EAGLES vs. CROWS

KDarsey

Senior Member
Kill'em and Eat'em

This came from a gent who runs a 2000 acre corn farm up around Barron,
Wisconsin, not far from Oshkosh . He used to fly F-4Es and F-16s for the
Guard and participated in the first Gulf War.

His story:

I went out to plant corn for a bit to finish a field before tomorrow
morning and witnessed The Great Battle . A golden eagle - big, with
about a six foot wingspan - flew right in front of the tractor. It was
being chased by three crows that were continually dive bombing it and
pecking at it. The crows do this because the eagles rob their nests when
they find them.

At any rate, the eagle banked hard right in one evasive maneuver, then
landed in the field about 100 feet from the tractor. This eagle stood
about
3 feet tall. The crows all landed too, and took up positions around the
eagle at 120 degrees apart, but kept their distance at about 20 feet
from the big bird. The eagle would take a couple steps towards one of
the crows and they'd hop backwards and forward to keep their distance.
Then the reinforcement showed up.

I happened to spot the eagle's mate hurtling down out of the sky at what
appeared to be approximately Mach 1.5. Just before impact the eagle on
the ground took flight, (obviously a coordinated tactic; probably
pre-briefed) and the three crows which were watching the grounded eagle,
also took flight thinking they were going to get in some more pecking on
the big bird.

The first crow being targeted by the diving eagle never stood a
snowball's chance in ____ . There was a mid-air explosion of black
feathers and that crow was done. The diving eagle then banked hard left
in what had to be a 9G climbing turn, using the energy it had
accumulated in the dive, and hit crow
#2 less than two seconds later. Another crow dead.

The grounded eagle, which was now airborne and had an altitude advantage
on the remaining crow, which was streaking eastward in full burner, made
a short dive then banked hard right when the escaping crow tried to
evade the hit. It didn't work - crow #3 bit the dust at about 20 feet
AGL.

This aerial battle was better than any air show I've been to, including
the war birds show at Oshkosh . The two eagles ripped the crows apart
and ate them on the ground, and as I got closer and closer working my
way across the field, I passed within 20 feet of one of them as it ate
its catch. It stopped and looked at me as I went by and you could see in
the look of that bird that it knew who's Boss Of The Sky. What a
beautiful bird!

I loved it. Not only did they kill their enemy, they ate them. One of
the best Fighter Pilot stories I've seen in a long time... There are no
noble
wars-- Only noble warriors
 

7MAGMIKE

Senior Member
That was simply breathtaking, great story, I love it.
 

EAGLE EYE 444

King Casanova
And people wonder why my screen name is Eagle Eye 444. :D :D

Just taking care of business on a daily basis. :shoot: :shoot: :shoot:
 
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