A SPATE of reports eagles are swooping family pets have owners keeping their eyes on the sky.
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Nemingha resident Naomi Curtis knows firsthand how scary it is to almost lose a furry friend, just one month ago her cat Ra Ra was found in the front yard with a dislocated hip and puncture marks in his back leg.
"A fortnight ago I had him outside and a little bird flew overhead and he ducked – I thought that was strange,” she said.
“We’ve seen eagles flying around our property, the birds are hungry because everything else is hungry.
“I can’t keep him inside all the time but it could happen again, it is very stressful.”
Tamworth WIRES coordinator David McKinnon said he’s noticed the eagles are bolder, but would need a long runway to actually carry a pet away.
“An eagle is a ferocious creature, if you were to handle it you would come off second best – it would damage you dramatically,” he said.
“The best thing you can do if you do have pets, if you are concerned and they are scouting around you is to have shelter spots in your backyard, small covers where pets can get under and hide, ideally shrubbery, eagles do not like going into shrubbery.
“Certainly if it’s completely open and it’s a very big yard they’re more vulnerable.”
Mr McKinnon said for WIRES volunteers, the proximity of the eagles to town is unprecedented territory.
The drought period has meant the usual food source, small mammals and rodents, are in short supply.
Sightings have been reported in South Tamworth, Nemingha and Calala, but eagles can’t carry much more than the weight of a small rabbit or baby lamb.
Culling protected species is illegal – as happened recently in East Gippsland Victoria, where authorities found 136 wedge tail eagles died under suspicious circumstances.
The offender faces $115,000 in fines or a potential jail sentence if caught.
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Mr McKinnon warned that those with eagles in their backyards should not attempt to remove them, it’s usually the person that comes off second best.
“There wouldn’t be any circumstance I can think of where a licence would be granted to cull them, it’s a highly restricted area even dealing with them or handling them – so the idea of culling them would be next to impossible,” he said.
“Other than possibly have an imitation eagle which is bigger than the one they’re fearing will come in, there’s not much pet owners can do.
“They’re even coming in and landing on our cages where we’re rehabilitating bird life and they aren’t easily scared away.”