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
TEMPLE OF ZOOM
WELCOME to the Temple of Zoom where you can “experience” sliding down a Mayan temple into shark infested waters .
AMAZING THUNDERSTORM LIGHTS UP THE SARDINIAN COAST
POWERFUL bolts of lightning illuminate the night sky in an incredible autumn storm over the Sardinian coastline .
BRITISH COUPLE FIRST TO TIE THE KNOT INSIDE A GLACIER
A BRITISH couple are the first to tie the knot inside an enormous GLACIER in Iceland .
PEEKABOO SQUIRRELS EMERGE FROM THEIR NEST
SQUEEZING their furry faces through a hole in a tree, a trio of curious baby squirrels leave their nest for the first time to explore their surroundings .
I WON'T GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY STAB VEST, SAYS ATTACK VICTIM
A man who was stabbed ten times in a frenzied and random attack has told how, two years on, he is too scared to leave his house without his STAB VEST .
OTTER FAMILY FIGHT
Splashing around in the water, a mother otter and her son are tangled in a family feud .
NATURE'S MOST STUNNING SHAPES AND PATTERNS
FROM ICE bubbles to boiling lava, these photographs highlight the stunning shapes and patterns found in nature .
EXPOSED: SHAMELESS TROLL BULLIES INNOCENT GIRLS ONLINE
A shameless internet troll, who targets young girls online for fun, has slammed victims of cyber-bulling as WEAK .
MONKEY BUSINESS
GETTING behind the camera, this monkey practices his photography skills on his friends .
BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE: VIEW FROM A PILOT’S CHAIR
Working at a height of 36,000ft, pilots may have the best view in the world .
CAN YOU TWERK IT OUT? - MILEY CYRUS LOOKALIKE
Walking down the street in her local town, heads turn as Jessica Villafane passes by .
BETRAYED BY CANCER CON WOMAN!
Recovering from a rare form of breast cancer, Deborah Barnett, 43, of Stoke-on-Trent, thought she'd made it through the worst, but she was betrayed by former colleague Sandra Ramsay, of Mow Cop Road, Mow Cop, Stoke-on-Trent .