This was the incredible moment a mischievous bald eagle stole a red fox’s food in spectacular fashion. The unhappy red fox was eating when it happened.

 

The action was captured on camera in Washington’s San Juan Islands and shows a conflict between a fox and an eagle over ownership of a rabbit.

Wildlife photographer  Kevin Ebi , who spoke to  Bored Panda  about the eagles, said that these birds “really don’t like to waste a lot of work collecting their food; therefore, they look for easy possibilities.”

“I was able to catch these wild creatures in the middle of a particularly dramatic act of stealing from each other a few days ago”

I witnessed a bald eagle steal a rabbit from a young red fox. Even more astonishing is that this fight took place more than 6 meters (20 feet) high at various points.

 

Kevin was searching the islands for young foxes when he witnessed the event take place right in front of his very eyes while he was there.

“A red fox had just captured a rabbit and was seen walking across the field with it. I moved my camera with it to get a good shot of the action.”

Then I turned around and heard the call of a bald eagle behind me. I turned around and saw him coming up behind me quickly. I realized that he was after the rabbit.”

“I carefully fixed my attention on the fox and braced myself for a split second of action,” I said.

 

“I was surprised as the situation turned out to be considerably more intense than I had anticipated. She believed that the fox would give up the rabbit, making dinner for the eagle much easier.

“Instead, the fox, whose jaws were still clinging to the bunny, was accidentally snagged by the bald eagle,” says the narrator. The young fox and the rabbit were taken up to heaven by the eagle, sparking an even more intense conflict.

The aerial conflict lasted only 8 seconds in total, but the fox soon gave up the fight after realizing it was useless. The eagle then brought the fox down from a height of about 20 feet after throwing it from a great height.

 

She quickly forgot what had happened and played with the other pups. After the incident, I took some photos to document her condition and couldn’t locate a single scratch.

“I think the eagle believed that because the fox was so young, it was very likely that the eagle would have scared it off and, as a result, the fox would have given up the rabbit.”

 

“It was an extremely unusual experience. I have seen bald eagles steal food from other eagles, as well as ravens, great blue herons, and even other bald eagles.

“I have never seen anything like this before: a robbery committed by an eagle, a fox and a rabbit working together. But I’ve been working in wildlife photography for almost twenty years and I’m a firm believer that each and every animal has a story to tell.