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Brilliant pics..Pity about the news!!
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27-02-2011 6:24pm#1Found this today in the Mail on Sunday..Great pics,but will do the Golden Eagles no favours over here,as it does show them doing what they do naturally.Ignore the sensationalistic wording of the article,it is otherwise readable.:)
Swooping assassin: Pictured for the first time in Britain, a soaring golden eagle clutches a bloodied lamb in its razor-sharp talons - confirming farmers' worst fears for their flocks
By David Boffey And Jane Simpson
Last updated at 1:48 PM on 27th February 2011
Swooping low over a mountainside, this magnificent but deadly golden eagle clutches a bloodied lamb in its talons.
This dramatic picture provides the first photographic evidence that the powerful birds of prey have been snatching livestock from British farmers’ flocks.
It was taken on the Isle of Mull, off the West coast of Scotland, where shepherds have long campaigned against the reintroduction of eagles which they see as a threat to their livelihoods.
Death from above: The golden eagle snatched the lamb on the Isle of Mull. This dramatic picture provides evidence that the powerful birds of prey have been snatching live-stock from farmers
Conservationists – who have not seen such direct evidence as this before – say the birds target only dead or weak animals. It is unclear whether the lamb was still alive in this photograph.
It was taken by a bird-watcher who does not want to be named as he fears that could identify the location of the eagles’ nests, and put the birds at risk from angry hill farmers.
He said: ‘I was visiting Mull with my wife and really wanted to see a golden eagle. I asked around and was directed to an area near Ben More.
8FT KILLING MACHINES THAT FLY AT 100MPH- A golden eagle has a wingspan of up to 8ft. Its body is up to 40in long,it weights up to 13lb and it can fly at 100mph.
<LI style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">They mate for life and can live for 30 years.
victorians hunted them to extinction in the UK but in 1975 they were reintroduced to Scotland from Norway. There are 30 breeding pairs.
<LI style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">A £900,000 plan to reintroduce them to England, and along the Suffolk coast, was scrapped last year in the Coalitions cuts.
<LI style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Special protection areas in Scotland were designated last year after evidence that farmers were poisoning eagles. These cover 850,000 acres of North and West Scotland and include Glen Etive, Glen Fyne and the Cairngorms Massif
<LI style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Hunters in Kazakhstand use tame golden eagles to catch foxes. The liver of the fox is given to the eagle as a reward.
<LI style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The eagles kill large prey by dropping it from a great height. Tortoises are dropped on to rocks to crack their shells. - A lamb was seen headbutting a golden eagle who was trying to grab it, according to the Outer Hebrides bird report of 2009.
‘There were a few other cars parked close by and some eagles circling, possibly by an eyrie.
Suddenly this massive eagle swooped into view. We could see it was carrying something beneath it and my wife, who had binoculars, thought it was a white mountain hare.
‘As it got closer, I said to her, “That’s no hare, it’s a lamb”. It was a very unusual sight and a bit sad for the lamb but it’s nature, and that’s what happens. It’s certainly a sight that neither of us will forget.’
The lamb is likely to have been snatched from the 1,700-strong flock of Donald MacLean, who farms 10,000 acres on the island.
He said: ‘This is a hugely significant photograph, catching the eagle in the act. It proves eagles are
terrain is uncompromising and there are all sorts of reasons why we lose lambs. But they are white and easy to spot for the eagles.
‘On one occasion, two eagles were trying to take a lamb from its mother and were struggling. A third eagle came in to distract the ewe and one of the others got the lamb. They don’t show much mercy.’
Jonnie Hall, head of rural policy at the National Farmers Union for Scotland, said: ‘It is an unequivocal fact that eagles do take live lambs. This is a major concern for hill farmers in western Scotland.’
Golden eagles are native to Scotland. However, farmers are more concerned by the reintroduction of the only bigger British bird, the white-tailed eagle.
It became extinct in Britain in the early 19th Century but is being returned to the wild along Scotland’s East and West coasts.carrying off lambs, evidence that farmers need to make their point.’
Mr MacLean is unable to put a figure on how many animals a year he loses to eagles – although crofters in nearby Wester Ross have said that up to 200 lambs a season are killed by eagles.
Mr MacLean said: ‘The terrain is uncompromising and there are all sorts of reasons why we lose lambs. But they are white and easy to spot for the eagles.
Swoop: The eagles have even been seen working in a pack to distract a ewe with a lamb
‘On one occasion, two eagles were trying to take a lamb from its mother and were struggling. A third eagle came in to distract the ewe and one of the others got the lamb. They don’t show much mercy.’
Jonnie Hall, head of rural policy at the National Farmers Union for Scotland, said: ‘It is an unequivocal fact that eagles do take live lambs.
This is a major concern for hill farmers in western Scotland.’ Golden eagles are native to Scotland.
However, farmers are more concerned by the reintroduction of the only bigger British bird, the white-tailed eagle.
It became extinct in Britain in the early 19th Century but is being returned to the wild along Scotland’s East and West coasts.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361000/Golden-eagle-clutches-bloodied-lamb-razor-sharp-talons.html#ixzz1FBGm1Re6"If you want to keep someone away from your house, Just fire the shotgun through the door."
Vice President [and former lawyer] Joe Biden Field& Stream Magazine interview Feb 2013 "
0 - A golden eagle has a wingspan of up to 8ft. Its body is up to 40in long,it weights up to 13lb and it can fly at 100mph.
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I disagree that case is closed. If your profit margin is the last 10% of lambs (and it may be even less) then 2% represents 20% of ones profit. Simplistic to make the point and ignores that some of the 2% may have been nonviable...but the following from the article you linked I think is is key!
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But you would have to be losing 49 other lambs to lose one to an eagle - I think if thats the case the one you'd lose to an eagle would be the least of your problems
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Ah sorry, I misread your post. Would you give a link to the study which states that 2% of lamb deaths are attributed to eagles?I disagree that case is closed. If your profit margin is the last 10% of lambs (and it may be even less) then 2% represents 20% of ones profit. Simplistic to make the point and ignores that some of the 2% may have been nonviable...but the following from the article you linked I think is is key!
But you would have to be losing 49 other lambs to lose one to an eagle - I think if thats the case the one you'd lose to an eagle would be the least of your problems
And John, thanks for raising the point that the 2% of mortality may represent flocks with a higher % to be counter balanced by flocks with a lower %.0 -
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Anybody thinking that the Golden Eagles will cause great damage in the North West. People should realise that there are only 2 successful breeding pairs in the country. There are less than twenty birds in the country. The Golden Eagle trust predicts that the country could hold 50 breeding pairs in total, as long as there not all poisoned or shot:mad:(correct me if I'm wrong in that figure). Compare that to the total number of Red foxes in the country 150,000+.
Which would cause more damage 150,000+ foxes or 50 breeding pairs Eagles
Doesn't take a genius to figure it out................0 -
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Feargal as Luimneach wrote: »Anybody thinking that the Golden Eagles will cause great damage in the North West. People should realise that there are only 2 successful breeding pairs in the country. There are less than twenty birds in the country. The Golden Eagle trust predicts that the country could hold 50 breeding pairs in total, as long as there not all poisoned or shot:mad:(correct me if I'm wrong in that figure). Compare that to the total number of Red foxes in the country 150,000+.
Which would cause more damage 150,000+ foxes or 50 breeding pairs Eagles
Doesn't take a genius to figure it out................
More importantly there are many thousands of pairs of both eagle species living right in the middle of sheep country in places like Norway,Spain, Switzerland without any discernible affect on the industry:)0
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