A Florida wildlife officer this week watched an osprey pull from the water a largemouth bass so big that the bird did not even attempt to fly off with its catch.
Of course, the catch became the envy of anglers from around the state.
“These birds catch bigger fish than I do!” one angler declared in the comments section of a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission post on Facebook.
The post shows three images of the majestic raptor standing on a riverbank with the lunker bass.
“Officer Davenport was in his patrol boat on the Santa Fe River when he saw the osprey wrangle a large fish out of the water! Since the bass was nearly as big as the bird, the osprey decided to dine right there at the water’s edge,” reads the description.
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“Wish I could catch a bass that big,” another angler chimed in.
Yet another angler recalled watching a similar event that he once witnessed during a slow day of fishing.
“One of these pretentious [birds] spent a full five minutes circling the pier where we were fishing from while carrying a HUGE bass and screaming at us,” the comment reads. “Obviously he was making un of us for failing to catch anything.”
Largemouth bass are prized game fish in Florida, and among the many species of fish targeted by ospreys, which are found year-round in the state.
The birds of prey, with wing spans of up to six feet, catch their prey by plunging feet first into waterways with their talons.
Typically, ospreys will fly off and eat from the safety of a high perch. But in some cases, apparently, a riverbank will suffice.
–Images courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission