Mammals 



BIG GAME 



Veer. — Stomach examinations 

 supplied some corroborative evi- 

 dence of the eagle's reported preda- 

 tion on deer in Alaska, remains of 

 this animal being found in 12 of the 

 435 bald-eagle stomachs (table 2). 

 In four instances the material defi- 

 nitely was carrion when eaten; the 

 remains of a fawn was found in 

 another. 



In the course of the senior au- 

 thor's field studies in Southeastern 

 Alaska in 19-10, deer were often seen 

 along the beach throughout the 

 summer in the presence of an abun- 

 dant eagle population, yet, at no 

 time, was evidence of eagles molest- 

 ing them encountered. During 17 

 days (June 15-July 2) spent in the 

 vicinity of Keku Strait, deer in- 

 cluding some fawns were seen al- 

 most daily. At times the}' would 

 swim the strait in direct view of 

 numerous eagles which disclosed no 

 predatory inclinations towards 

 them. No opportunity was afforded 

 to appraise deer-eagle relations in 

 areas inland from the coast. 



George Willett (1027, p. 591) , an 

 ornithologist of wide experience in 

 Alaska, often contended that the 

 casual visitor to the Territory was 

 not in a position to judge the activi- 

 ties of the bald eagle with respect to 

 the killing of deer fawns. He wrote 

 that unless the observer is able to 

 appraise matters in the month of 

 Juh^ when the fawns are small and 

 helpless and the eaglets are large 

 and hungry, he would not encounter 

 eagle predation at its worst. 



Bald eagles, in common with most 

 other predators, apparently avail 

 themselves of the helplessness of 

 other animals and may resort to 

 ''gang attack" to gain their end. 

 Such a circumstance was reported 

 from the eastern shore of Lake 

 Huron late in the last century 

 ( Thurston 1891-92) . The narrator 

 stated : 



The winter of 1S90-1S01, I spent in 

 company with a friend trapping in that 

 section of country lying north-west of 

 Lake Joseph. Returning one day from 

 a visit to our traps, we were going round 

 an arm of the lake when five eagles rose 

 from the ice. * * * We went to where 

 they rose from, and found the remains 

 of a doe fawn of about seventy-five 

 pounds weight ; the animal had ventured 

 out on the ice, and being some distance 

 from cover had fallen an easy prey to 

 the flock of hungry birds. We went back 

 on the tracks some distance, and not see- 

 ing the tracks of any other animal were 

 quite sure that it was killed by the Eagles. 



Mountain goat. — The finding of a 

 substantial quantity of hair of a 

 mountain goat {0 reaimios) in the 

 stomach of a bald eagle collected 

 May 17, 1946, on one of the Broth- 

 ers Islands near the southern end 

 of Admiralty Island, presents an 

 unusual situation since no mountain 

 goats have been reported on this 

 small island although these game 

 mammals are present on the main- 

 land to the east and were introduced 

 some years ago on Baranof Island, 

 to the west. Even at the nearest 

 point it would appear that the 

 gorged bird had travelled at least 

 15 miles after it had fed on the goat. 



In a Montana area, where golden 

 eagles Mere dominant, the following 

 incident concerning a bald eagle 

 and mountain goats has been re- 



36 



