Julie Smith was capturing naturistic views outside her family’s lake house one early morning when she caught sight of something rather unusual.
Smith first began video recording with her cell phone when she spotted a white-tailed fawn swimming near the shore at Lake Noquebay in Wisconsin June 30.
As she was recording, she observed a bald eagle soaring over the lake, as she had seen many times before. But this time proved to be different.
Julie Smith was recording naturistic views at Lake Noquebay in Wisconsin June 30
She spotted a white-tailed fawn swimming near the shore and swoop down to grab a white-tailed fawn
The eagle can be seen in video sinking its claws into the small fawn and drowning it
The woman said she noticed eagles grabbing ahold of much smaller prey times before
Just moments into the recording, she saw the eagle swoop its way down into the lake and sink its claws into the small fawn.
Smith said she noticed eagles grabbing ahold of much smaller prey times before.
‘We’ve always had eagles around during the 15 years we’ve had this place, and I’ve seen them swoop in to catch fish,’ Smith told the Green Bay Press Gazette.
In the footage, the predator can be seen sitting atop the deer and pumping its wings into it while holding it helplessly underwater.
The predator can be seen sitting atop the deer and pumping its wings into it
Smith’s neighbor said a few weeks prior she saw the same bald eagle attack and kill another fawn
Smith said she ‘felt so bad’ as she was watching the fawn prior and did not know ‘its life was about to end’
Eventually, the eagle carried the bloodied fawn ashore.
When Smith called her family and neighbors outside, they examined the deer closer and said they noticed a horrifying ‘gaping wound in its chest’ near the heart.
‘I just felt so bad … Here I was, enjoying the sight of that cute, little fawn swimming along, not knowing its life was about to end,’ she said.
One of Smith’s neighbors claimed a few weeks prior, she saw what appeared to be the same bald eagle, attack and kill another fawn.
Throughout the day, the eagle feasted on the dead fawn
‘I know they’ll also take goslings, but I never heard of one killing a fawn. Well, now I know of two cases,’ she added.
Smith noticed throughout the day the eagle fly around its dead prey to eat the leftover remains.
Professor emeritus in conservation at UW-Madison, Stan Temple, said an incident of this kind is not unusual, as golden eagles are known to prey on deer.
Professor at UW-Madison, Stan Temple, said golden eagles are known to prey on deer
‘If it killed that other fawn a few weeks earlier, the fawn was presumably younger and smaller. Maybe it was an easy, ideal situation,’ Temple said.
‘The eagle learned it wasn’t difficult to kill a fawn, so maybe it felt encouraged to do it again.’