A six-week-old eaglet was attacked by a raccoon and killed at Xcel Vitality’s Fort St. Vrain facility close to Platteville on Monday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has confirmed.
The bald eagle household has a big following as a result of two “eagle cams” are targeted on the nest across the clock. Many comply with the eagles by way of the Fort St. Vrain Eagle Cam Fb group.
A second eaglet survived the assault, as did the mom and father. CPW mentioned wildlife officer Mike Grooms responded to research 90 minutes after the assault.
“The digicam confirmed a raccoon scaling to the highest of the nest tree and grabbing the older, bigger of the 2 eaglets from the nest round 7 p.m.,” the CPW assertion mentioned. “Wildlife officer Grooms was capable of accumulate what remained from the carcass and delivered it to CPW’s Wildlife Well being Lab, the place officers will submit it for testing of Extremely Pathogenic Avian Influenza.”
CPW famous that the nest dates again to 1993 and the digicam went on-line in 2003.
“What followers noticed on Monday was a pure occasion,” the assertion mentioned. “Predation of eaglets just isn’t one thing you typically hear about. And not using a webcam, such occasions are onerous to doc. The overwhelming majority of nest failures in Colorado are attributed to climate occasions (resembling windstorms that harm or destroy nests or nest bushes), new nests/inexperienced pairs, the lack of an grownup throughout the nesting season and doubtlessly human-related disturbance within the speedy space.
“The more than likely mammalian predator of bald eagles in Colorado’s Entrance Vary are raccoons, whereas avian predators embody magpies, crows and ravens, hawks and owls.”
Many followers of the Fort St. Vrain eagles have commented on the Facebook group page, expressing their unhappiness over the incident. The group has greater than 4,000 members.
Subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter, The Adventurist, to get outdoor information despatched straight to your inbox.
