Intense Battle Between Eagle and Fox Midair Fighting Over Rabbit
This is the unbelievable moment when an unfortunate red fox had its dinner snatched away by a mischievous bald eagle in rather dramatic fashion.
The scene, which took place in the San Juan Islands in Washington shows the fox and eagle fighting over a rabbit.
“Eagles really don’t like to waste a lot of effort in getting their food, so they look for easy opportunities,” wildlife photographer Kevin Ebi told Bored Panda.
“A couple of days ago, I captured an especially dramatic act of thievery between these wild animals.”
“I saw a bald eagle steal a rabbit from a young red fox. Even more impressive: at times, this battle played out more than 20 feet in the air.”
Kevin was out on the islands on the lookout for young foxes when the scene unfolded right in front of his eyes.
“A red fox caught a rabbit and was carrying it across the meadow. I panned my camera with it to capture the action.”
“Then behind me, I heard the cry of a bald eagle. I turned around and saw it approaching fast. I knew it wanted the rabbit.”
“I intently trained my camera on the fox bracing for a split second of the action.”
“To my surprise, the scene was even more dramatic than I expected. I thought the fox would drop the rabbit, giving the eagle an easy dinner.”
“Instead, the fox, with its jaw still clenched on the rabbit, inadvertently got snagged by the bald eagle. The eagle lifted the young fox and rabbit into the sky triggering an even more dramatic struggle.”
The entire aerial skirmish lasted just 8 seconds, t the fox eventually gave up the struggle after recognizing that the battle could not be won, and so the eagle dropped it from a height of roughly 20 feet.
“It shook off the encounter and resumed playing with its fellow kits. I took several pictures of it after the ordeal and couldn’t find a single scratch,”
“I suspect the eagle thought that since it was a very young fox, the fox probably would have been scared by the eagle and would have dropped the rabbit.”
“It was a very unique experience. I’ve seen bald eagles steal food from crows, great blue herons, and other eagles.”
“I’ve never seen an act of theft like that where an eagle, fox, and rabbit participate together. But I’ve been working on wildlife photography for nearly 20 years, I believe every animal has a story to tell.”
