Kevin Ebi was merely attempting to take photographs of young foxes “at the peak of their cuteness, doing cute fox things.”
Instead, he managed to get a picture of a dramatic fight between two ferociously hungry predators in mid-air, which won him an honourable mention in the 2019 Audubon Photography Awards.
The image depicts a bald eagle taking a rabbit from a small fox while the latter clings to its prey as it is lifted around seven metres into the air.
Ebi told As It Happens guest host Megan Williams, “The fact that this one shot really tells a very dramatic story about simply an extraordinary meeting kind of offers people something to enjoy about it.
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Recently, LivingWilderness.com photographer Kevin Ebi captured the fight of a lifetime.
He posted on his blog, “A couple of days ago, I captured an especially dramatic act of thievery between these wild animals.” “I observed a bald eagle rob a juvenile red fox of a rabbit. Even more impressive: This duel occasionally took place more than 20 feet in the air.
“Eagles really don’t like to waste a lot of effort getting their food, so they look for easy opportunities,” Kevin said.
On the San Juan Islands, Kevin was observing the play and hunting of young foxes, known as kits, on the grassland. He explained that a red fox had just captured a rabbit and was taking it across the meadow. “I used it to pan my camera to record the action. I then heard a bald eagle’s screech from behind me. I looked back and noticed how quickly it was coming. It wanted the rabbit, I knew.
“A few days ago, I caught a very dramatic act of theft. I witnessed a bald eagle rob a young red fox of a rabbit.
“I wasn’t expecting the scenario to be as intense as it was, to my surprise. I believed the fox would lose the rabbit, making it an easy meal for the eagle. Instead, the bald eagle unintentionally caught the fox, which was still clenching its jaw on the rabbit. An even more spectacular struggle resulted from the young fox and rabbit being carried into the air by the eagle.
“Even more impressive: at times, this battle played out more than 20 feet in the air”
That fox sure is tenacious! The duration of the entire airborne fight, which gave the phrase “flying fox” a whole new meaning, was about 8 seconds. The fox finally gave up the struggle when it realised there was no point in continuing, and the eagle dropped it from a height of about 20 feet. The fox made a rather hard landing but didn’t appear to have been hurt throughout the flight. It put the incident behind it and carried on playing with the other kits. After the incident, I took multiple shots of it and found no scratches at all,” Kevin claimed.
The rabbit was being carried across the meadow by a red fox. I used it to pan my camera to record the action.
“I then heard a bald eagle’s cry from behind me. It wanted the rabbit, I knew that.
“To my surprise, the scene was even more dramatic than I expected”
“I thought the fox would drop the rabbit, giving the eagle an easy dinner”
“Instead, the fox, with its jaw still clenched on the rabbit, inadvertently got snagged by the bald eagle”
“The eagle lifted the young fox and rabbit into the sky triggering an even more dramatic struggle”
The fox was fine after its flight. “It shook off the encounter and resumed playing with its fellow kits”
“I took several pictures of it after the ordeal and couldn’t find a single scratch”
