When it comes to a sly fox, the Pittsburgh Hays bald eagles don’t give it more than a passing glance.
But a rascally squirrel? That’s another story.
According to antics captured on a live webcam provided by the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and CSE Corp., the eagles have been outsmarted numerous times by a bushy-tailed critter that routinely scurries through the raptors’ nest.
The comings and goings of the eagle couple is literally under a lens as the webcam is live, currently documenting “nestorations” and renewed courtship. The eagles are expected to lay their eggs in mid-February.
A fox is not an unusual resident in the Hays woods that the Pittsburgh eagles call home. It’s a massive area of Pittsburgh above the Monongahela River near the Glenwood Bridge.
The eagle doesn’t view the fox as food, according to Doug Bergman, a Pennsylvania Game Commission game warden covering southern Allegheny County. “Its natural food source is fish, and an eagle doesn’t typically attempt to capture or eat anything bigger than itself or heavier than five pounds,” he said.
The fox isn’t a threat for the eagle because it does not climb trees, Bergman added.
However, the squirrel is different.
“Now the squirrel would be a food source, and the eagle more than likely is trying to capture the squirrel to eat it,” he said.
Why have the eagles been unsuccessful in nabbing the squirrel?
Brian Shema, conservation director for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, said like other predatory birds, eagles are opportunistic. “But they are not agile, and catching a squirrel could be challenging.”
