PRAIRIE DOG AND STARLING STAND-OFF
This starling and prairie dog will not back down an inch as they have a fearsome stand-off over who gets to eat a nut. The cute rodent and the adult bird locked horns at a US zoo earlier this month to go to face to face to see who would stare the other out and grab the food. Despite the dog picking up the nut moments before, ready to chew down on his tasty find for lunch, the starling flew in to challenge him. And it was the feathered thief who won the battle as it simply pecked the nut out of the hands of the white tailed dog and flew off to target its next meal. Photographer Scott Spaeth,42, grabbed the fascinating stand-off at St Louis Zoo, Missouri, and said it was commonplace for the starlings to wait for their furry friends to find food and then steal it from them. He said: "The two of them were facing off to see who got the prairie dog's lunch. "As so often in life the cunning one won and the starling got the prize. Not that the prairie dog seemed to care much, there was plenty more food laying around everywhere. "The prairie dogs eat a variety of food pellets and fresh vegetables, and they seem to know that there's no threat of shortage. "So when the starlings, who are not indigenous to North America, come and take the food right out of the prairie dog's paws, the reaction is to simply pick up another piece of food and continue eating." Scott explained the birds in the vicinity of the zoo have such power over the smaller animals around them, they always win the fights over food. He said: "What I find interesting about the starlings is they will not pick up the food from the ground. "If a prairie dog picks up a new piece of food too close to the starling that just stole from him, the starling will drop the stolen food to go after the prairie dog again. "It's just an incredible sight, and I've never seen anything like it elsewhere, outside of humans that is.
Other great stories
BOY WHOSE BRAIN GREW IN NOSE IS REAL-LIFE PINOCCHIO
A little boy whose brain grew inside his nose has been described as the 'real-life Pinocchio' by his proud mum .
MYSTERY OF THE CROOKED COTTAGE
THIS is the fascinating abandoned house, complete with mystery portraits and homely items, that has been dubbed - crooked cottage .
WOMAN RECORDED VIOLENT BF STRANGLING HER AND THREATENING TO KILL HER WITH A KNIFE- WHEN HE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER SHE SAW HIM JAILED
Gabrielle Dale, 26, was subjected to seven years of coercive control and physical abuse at the hands of her violent boyfriend Sean Owen, 29 .
ENGLISH SEASIDE SPLIT SHOTS
From a floating jelly fish to a relaxed seal, Britain’s unappreciated beach life is captured above and below the water .
RARE BRONTE POEM FETCHES £92K AT AUCTION
A rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .
TERMINAL CANCER MUM MIRACLE RECOVERY AFTER UK-FIRST OP
A mother told she had terminal cancer by doctors who ignored her pleas for help 13 times has made a miracle recovery following the UK's first operation of its kind .
GRAVEYARDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
From the tails of fighter planes to black and white checked buildings, graveyards take different and unusual forms around the world .
I'M READY FOR MY CLOSE UP NOW, MR NUTKIN
Red squirrels are well known for their intelligence and curiosity but when one snapper caught this furry little guy trying to take his own self-portrait he couldn't help but be taken aback .
MINI BONZAI MODELS - TREE-MENDOUS
These are the fascinating pictures of miniature table sculptures molded around bonsai trees that take up to a painstaking 18 months to create .
ON A WINGSUIT AND A PRAYER - FASTEST FLYING WOMAN IN THE WORLD
SOARING at 112 miles per hour through the air, this petite blonde certainly lives up to her title as the fastest flying woman in the world .
Desperate dog set off alarm before police smashed car window in Exmouth
The dog having been pulled from the car - A police officer smashed a window in the blue Chrysler car to free the dog which was in visible distress .
NOSEY POLAR BEAR INSPECTS TOURIST'S TRUCK
STANDING on its hind legs, a nosey polar bear presses its paws against the window of a truck and takes a peek at the tourist inside .