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
BEAR CUBS AND DOTING MUM
A little brown bear cub shows his doting mum that she is always on parent duty as he uses her as a scratching post .
WELL–HEELED: WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE SHOES WORTH £276,000
Here’s a pair of shoes that really are fit for a princess, and with a price tag of more than £276,000, they are the most expensive shoes in the world .
ABANDONED HOBBIT HOUSE
IN THE not so MISTY MOUNTAINS of Wiltshire, there lies an abandoned hobbit house .
SPECTACULAR AURORA BOREALIS
A SPECTRUM of colours fills the sky during this spectacular and natural display of light .
HOUSEWORK-OUT
STEPFORD wives from the 1950's and 60's are performing history's most sexist exercise programme .
MALE ANOREXIC DIED FOR 20 MINS AFTER SHRINKING TO 4.5 STONE
A man who developed anorexia as a teen has told that dying for 20 minutes helped shock him into recovery .
PARTNERS IN GRIME
MASKED intruders look sinister but really they are a gang of urban exploring pranksters .
BROTHER SEXUALLY ABUSED ME AGED 6 AND TOLD ME HE'D GET CANCER IF I DIDN'T LET HIM
Sophie Carr, 23, from Swindon, was just six when her older brother Alex, then 12, abused her during a game of mummies and daddies .
OPEN WIDE! MONKEY GIVES FRIEND AN UNEXPECTED DENTAL CHECK-UP
This cheeky macaque gets up close and personal as he examines the dental hygiene of his fellow primate .
THE INCREDIBLE BEAUTY OF ICELAND’S ICE CAVES
A stunning ice cave in Iceland is illuminated by sunlight as the bright blue ice appears glow inside .
BACK TO BASICS HOTEL
CAMPED out in the middle of a forest, these unusual hut hotels take you back to basics .