Cheating Drama with the Trempealeau Bald Eagles
Webcam stars, the bald eagle couple Mr. and Mrs. T of Trempealeau, Wisconsin have been embroiled in a cheating scandal as Mr. T abandons the nest.
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Fuckwits exist in the animal kingdom.
As our nation symbol, we expect a certain integrity from bald eagles. So, it’s come as a shock to the raptor-watching world that Mr. T of Trempealeau, Wisconsin has abandoned his mate, Mrs. T to a single parenting fate, as she is left alone to fend for herself and her surviving eaglet.
Each spring, eagle lovers watch the nest-cams at the Raptor Resource Project to see how many eaglets will hatch. This year, Mr. and Mrs. T had three eaglets. But Mr. T’s attention seemed to be elsewhere and he was not pulling his weight.
Unfortunately, eagles cannot check each other’s social media or hack cellphones, so Mrs. T could not confirm her suspicions. But the 24/7 webcam caught Mr. T’s treachery.
Cheating bald eagles — is nothing sacred?
Concerned Chump Nation eagle watcher, Maryse Maillochon Petasis, reports that things recently took a turn for the worse. “Yesterday morning, Mr. T came back and stole a fish she had just brought to the nest! AND he took it to another nest!”
Yes, this confirms there’s an eagle Schmoopie. You know Mr. T is telling the other eagle that he caught that fish himself. And you know that Schmoopie isn’t questioning his story, because okay, he’s the father of three newborns, but hey, FISH!
Clearly, Mr. T is an asshole among bald eagles, who are usually reliable providers and solid mates.
Are eagles monogamous?
Apparently, most of them are. And they share parenting responsibilities! Carolyn Shea of Audubon answered this question:
Though the birds’ courtship rituals are spectacular in their display of aerial acrobatics, it is nest building that cements the bond between male and female. Dad’s contribution to his progeny doesn’t end at conception: He sticks around to help incubate the eggs and feed the offspring. Bald eagles, which are capable of breeding at about 4 years and have been known to live to 28 in the wild, are not unique in their sexual liaisons. According to Frank Gill, Audubon’s senior vice president of science, more than 95 percent of bird species are monogamous, making them among the most loyal members of the animal kingdom. Recent research, however, is yielding evidence that philandering may be more prevalent than previously supposed. “The general rule emerging,” says Gill, “is that sexual infidelity is common in socially monogamous species.”
Gill, if they’re cheating, they’re not monogamous. But I think what you’re saying is that some eagles might screw around, but they show up as parents. Which makes Mr. T a really shitty eagle among eagles.
Mrs. T, you have the collective sympathy of Chump Nation. We’ve been there, alone in our nests, furious about the dissipation of marital assets. While it’s small comfort, at least no one asks eagles what they did to make their partners cheat. Or implores you to be friends with Mr. T for the eaglets. Or shames you for your anger over that stolen fish. (OF COURSE YOU’RE ANGRY.)
Be mighty, Mrs. T. We all hope Mr. T chokes on that fish. You deserve better.
As an American, this feels like the symbol of our nation right now.
Agreed!
Why am I wondering whether the male eagle justified his actions on the grounds that the female eagle had caught the wrong kind of fish, and therefore had it coming to her?
LFTT
🤣🤣🤣
lol
bagged fish. it’s all wrong, don’t you know? if you loved me, you wouldn’t buy bagged fish.
I was wondering qbout that too! hahaha
Clearly Mrs. T drove him to it. He had been degrading her nest making skills the entire time. She was walking around on eggshells. He has no intention of helping support their eaglet through fish contributions. He already has the schmoopie eagle waiting in the wings. When Mrs. T has had enough and goes no contact with him, Mr. T will be calling her bitter and saying she caused their breakup.
Even FW eagles follow the same script.
She needs to peck his dang eyes out! Then see how much Schmoopie likes him.
Peck me dance.
Thank you Maryse Maillochon Petasis for sharing this webcam! Nature is usually glorious and the birth of eaglets spectacular.
