Never mess with a mama and her babies! It’s rule number one in the animal kingdom, common knowledge among most. But by the looks of things, a certain unfortunate bald eagle didn’t get the memo. According to an investigation after a bald eagle was found dead in a lake, not too far from the lifeless body of a baby loon, it seems that the enraged mama loon flew off the handle. In an epic battle for the life of her baby, she stabbed the eagle in the heart with her beak, killing it. (1)
Sounds like a Game of Thrones episode, doesn’t it? Or a recreation of the old biblical tale of David and Goliath. It seems almost impossible that the common loon… yes, the “quack-quack waddle” kind, would be any sort of match at all for the strapping symbol of freedom and democracy that is the American bald eagle.
Eagles Are Protected, But Not From An Angry Maine Loon
In the past, loons have been observed protecting their young from the greedy talons of bald eagles, who consider young loons to be quite the delicacy. (1) So it’s not completely unsurprising that there was a scuffle between these two, and it didn’t take long for the crime scene to paint a clear picture of what likely happened.
There was obvious intent on the part of the bald eagle, in the form of talon marks found on the deceased baby loon. That eagle definitely wanted to snack on that loon. And there was a very clear motive for the murder of the eagle, in the form of the dead baby loon. As it would any mother, losing one of her babies sent her into a blind rage, and she made sure that the eagle felt it. In fact, it seems to be the last thing that was felt by the eagle: a fatal stab right through the heart.
The bald eagle is a protected species in the US. Because it really is a symbol of American freedom, there is a zero-tolerance approach to the killing of bald eagles. In fact, it’s a crime to even disturb the remains of a bald eagle should you come across one. When the body of a bald eagle is found, they are typically sent right to the National Eagle Repository in Colorado. But in this particular instance, a necropsy was performed in order to be certain of the eagle’s cause of death. Investigators had noticed the proximity of the dead baby loon to the body of the eagle and wondered if they might somehow be related. Indeed the investigation revealed that the eagle had been stabbed right through the heart by the mother loon’s beak.
Don’t Mess With Mama!
It’s hard to say whether the stabbing was an act of retaliation following the death of her baby, or if it happened in the process of the eagle attempting to remove the baby from the mother. The battle was no doubt an epic one, as neighbors reported hearing a “hullabaloo” on the night in question. A mother of any species would do whatever it takes to protect her offspring from harm… pretty basic stuff. It’s a shame this poor bald eagle had to learn the hard way: never, ever mess with a mama and her babies!
