As Bald Eagle Populations Surge, Owners of Small Dogs Turn to Armored Vests for Protection

To you, the puppy above is cute. To the bald eagle, it's a snack. That's a problem because bald eagle populations have surged in recent years due to conversation efforts, as well the generalized awesomeness of the country that the bald eagle represents. To improve their dogs' chances of staying safe from hungry bald eagles, some owners dress their dogs in armored vests, such as the CoyoteVest pictured above. The Wall Street Journal (sorry, it's paywalled) reports:

"Eagles are strong enough to carry a 12-pound salmon, so a four-pound dog is nothing," says Mark Robokoff, owner of AK Bark pet shop in Anchorage. His shop sells CoyoteVest, a protective jacket covered in Kevlar and spikes, intended to protect small pets from coyotes. Mr. Robokoff immediately recognized its potential in a state with an estimated 30,000 bald eagles. The vest is topped with bright red nylon whiskers that he says scare off the birds from above.

-via Super Punch | Photo: CoyoteVest

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Just gonna leave this here. https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/nknncg/golden_eagle_flies_away_with_a_fox/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

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Great. Now the Eagles are going to starve and almost become extinct again. It's bad enough that Glen Frey died, and now you're going to deny Don Henley a little puppy to snack on now and then? I, for one, would pay money to watch the Eagles hunt a dog and eat it.

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At least 60% of the dog is still viable for predators to attack. Predators are not gonna be like "You look like Johnny Rotten so I'm not gonna eat you". They'll just attack the legs or anything else they can get at, and then drag it away by its legs. I got a wacky idea: don't ever walk your small dog in places where you know predators are. I think the real problem here is people thinking they can subvert nature and reality and do whatever they want, whenever they want, without any consequences. It's like people who walk their dogs without a leash and someone gets bitten. It's like employers who never give raises but live in mcmansions. It's like going to another country, shooting guns at people who don't speak English, and then you're shocked that they shoot back. Instead of people spending millions dollars on Yorki-Pitbull-Golden-Doodles while drinking Pumpkin Lattes while taking Selfies, maybe they just learn to live in reality. Cats and Dogs are not slaves, pets or property. They're animals. They're just animals. And you might be spending too much time and money on your cats and dogs instead of spending time improving yourself. I duno just a thought.

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Yeah - they're grossly overstating lift capacity there. And even the reduced lift capacity of 4-5 pounds (in addition to the weight of the bird itself, which it also needs to lift) - it needs to be at full steam speedwise to carry that... and that would just result in the eagle suddenly having a struggling dog in its claws. How is that likely to pay off for the eagle? They're not that thick. Source: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=343#:~:text=Bald%20eagles%20are%20strong%2C%20aggressive,at%20four%20or%20five%20pounds.Quote: "Bald eagles are strong, aggressive birds but like everything that flies they are governed by aerodynamics. The wings of an eagle need to support the eight to 12-pound bird as well as whatever the bird is carrying, and best estimates put the lifting power of an eagle at four or five pounds."