoulder.
> 
> She screamed bloody murder. I laughed. We didn't go on another date.



That would've freaked me the hell out to no end.


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## lizkat

Alli said:


> I can see where that could make or break a relationship.




Once had some discussions with a bro who left an area of exposed lath in the bathroom ceiling here for awhile.  It was left like that after the place was rewired and while I was entertaining discussions of whether to gut the bathroom ceiling and walls or just patch the ceiling until after more pressing renovations had been completed.

I asked him meanwhile to tape some cardboard up there, concerned that there could be bats in the area above the ceiling, which was part of the turn above the stairwell adjoining the room, and he said yeah that's a good idea but then forgot to do it, and it was the least on my long list of other "to-do" items then.

So I'm sitting on the throne in that bathroom one night and...  yeah, not a bat but a mouse falls through the lath onto my shoulder.   Awkkkk!   Only good thing about that was that at least I was in the right place for losing my sh^t.

EDIT: autocorrect never heard of plaster and lath i guess.  i didn't mean 'lathe', no.


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