But this particular Mr. T makes me so angry. Stealing a fish that Mrs. T worked to bring home for her babies? Bringing to the nest of schmoopie eagle? Definitely claiming that he caught it? Seriously???
Is nothing or no part of the natural world free of this crap?
Maybe we can get Mrs. T an iPad so she can join Chump Nation? Or at very least Uber her some bigger fish!
Usually they take turns guarding the babies too, as they are super vulnerable to predators until they can fly on their own. So not only is he stepping out, he’s not even around to keep them safe. Just there long enough to steal the food from their babies mouths!
Mr.T. qualifies as a TURD!
Good feeling gone…
I’m in California, so I’ve been watching our famous Big Bear cam with Shadow and Jackie. They lost one eaglet during a winter storm, and they are an amazing team. The Mr T situation is awful, as 2 of the chicks died because Mrs T could not keep them warm AND get them food.
Truly some kind of metaphor; I wish those who think cheating is not harmful to the family could understnad this.
Fight on Mrs T- you are an amazing parent
Yep this is why I seriously side eye anyone who claims a cheating FW is a “good parent” in spite of the infidelity. It without a doubt harms the little ones
I think we’re all being a little judgmental here. Clearly Mr. T and his mate grew apart. I was reading from noted mating ornithologist Ursa Major Rumpelstiltskin (he has a doctorate that I am told that was sourced from a Cracker Jack box, so “seems legit”) that his mate wasn’t providing enough incentive for him to stay even though she was tending the nest and propagating an endangered species when he was off on business trips.
That entitled him to the fish and to stay in his other, secret, “No Girls Allowed” nest where he can hang up whatever poster he want.
It was on YouTube from somebody with “Dr.” in their name. So it has to be true.
Feliz Jueves!
😆😆
Let’s say Mr T brings fish to both momma Eagles and keeps both nests tidy….would we give him an Eagle cookie?
OK so for Mrs T,some tips for next mating season.
Remember the treacherous Mr T and turn down your Eagle tail🦅 for NO MATING in the Spring ..as he will likely HOOVER you back against your better judgement ( ok your better discernment, since we can’t judge). Next, look around for lone male eagles who may have lost their mates due to some tragic accident. Watch each of them for red🚩🚩 flags before you lay any fertilized eggs! Take care of your baby eaglet in the mean time and grow some sharp claws to keep cheater -user -Eagle far away from your nest and fish…no contact ..and keep him very afraid of your boundaries. You are a mighty bird and you are worth gold. Never forget that!
The funny thing is how upset and even angry some nest watchers are at cheating eagles because the advent of nest cams prevents onlookers from blaming chumped eagles for being chumped.
Alas, if only the onus for human douchebaggery always went where it belonged and blame never got shifted to chumps. But, if you think about it, humans are also subjected to “nest cams” in a sense because, as Snowden revealed, we’re in the age of mass surveillance where phones and gadgets watch and listen to every single little thing everyone does and says 24/7. Hypothetically, most of it just gets dumped forever in massive computer databases in Utah unless the powers of darkness decide to dredge up extortion fodder to take someone down. But maybe there are bored or voyeuristic little security contractors munching popcorn and following obscure human fuckery dramas like soap operas.
Hey, it’s the one upside of our horrifying Orwellian reality– the chance that at least someone, somewhere actually knows who did what to whom even if it’s not very probable that the professional sociopaths spying on the world actually care. There was a whole season of The Good Wife with that theme where at least one or two Homeland Security geeks get emotionally involved surveilling the lead character’s chump saga.
There is a somewhat similar arc in “The Lives of Others”, too (even if no actual cheating took place, if I remember correctly).
That’s one of the films I re-watch a lot.
I remember how the actress/girlfriend character ends up hooked on sedatives to quell the anxiety and despair of being coerced into leading a double life and probably just to keep from puking while the disgusting old Stasi goon paws her.
But it’s also one part of the film I had a problem with because her compromise for the sake of “theatrical success” is contrasted against the male playwright character who stoically commits suicide rather than compromising his ethics.
