Was driving to downtown today on Main St Eau Claire. I watched in amazement as an eagle swooped down on the road to try and catch a running squirrel. To think 20 years ago this would of been newspaper material because of the rarity. But the eagles must be getting hungry for spring and some open water just like the rest of us
There was one in River Falls (downtown) that took a dead rabbit away from a couple crows the other day.
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Was driving to downtown today on Main St Eau Claire. I watched in amazement as an eagle swooped down on the road to try and catch a running squirrel. To think 20 years ago this would of been newspaper material because of the rarity. But the eagles must be getting hungry for spring and some open water just like the rest of us
He should have swung a couple miles east. I took out a red squirrel with the truck in Altoona this morning. Easy pickins 
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Small game is a huge part of an eagle’s diet! Most people don’t realize that. Rabbits, squirrels, opossum, small coons, skunks, pheasants, quail, and anything else that’s relatively small and meaty… including waterfowl.
Having all of these eagles around come spring is going to cause some serious harm to the small game and waterfowl populations next year IMO. Lets hope for one hell of a shad kill so they fill up on those! There are more eagles here than I have ever seen in my life. Count was 375 at L&D 14 during a 2 hour count a couple weeks ago.
My uncle volunteered at the raptor center and said those eagle were very particular. Some preferred fish, some preferred fowl. And they also would only eat their favorite part of the prey be it the head or guts, whatever.
My buddies were ice fishing on White Bear Lake couple weeks back running tip ups and hiding out in the flip shack to stay warm. They had 2 24″ pike on the ice maybe 30 feet from the shack and not 1 but 2 eagles came in and they each grabbed one flew off about 100 yards and started eating. I guess if you are going to give up your catch that would be the way to do it, and a lot of fun to see.
I hope they counted it still toward their daily posession. 
They should just come hang out below the dam at Red Wing. With all the people pulling 10″ saugers out of 50-60′ of water for the last month, there’s been plenty of floaters to eat.
Every spring when the geese are migrating north through western MN, it never fails that there are a bunch of bald eagles following the flocks looking for easy pickings.
Same reason why Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird instead of the bald eagle:
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I hope they counted it still toward their daily posession.
Yeah hate to that wind up in the paper and names run through the mud. Only 2 fish they caught all day. 
Yeah I was ice fishing on Lake Nokomis near Tomahawk a few years ago and a bald eagle came awfully close to taking my 20″ walleye I had on the ice. I kept a little closer guard on it after that but it was cool to hear him come up on the fish and then see him. He was pretty brave because I was not that far away….
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I hope they counted it still toward their daily posession.
Is “stolen” the same as “giving away”? 
My son and I were fishing a favorite spot on the river. We had the family yorkie-poo in the boat. I looked up and see an eagle in the tree right above us…looked for the dog, and he was up under the dash hunkered down. I think the dog knew of the danger….we moved on….
We were pheasant hunting last sunday and you wouldn’t believe all the eagles! They were circling the fields picking off the birds that ran out of the cover. The fellas at the lodge actually told us to be careful when taking shots because of all the eagles flying around, watch for them beyond the bird when you shoot.
My parents live on a lake in the Park Rapids area and they have gone from loving seeing Eagles around, to pretty much hating them. Their lake usually has 6 pairs of Loons and each pair typically has two baby loons. The Eagles hunt those baby loons relentlessly until they are gone or close to it. Last year one Loon baby made it until fly away time late fall, but that’s the first in the last 4 years.
Northern WI we’d have to keep a close eye on panfish at late ice as we hopped from hole to hole. They got pretty brave and would come down and pick off fish within 70 feet or so. The first time I heard one gliding in from overhead the sound of the wind over their wings had me ducking and looking for the “jet” overhead. It’s loud and impressive. Reminds me of the summer in Alaska in the sticks near where Eielson AFB would do practice bombing runs. Low to the tree tops and even with a chainsaw running I hit the deck a couple of times.
A few years back, Monona Bay (in down town Madison) had a couple Eagles around all winter that would pick off peoples panfish sitting on the ice. Those eagles were living pretty good. Not shy of people at all.
I also saw a diving duck last spring come up with someones crappie rig. It was pretty funny for the first 30 seconds but then got really sad after the 10 minute struggle they had on their hands to try to unhook it.
They’re feeding on piles of dead hogs down here.
On a couple lakes up in northern Wisconsin on the three lakes chain we feed the eagles all the time, just some small pannies that we catch while we are tip-up fishing. Its also usually a good time when we dump out the minnow bucket on the lake. We’ve had some come at right about 20 yards but they won’t come closer. They have a couple nests not far away and all we do is wave the fish and give it a toss and literally seconds later they are already flying out of the tree. It is a magnificent sight.
You must mean decades
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On a couple lakes up in northern Wisconsin on the three lakes chain we feed the eagles all the time, just some small pannies that we catch while we are tip-up fishing. Its also usually a good time when we dump out the minnow bucket on the lake. We’ve had some come at right about 20 yards but they won’t come closer. They have a couple nests not far away and all we do is wave the fish and give it a toss and literally seconds later they are already flying out of the tree. It is a magnificent sight.
How is dumping a minnow bucket legal to do on ice when its illegal to do so on soft water? Just saying. I’ve also heard of people that are keeping small pannies to feed their cats. 
I don’t think the DNR would mind as long as you pick up all the remaining minnows before you leave.
How is dumping a minnow bucket legal to do on ice when its illegal to do so on soft water? Just saying. I’ve also heard of people that are keeping small pannies to feed their cats.
Sorry for the confusion Mike I should have articulated what I meant better by dumping the minnows out. We do not dump them on the ice we throw them to a spot just off of the landing that is a designated compost area created by the lake association for minnows and other bait, lawn clippings and whatnot. And the Eagle’s nests are not far away from this site, and they know that lots of the guys throw out there minnows at this spot and they have a feast. My apologies if I got your blood boiling, I should have been more precise when describing what I meant. Also when I say we feed some small pannies to eagles I literally mean like 2 to three fish if that, plus we are fishing in 30 some odd feet of water so there is no guarantee that they will even survive if we release them. 
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How is dumping a minnow bucket legal to do on ice when its illegal to do so on soft water? Just saying. I’ve also heard of people that are keeping small pannies to feed their cats.
Sorry for the confusion Mike I should have articulated what I meant better by dumping the minnows out. We do not dump them on the ice we throw them to a spot just off of the landing that is a designated compost area created by the lake association for minnows and other bait, lawn clippings and whatnot. And the Eagle’s nests are not far away from this site, and they know that lots of the guys throw out there minnows at this spot and they have a feast. My apologies if I got your blood boiling, I should have been more precise when describing what I meant. Also when I say we feed some small pannies to eagles I literally mean like 2 to three fish if that, plus we are fishing in 30 some odd feet of water so there is no guarantee that they will even survive if we release them.
Thanks for clearing that up Ice , 
and I wish you a great experience at the UWM. Perhaps we’ll meet up sometime as thats where I work. Again thanks.
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