{"id":2185922,"date":"2025-02-26T12:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T11:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2185922"},"modified":"2025-02-23T12:53:09","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T11:53:09","slug":"two-bald-eagles-found-tangled-in-a-tree-in-horrifying-predicament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/two-bald-eagles-found-tangled-in-a-tree-in-horrifying-predicament\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Bald Eagles Found Tangled In A Tree In Horrifying Predicament"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Is this a secret metaphor for America or something? A hiker recently came across two bald eagles tangled with each other and hanging from a tree.<\/p>\n

Hiker Kerr Will could barely believe his eyes when he came across the two birds locked in an embrace.<\/p>\n

The two eagles were tangled up with each other in a tree in Alaska. He had been walking his dog earlier in the month when he captured the incredibly rare sight.<\/p>\n

The two birds didn’t seem bothered much by the tree as they seemed more focus on taking each other out.<\/p>\n

Not even Will’s dog could disturb them from their apparent brawl to the death. They gripped each other with their talons.<\/p>\n

“I had just walked by that spot probably 10 minutes ago and they weren’t there,” Will told USA TODAY. “I turned around and headed back and couldn’t believe what I saw.”<\/p>\n

Eagles Found Tangled<\/h2>\n

At first, the hiker thought the two was just “one huge bird.” That’s how closely the two were interlocked together.<\/p>\n

However, upon closer inspection, he realized that it was actually two eagles tangled together. As you can imagine, the hiker didn’t know what to do about the two. They’re not exactly the kinds of animals you break apart.<\/p>\n

“I’d never experienced anything like that before, so I wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was,” Will said. Fortunately, the animals managed to break apart just moments later without injury.<\/p>\n

“The bottom eagle tried to yank free again and finally got loose,” he said. “They both flew off seemingly unharmed.”<\/p>\n

American Eagle Foundation says that interlocking between the eagles is common and can occur for several reasons.<\/p>\n

It writes, “Three come to my mind immediately: pair-bonding, aggression, and play. We also know from observation that these represent very aggressive encounters, where sometimes, one or both of the participants are killed (sometimes they cannot “un-lock” and crash to the ground together.<\/p>\n

The most often I see this, is with and between immatures, and I’m convinced it is both play and learning (flight capability).<\/p>\n

I do believe that eagles get enjoyment out of certain activities, which could be called play, such as when they chase each other in flight, tumble, roll, etc.<\/p>\n

As with humans, I think immature Bald Eagles are more prone to ‘play’ than adult birds”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

This article<\/a> by Matthew Wilson was first published by Wide Open Spaces on 17 February 2025. Lead Image: Image via Shutterstock.
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