The DNR camera showed a deer carcass being dumped by the eagle nest. Here's why.
The Minnesota DNR's popular EagleCam took its lens off the eagles to film someone disposing of a deer carcass below the nest.
This had some questioning what was going on — why someone would dump a deer carcass there and how it was captured on the EagleCam.
It happened at about 10:30 a.m. on Monday. The camera went from filming an eagle in the nest to filming the road, and then tilted down to show a red pickup truck and a dead deer on the ground. After a few moments, the human got back in the truck and drove off. Here's the clip.
It turns out, on Monday morning, a driver hit and killed a deer on the road near the EagleCam nest (the DNR doesn't reveal where the nest is to protect the eagles), so DNR staff moved the deer carcass closer to the nest so the eagles could feed on it, Maggie Snyder with Minnesota DNR told Bring Me The News.
This was done to help protect the eagles who would likely have gone to the road to snack on the decaying cervidae, because the decaying flesh of dead animals (carrion) is a popular meal for the protected species.
"Carrion is an important food source for eagles, but eagles often are killed on roads while attempting to feed on carcasses," Snyder added. "Now that it is closer to the nest, this deer carcass will be a safe and nourishing food source for our resident eagles."
You can watch the EagleCam streaming live below and you can check out highlights from this season of the EagleCam here, which includes an eagle repelling raccoon that was climbing into the nest.
