# Bald eagle drops deer on power lines-- is this real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238 "2011-06-21T01:29:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/1 "2011-06-21T01:29:49Z")
Because I have to say, it seems pretty implausible. If it hasn’t hit your facebook feed yet, there’s a news story going around on the intertubes that a bald eagle in Montana lifted a deer fawn into the air and lost its grip, dropping the fawn on power lines, causing a power outage. It seems wildly implausible to me; eagles have a large wingspan, but they’re just not that heavy themselves; I just can’t imagine a 15 pound eagle lifting a deer faun that weighs at least that much. Unless deer fauns weigh less than my cat, I just can’t imagine that this is plausible. Anyone care to weigh in? Here’s the news story in question: [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110617/us\_nm/us\_deer\_power](http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110617/us_nm/us_deer_power) ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/2 "2011-06-21T01:36:31Z")
[Here’s a video.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adfk_RSndb4) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/3 "2011-06-21T01:44:03Z")
[Deer fauns](http://www.huntingnet.com/staticpages/staticpage_detail.aspx?id=37) weigh 6-8 pounds at birth, so a 15 pound eagle might be able to lift a very young one. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/4 "2011-06-21T01:45:17Z")
I have no doubt that an eagle can kill a deer fawn, but I’m still unconvinced that it could lift one thirty or forty feet off the ground in order to drop it on power lines. EDIT: **Reality Chuck** , that’s way smaller than I would have guessed. I suppose that’s within the realm of plausibility. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/5 "2011-06-21T01:45:35Z")
Similar things have happened. [Eagle drops deer head on power lines in 2007, knocking out power to 10,000 Alaskans.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16875766/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/let-eagle-soar-without-deer-head/) A whitetail deer fawn only weighs about 6lbs at birth. A bald eagle can lift [half its own weight](http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/eagle/ExpertAnswer05.html). Females are larger than males. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/6 "2011-06-21T01:46:21Z")
Here’s the original story (with picture): [http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article\_0f216c00-987a-11e0-bb1a-001cc4c002e0.html](http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_0f216c00-987a-11e0-bb1a-001cc4c002e0.html) It’s not like anyone saw the eagle drop it, but I don’t think there’s any real competing theory as to how the thing got up there. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/7 "2011-06-21T01:57:03Z")
i thought american eagles can scoop 10-pound fish from the river? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/8 "2011-06-21T02:42:07Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > It’s not like anyone saw the eagle drop it, but I don’t think there’s any real competing theory as to how the thing got up there. Well, now, there was that diver found in a tree, who had been scooped up by a fire-fighting helicopter. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/9 "2011-06-21T03:34:14Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > [Here’s a video.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adfk_RSndb4) The issue isn’t whether an eagle can kill a small deer - they definitely can - it’s whether it can lift the weight. When they kill something that large, they generally will dismember it and carry smaller parts back to the nest. From the photo in the news article, it looks like the [fawn](http://photos.igougo.com/images/p249749-New_York-New_fawn_in_late_spring.Blenheim_Hill_New_York.jpg)\* was small enough to be carried by an eagle. [\*(faun)](http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/tumnus_faun_satyr.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/10 "2011-06-21T03:35:02Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > i thought american eagles can scoop 10-pound fish from the river? Based on what? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/11 "2011-06-21T03:41:13Z")
I have seen them carrying a 10 lb. salmon, one almost dropped on a salmon carcass on my head. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/12 "2011-06-21T03:56:06Z")
After thinking about it for a second and with apologies to Colibri, a 6-8 lb. fish is all I would guarantee I have seen carried off by an eagle. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/13 "2011-06-21T04:00:01Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > After thinking about it for a second and with apologies to Colibri, a 6-8 lb. fish is all I would guarantee I have seen carried off by an eagle. In all fairness - fish get bigger each time a story is told about them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/14 "2011-06-21T04:15:31Z")
> [@simster](#): > > In all fairness - fish get bigger each time a story is told about them. 😃 Next we’ll hear about cats killing 4-foot tunas. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/15 "2011-06-21T04:21:40Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > [Here’s a video.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adfk_RSndb4) Cool video but not what the OP was asking. You can’t even begin to imagine my disappointment. However, they have tsetse flies down there the size of eagles. In the evening, I would stand in front of my hut and watch in horror as these giant flies would pick children off the ground and carry them away. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/16 "2011-06-21T06:02:50Z")
I think it depends on whether it was an African or European bald eagle. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/17 "2011-06-21T06:41:05Z")
You can’t tell from the picture that the carcass is complete. Maybe the eagle killed the fawn and gutted it, eating a bit for itself before it took it to the nest. Or in light of what Colibri said about carrying larger prey in pieces, maybe this was her second trip and this was just the hide and other pieces rather than the whole 6 lb fawn. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/18 "2011-06-21T06:46:24Z")
Eagles are fucking awesome. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-iFOVi0vJGU/hqdefault.jpg "Eagle throws goat off cliff to its death") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iFOVi0vJGU) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NOkWpavE5gE/hqdefault.jpg "Golden Eagle flies away with a goat.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOkWpavE5gE) ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/19 "2011-06-21T13:18:46Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > I’m still unconvinced that it could lift one thirty or forty feet off the ground in order to drop it on power lines. The news story said this happened in East Missoula, Montana. That’s an area with plenty of high hills/small mountains. So the eagle could have killed the deer at a high elevation, and thus did not need to lift it, but only needed to glide down with it. This could be done with a considerably heavier load - perhaps as much as the eagle’s weight. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238/20 "2011-06-21T13:53:45Z")
This has [happened](http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/poormoose.asp) [before](http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/poledeer.asp). ETA: not credited to eagles, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-drops-deer-on-power-lines-is-this-real/586238.md?page=2)