The Eagle and The Ravens [Reader Post]

Throughout history, men in power have been corrupted by the power they wield. In history, especially recent history, there have been many examples of men who become corrupted by power and the feeling that they are above the morals that tend to keep the rest of us grounded in this life.

Years ago I was thinking of the situation that was unfolding with President Nixon while I was checking traps in the Peace River Drainage when I noticed Ravens gathering in an obvious pattern up ahead.

I tied my horse to a tree and ducked down as I advanced up a small hill to see what these meat eaters were up to: a cow moose had just died and the ravens were anxious to claim nature’s bounty, except for one problem, a Bald Eagle was perched on the rib cage of the recently departed cow moose and he wasn’t interested in relinquishing one morsel from the 1200 pound carcass.

This show was going to be worth the price of admission: one Bald Eagle, national symbol of the US, was having a Mexican standoff with approximately 60 ravens who appeared to be starving.

The Bald Eagle is the national bird and he is a cool bird, but I think it would have been more appropriate to use the Golden Eagle as the National Bird, sadly the Bald Eagle is a carrion eater and the Golden Eagle kills its food or it starves. Yes, the Bald Eagle is a great fisherman and an even greater mid-air fish as he steals a freshly caught fish from his friends; but the truth is, he would just as soon enjoy an overly ripe piece of meat.

The eagle with a certain dramatic flourish ducked his head and ripped open the carcass to rip off a hunk of flesh weighing several ounces: while the ravens, in a move that seemed choreographed, hopped forward towards the eagle when he ducked his head and then made a discretionary retreat when he picked up his head; not quite as far back as from where they started, thus the black tide was beginning to slowly and relentlessly decrease the perimeter of the eagle’s encirclement.

The eagle is a large bird, weighing 40 to 50 pounds with a large hooked beak designed to rip flesh away and talons that can crush spines and skulls, an exercise they accomplish with disturbing ease. The raven is less than half the size of an eagle with a large beak that is designed to eat carrion. A single raven or even ten ravens would never challenge an eagle, less their mortal existence be in great peril.

But this early morning, there were sixty ravens and they wanted that moose carcass, and they wanted it desperately. The eagle held his ground or moose, with slow deliberate movements, he ripped off piece after piece while the black tide was slowly and relentlessly decreasing the center of their circle, hopping forward when the eagle’s head went down and retreating about half their advance when his head came up with its bloody morsel. He would look at them with his cold savage eye and they stood as wooden birds until he ducked his head to eat again.

This continued until the eagle’s belly was distended to an almost impossible to imagine dimension from his uncharitable gluttony. Eventually, the black horde had decreased the circle to about four feet with the engorged eagle in the center looking a little less confident and as if he had a belly ache.

The ravens then began very small jumps while the eagle’s head was still up and the eagle, with a look of desperation, made a great effort to be come airborne just before the black tide enveloped his position, with a great beating of his wings he lost altitude because of his ungainly bulk and barely cleared the now screaming black beaks and still he struggled to remain airborne with his belly looking like an old man’s beer gut. He flew directly over me in his retreat, I smiled and waved to him while he continued his struggle at maintaining flight and the ravens began their ghastly repast.

Nature tends to be a great equalizer, the eagle could have enjoyed his meal and left with dignity and honor if he had not gorged himself to the point that he was barely able to fly and had to leave within a hair’s breadth of being consumed with the moose carcass.

Recently in American Politics, through a series of unfortunate circumstances, the Democrat Party has had control of the moose carcass, rather than sharing power and incorporating ideas from across the aisle, they have selfishly demanded complete control. Now that the American people have had their belly full of this arrogant, avaricious, egotistic, greedy behavior, as evidenced by the recent elections and the poll results in general, Democrat Politicians have that look of fear and panic in their eyes: they know they are going to be overwhelmed by the American Voter because of pushing a Socialist Agenda that the American People are not interested in, their days are numbered. Their announced retirements are only a diversion to cover the impending disgrace of losing by landslides, thus nature is proving a hard lesson to the Democrats: yet there is still a lesson for the American people, that men with no accomplishments, who rely on charisma and vain promises to define their goals, make better used car salesmen than they do presidents.