This came from a gent who runs a 2000 acre corn farm up
around Barron, Wi. , not far from Oshkosh. He used to fly F-4Es and
F-16s for the Guard and participated in the first Gulf War.
His story:
I went out to plant corn for a bit to finish a field
before tomorrow morning and witnessed The Great Battle. A golden eagle -
big, with about a six foot wingspan - flew right in front of the
tractor. It was being chased by three crows that were continually dive
bombing it and pecking at it. The crows do this because the eagles rob
their nests when they find them.
At any rate, the eagle banked hard right in one evasive
maneuver, then landed in the field about 100 feet from the tractor. This
eagle stood about 3 feet tall. The crows all landed too, and took up
positions around the eagle at 120 degrees apart, but kept their distance
at about 20 feet from the big bird. The eagle would take a couple steps
towards one of the crows and they'd hop backwards and forward to keep
their distance. Then the reinforcement showed up.
I happened to spot the eagle's mate hurtling down out of
the sky at what appeared to be approximately Mach 1.5. Just before
impact the eagle on the ground took flight, (obviously a coordinated
tactic; probably pre-briefed) and the three crows which were watching
the grounded eagle, also took flight thinking they were going to get in
some more pecking on the big bird.
The first crow being targeted by the diving eagle never
stood a snowball's chance in hell. There was a mid-air explosion of
black feathers and that crow was done. The diving eagle then banked hard
left in what had to be a 9G climbing turn, using the energy it had
accumulated in the dive, and hit crow #2 less than two seconds later.
Another crow dead.
The grounded eagle, which was now airborne and had an
altitude advantage on the remaining crow, which was streaking eastward
in full burner, made a short dive then banked hard right when the
escaping crow tried to evade the hit. It didn't work - crow #3 bit the
dust at about 20 feet AGL.
This aerial battle was better than any air show I've
been to, including the war birds show at Oshkosh . The two eagles ripped
the crows apart and ate them on the ground, and as I got closer and
closer working my way across the field, I passed within 20 feet of one
of them as it ate its catch. It stopped and looked at me as I went by
and you could see in the look of that bird that it knew who's Boss Of
The Sky. What a beautiful bird!
I loved it. Not only did they kill their enemy, they ate
them. One of the best Fighter Pilot stories I've seen in a long time...
There are no noble wars-- Only noble warriors
Kill'em and Eat'em
