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Golden Eagle takes lamb (1 Viewer)

Hi
No special news, golden eagles take lambs all the time.
Besides, this was most likely a dead lamb that the eagle picked up.
 
Lmc3598 said:
Hi
No special news, golden eagles take lambs all the time.
Besides, this was most likely a dead lamb that the eagle picked up.
Click to expand...

Quite, and there is a readily available method of establishing from a lamb carcase whether oir not it was picked up dead or alive. If hit while alive there would be bruising and blood lividity round the talon marks. If picked up dead not. A study in Scotland some years ago proved farmers' bleating about excessive predation of live lambs was inaccurate, as the majority of lambs examined had been picked up as carrion. It's in British Birds somewhere - can't remember the year.

But, this originates with the Telegraph, so is about as believable as a story of sex-crazed Martians turning up in Scunthorpe.

Cheers
 
A couple of weeks ago the BBC series 'The Human Planet' had an episode entitled 'Life in Thin Air'. Amongst other things it featured Mongolian horsemen hunting with Golden Eagles. There was some extraordinary footage of an eagle which had caught a fox and was holding onto it as the fox writhed about trying to bite it. The fight had some heart-stopping moments but the Eagle held on unscathed until its 'owners' arrived to dispatch the fox. Having seen that, I can see no reason why a Golden Eagle wouldn't take a lamb.

If anybody is interested the programme is still available on iPlayer here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rrd7t

Ron
 
Phil-Johnston said:
I have seen footage of Golden Eagles bringing down adult wolves.... i think a lamb would be a breeze for them!
Click to expand...

But aren't they of falconer's birds - ie not natural behaviour. Predators in the wild wouldn't normally risk such a risky interaction ... ??

Similarly, a large animal like a sheep would be likely to defend its young from a Golden Eagle attack (which would normally be offputting to an adult Eagle under normal circustances?) - newborn lambs are not just out there on their own ...
 
Nothing new in this story, but unfortunately it will just get the anti-eagle lobby all stirred up again.

(White Tailed) Eagle predation on lambs has been investigated thoroughly on Mull and in Wester Ross, at the taxpayers' expense due to concerns of farmers. Both studies indicated that Eagles occasionally take live lambs but concluded that the levels of mortality were not significant compared to other losses.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/47060/0014566.pdf

http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/commissioned_reports/370finalreport.pdf

Here is the main conclusion of the Mull study:

"We calculated from the numbers of eagles present, the numbers of lambs they
consumed, and the proportion that were killed as opposed to scavenged, that the
WTE population on Mull killed between 33 and 37 lambs each year. This takes
no account of the viability of these lambs. The calculation assumes that the WTEs
for which we had data were typical of all those on Mull. Compared with overall
lamb losses of thousands, relatively few were killed by WTEs. The predation of
lambs by WTEs on Mull could not have been damaging to sheep farming on a
broad scale but this does not preclude damage on a small spatial scale."
 
NoSpringChicken said:
A couple of weeks ago the BBC series 'The Human Planet' had an episode entitled 'Life in Thin Air'. Amongst other things it featured Mongolian horsemen hunting with Golden Eagles. There was some extraordinary footage of an eagle which had caught a fox and was holding onto it as the fox writhed about trying to bite it. The fight had some heart-stopping moments but the Eagle held on unscathed until its 'owners' arrived to dispatch the fox. Having seen that, I can see no reason why a Golden Eagle wouldn't take a lamb.

If anybody is interested the programme is still available on iPlayer here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rrd7t

Ron
Click to expand...

That proves nothing - Falconry birds can be set on anything, indeed I wouldn't rule out this "photo" being a similar kind of stunt:C
 
Last edited:
NoSpringChicken said:
A couple of weeks ago the BBC series 'The Human Planet' had an episode entitled 'Life in Thin Air'. Amongst other things it featured Mongolian horsemen hunting with Golden Eagles. Ron
Click to expand...

