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Phil & Mel In The Afternoon

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Move Over, Pizza Rat. Here Comes Pizza Eagle!

Phil Harris March 16th
An American bald eagle sits on a branch at Mill Pond on July 21, 2018 in Centerport, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

You may recall the infamous New York City rodent known as Pizza Rat that was caught on camera dragging a slice into a subway station back in 2015. Then there was the squirrel seen enjoying an eggroll in a New York City tree. Now there’s a new scavenger on the scene and its considerably more majestic than those other two.

Nature photographer Doug Gemmell has captured some interesting animal behavior over the course of his career, but this takes the cake. Well, actually, pizza.  According to the New York Post, Gemmell was at Wethersfield Cove, just south of Hartford, Connecticut, when he captured a young bald eagle swoop down and carry off a slice of pizza. It appears to be pepperoni.

The talented photographer watched as four crows chased the juvenile eagle to get the tasty treat. Eagles, which are endangered, typically eat fish, waterfowl, turtles, rabbits and snakes. But how could you blame this one for going after the errant slice? That part of the country has really good pizza!

Doug Gemmell posted a series of photos on his Facebook page. Here’s one from his Instagram account:

List: 15 Places To Visit Animals In The Charlotte North Carolina Area

An interesting fact that you may not know is that Charlotte is actually the largest city in the country that doesn’t have a zoo. And there is very little chance we will ever get a true one. But don’t let that get you down, there are plenty of places you can visit with all types of animals in the Charlotte area. The biggest reason we will most likely never get a true zoo is that we are just 1.5 hours from both the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro and Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia.

Both of those zoos make our list and while both are large zoos, they offer different animals. For instance, you can see polar bears in North Carolina and Koalas in South Carolina. Is marine life more of your interest? Don’t worry we’ve got a couple of options for you as well. Other animals include bison, alpacas, farm animals, all sorts of birds, goats are more.

All of the places on this list are a short drive from Charlotte. Most are very affordable to visit so a great family trip as the weather gets warmer. I love animals but I’m not a huge fan of encountering them unexpectedly, so this type of thing is right up my alley. I can’t wait to add several of these to my summer bucket list. Where is your favorite place to visit animals in the Charlotte area? Let us know on social media!

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