A Pilot's Story - Not what you would think
May 30, 2010
Kill 'em and Eat 'em.
This narrative 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.
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. They 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. This is one
of the best Fighter Pilot stories I've seen in a long time... There are no
noble wars -- Only noble warriors.
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