Ron,
I think I'm right in saying that there's a shortage of Mongolian horsemen on Mull... but here in Norfolk, who knows? They du diffrent here!
MJB
 
NoSpringChicken said:
A couple of weeks ago the BBC series 'The Human Planet' had an episode entitled 'Life in Thin Air'. Amongst other things it featured Mongolian horsemen hunting with Golden Eagles. There was some extraordinary footage of an eagle which had caught a fox and was holding onto it as the fox writhed about trying to bite it. The fight had some heart-stopping moments but the Eagle held on unscathed until its 'owners' arrived to dispatch the fox. Having seen that, I can see no reason why a Golden Eagle wouldn't take a lamb.

If anybody is interested the programme is still available on iPlayer here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rrd7t

Ron
Click to expand...

I saw the making of bit at the end of the programme, but not the programme itself, and I felt if the human hunter hadn't shown up to kill the fox that the fox could have done quite a bit of damage to the eagle, certainly from the footage I saw the fox looked to be gaining the upper hand until the person showed up.
 
JTweedie said:
I saw the making of bit at the end of the programme, but not the programme itself, and I felt if the human hunter hadn't shown up to kill the fox that the fox could have done quite a bit of damage to the eagle, certainly from the footage I saw the fox looked to be gaining the upper hand until the person showed up.
Click to expand...
That's true but a captured fox, fighting for its life, is a much more dangerous catch than a newborn lamb. The Eagle was also a young, inexperienced bird and the fox was its first catch. I have no idea whether Golden Eagles do take lambs but, having seen the footage with the fox, I think they are quite capable of it.

Ron
 
Capercaillie71 said:
Nothing new in this story, but unfortunately it will just get the anti-eagle lobby all stirred up again.

(White Tailed) Eagle predation on lambs has been investigated thoroughly on Mull and in Wester Ross, at the taxpayers' expense due to concerns of farmers. Both studies indicated that Eagles occasionally take live lambs but concluded that the levels of mortality were not significant compared to other losses.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/47060/0014566.pdf

http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/commissioned_reports/370finalreport.pdf

Here is the main conclusion of the Mull study:

"We calculated from the numbers of eagles present, the numbers of lambs they
consumed, and the proportion that were killed as opposed to scavenged, that the
WTE population on Mull killed between 33 and 37 lambs each year. This takes
no account of the viability of these lambs. The calculation assumes that the WTEs
for which we had data were typical of all those on Mull. Compared with overall
lamb losses of thousands, relatively few were killed by WTEs. The predation of
lambs by WTEs on Mull could not have been damaging to sheep farming on a
broad scale but this does not preclude damage on a small spatial scale."
Click to expand...

A rational post, as I've come to appreciate, from Paul. You can understand the concern about their losses from the farmers affected, particularly those whose farms are near nest sites and loose proportionally more lambs as indicated in the quote, "on a small spacial scale". I think now there are compensation arrangements in place due to eagle predation on lambs. I think this low level predation with compensation is something farmers will come to and are coming to accept as the range of eagles expands.
 
NoSpringChicken said:
That's true but a captured fox, fighting for its life, is a much more dangerous catch than a newborn lamb. The Eagle was also a young, inexperienced bird and the fox was its first catch. I have no idea whether Golden Eagles do take lambs but, having seen the footage with the fox, I think they are quite capable of it.

Ron
Click to expand...

I didn't know it was a young bird, as I say, I only switched the TV on at that point and that was what I saw. I wouldn't put it past an experienced eagle taking prey like a fox now and then, but I doubt it's very often, and certainly not an adult, probably presents too much of a challenge when they can more easily take a rabbit (or a lamb).
 
JTweedie said:
I didn't know it was a young bird, as I say, I only switched the TV on at that point and that was what I saw. I wouldn't put it past an experienced eagle taking prey like a fox now and then, but I doubt it's very often, and certainly not an adult, probably presents too much of a challenge when they can more easily take a rabbit (or a lamb).
Click to expand...

Like I said earlier, a lamb isn't necessarily an easy option - they're part of a flock, and adult sheep would defend their young.
 
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