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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Dracon" data-source="post: 1386559" data-attributes="member: 14799">Kevin & Frank - Yes, eagles kill full grown deer and antelope, but not frequently.  Things have to be in their favor which usually means in the winter when deer for example are caught in snow, out in the open, and not being active.  The eagles will land on their backs or necks and the talons will pierce the skin and penetrate between the vertebrae lacerating the spinal cord causing major disruption of vital functions.  While I have not actually seen one bring down a deer or antelope, I have seen them make unsuccessful attacks and have talked to a number of ranchers who have witnessed the kills.  These were reliable people with no reason to exaggerate.  I also have come across  a group of eagles feeding on a freshly killed deer, not a road kill, and these were not winter kills.About forty years ago a friend and I were leaving the mountains after bow hunting. As we were leaving the timber into the grass land, we saw a buck antelope running helter skelter with a golden eagle making a determined attack to land on its back.  Now the pronghorn antelope has exceptional eyesight and quickness.  As the eagle would begin its flare, the antelope would whirl and strike at the eagle either its horns and front feet, keeping it from landing.  After each unsuccessful attack, the eagle would gain altitude, circle and come back for another attempt.  The antelope got tired of this harrassment and sprinted to the jack pine timber, actually going into it, something they rarely do.  The eagle landed nearby the panting antelope, but as it tried to flop its way to the antelope, the antelope would keep small pines between it and the eagle.  Thus they were in a standoff.  We were watching with our binoculars to see how this wildlife drama would turn out.  Eventually, the eagle flew off.Eagles kill young lambs with ease, and if the opportunity arises they will kill full grown sheep. Hence the sheep men view eagles as unwanted predators.  Some cattlemen claim that eagles have helped kill newly born calves in an unusual way similar to what a coyote will do on occasion, whether by learned behavior or just plain circumstance.  The eagle will land nearby as the calf is being born.  Once the calf is on the ground, the cow will begin to tend to it, and if the eagle gets too close, the mother will go for the eagle and accidentally step on her newborn calf causing in some cases serious injury.  Thus the eagle or the coyote will reap the benefit of this form of bovine tragedy.Of course all eagles are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.  I am not suggesting that eagles are a major threat to deer and antelope.  They aren't.  Sheep on the otherhand is another matter.  Once years ago when I was visiting my son-in-law's ranch in eastern Montana, I came across a very dead golden eagle under a high voltage power line.  Its wingspan was great enough to contact the wires.  I took it in and called the Fish & Game Department (it is illegal to possess an eagle) to come and get it.  We measured it carefully and found that from the top of its head to the bottom of its tail, it measured 46 inches.   That was a very big bird.John</blockquote>

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