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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Outdoors blog

Trail cam catches battling bald eagles

WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Sometimes trail cams are flat out lucky -- as effective as a pro photographer at snapping the shutter at precisely the right moment to capture wildlife in action.

Here's a case in point.  The two photos, provided by a reader, show not only the dramatic incoming shot, but also the contact as two bald eagles, their talons entangled, tussle over the carcass of a dead horse near Sandpoint.

It's a tough life even at the top of the food chain. 

One point: Carcasses of any type provide good opportunities to mount trail cams for photos of predators and scavengers.  Wildlife managers might recommend a more controlled livestock carcass disposal method in wolf or grizzly country to prevent habituating the carnivores that could cause problems later on.  But a stock animal that dies a natural death during winter can be difficult to deal with because of snow and frozen ground. Scavengers take advantage.



Rich Landers
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.

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