Nature's brutality isn't always evident until you see the harsh reality firsthand. Animals like deer rank low on the food chain and are extremely vulnerable to predation when they are fawns. Many hunters might be quick to assume the coyote is their biggest threat, but those predators are just one of many. Case in point is this amazing footage from a cam set to watch an eagle nest. There are two chicks that appear to be nearly grown, but still reliant on their parents for food. That's when one of the parents reappears with the remains of a fawn.
It's rather graphic to watch, but the chicks spend a minute pecking away at the deer's remains before the parent starts ripping chunks off the carcass and feeding it to the chicks in tiny bite-sized morsels. It's a brutal display showing how nature plays no favorites, and a reminder that real life isn't anything like a Disney cartoon.
It may be difficult to stomach, but many fawns suffer fates like this, and sometimes much worse. Nature is infinitely unfair in how things go in life for most wild creatures. The young fawn dies so these chicks can live.
It's hard to say whether the adult eagle was the one who killed this fawn. We have no doubts about a bald eagle's ability to kill a fawn if it wants. However, in this case, it appears only part of the body of the fawn was there for the chicks to eat. Eagles are not shy about scavenging carrion. This could have been an old kill by a predator or a bear. There's even a possibility the fawn was roadkill the adult scraped off the pavement. I've personally seen bald eagles scavenging roadkill more than once.
Either way, it's not a sight you get to see everyday. There's something about seeing an animal as large as a deer being eaten by an eagle that makes us respect these birds of prey just a little more.
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