I spend a lot of time on the internet… it’s kind of my job.
I see A LOT of crazy stuff, probably too much for my own mental well-being, but these giant eagles might be the craziest things on the internet.
A while back, we shared a video of one trying to snag an eight year old child in Kyrgyzstan, and while terrifying, it wasn’t quite able to lift the child off the ground and fly away. She was unharmed, but nevertheless… head on a swivel in golden eagle country.
And while they usually prey on smaller mammals, they’ll think nothing of attacking a wild boar, a wolf, or a bear, and sometimes… even people.
But perhaps their craziest method of hunting… mountain goats.
Adult golden eagles can grow to more than 3.5 feet long from beak to tail, with wingspans of up to 8 feet. The birds weigh between 7 and 12 pounds on average – about the same size as a newborn lamb. With a grip strength of about 750 pounds per square inch, that’s stronger than the jaws of a lion.
Flying thousands of feet in the air, with vision that can see for miles… these flying raptors are truly savage killers.
But when it comes to mountain goats, these eagles will dig their talons into the back, and with that insane grip strength, drag the mountain goat off a cliff and let gravity do the rest.
Even if they can just do enough to make the goat lose its footing, at that height… it’s game over.
It’s genius and efficient.