Given that this is a fictionalized account and the author could create any story he wanted, I found that bit problematic because it’s as if filmmakers were perpetuating this idea that women are naturally “weaker,” less stoic and less self-sacrificing than men in terms of standing up for principle and ideological commitment. The girlfriend character informs on the protagonist to save herself, then kills herself when exposed for doing it. Basically she commits suicide too late to really prove her own integrity.
They do show her being coerced into further complicity after she’s threatened with prison for using banned sedatives but this is only after she’d already given in to being groped by the disgusting Stasi dude to avoid career retribution.
My appreciation for cinema and art on the theme of social justice is a little tempered when the creators don’t extend that social justice sensitivity in all directions. But there’s still a lot of historical value to the film if you ignore how creators are stupid and clumsy with gender issues.
I remember really disliking her character due to her lack of a backbone (while many other people seemed to be more sympathetic). However, you’re probably right about her being portrayed that way because of negative gender stereotypes.
I never knew if we were meant to forgive her character because, you know, women are weaker and have less backbone, poor dears.
For gender clarity, if I’d made the film I probably would have given her a child or other family member that the state was threatening to take way as coercion. Because that happened all the time in the GDR and wouldn’t have been a stretch.
Point being is that women’s seeming “weakness” in the face of political repression is typically because they’re held hostage by threats to their children or other loved ones. It’s a classic tool of control for every historical authoritarian state. It works on men as well (why threats to loved ones is a standard tactic used against hostages and political detainees). But it more reliably works on on women. Filmmakers wouldn’t have been lying to illustrate this.
I understand this too well as I look toward the very near future.
Not only do eagles cheat, they have their apologists, if you read the link Tracy provided. Mr. T’s behavior is repeatedly excused and minimized, including stealing the fish his mate caught for their young. “We don’t know why Mr. T’s ‘wives’ haven’t engaged in aggressive activity, why Mr. T left a nest he seemed invested in, or why Mrs. T let Mr. T take fish from her nest to another nest.” So the writer expected the exhausted Mrs. T to add pick-me-dance aggression to her round-the-clock efforts to feed and warm her brood? And “let” him take the fish? Maybe because she was exhausted from trying to catch the fish and care for her brood alone, while the absentee Mr. T. cavorted in another nest. The author goes on to write, A lot of you are angry with Mr. T. I get it. It was heartbreaking to watch TE4 and TE5 die. Still, Mr. T isn’t a deadbeat dad, and he didn’t deliberately harm his young.” Isn’t failure to feed and protect your young the very definition of a deadbeat dad? Two of the three died due to his absence. Didn’t stealing their food from their exhausted mother harm them? However the same story does mention another set of eagles elsewhere. The female had two sequential male mates, and when she died, the two males raised the eaglets. Or so the writer said. I wonder if the original reporter about that set of eagles tells a different story.
CN , even the eagles suck now.
I so tired. I am so tired of just trying to get FREE of him
I’m not giving up, will never give up, just putting it out there to people who I know get it and care
This legal system SUCKS. I’m paying thousands of dollars, our kids are grown, all I want is the sale of our marital home and half our retirement assets
And he ignores my lawyers, he ignores HIS lawyers, and just drags this out, while living with Schmoopie, and having her sleep in my bed , while I struggle
I gave this man 36 years of my life
Hang in there Maggie. You’re at the seven-eighths mark of the marathon now. Just about there, but also at the most exhausting point.
His grip on your life is loosening because of the legal steps you’re currently taking.
He’s trying it on, but he can’t evade the machinations of property settlement laws forever.
One day you will be completely free of him.
Are there Switzerland eagles here too?
Look Mrs T, we’ve known you and Mr T for a long time, had great nest parties together. We think you’re both terrific.
Oh, just a heads up, Brian’s invited Mr T and Schmoopie to the next flight overpass. We thought we’d let you know – didn’t want to ruffle any feathers.
She seems really sweet tbh. A bit fluffier than you. Mr T is so giddy in love – says she’s really cute and a great flock.
Anywaaay, have to go, meeting them for drinks tonight. You know, birds of a feather….