This afternoon I was at the raptor rehab center where I volunteer, and they started training a captive-bred golden eagle, "Nova," to hunt. They will release him, if possible. He's still not the best flyer in the world, but he grabbed the rabbit on his first pass. The rabbit only squealed for a couple of seconds, but I was disturbed to see it was still alive a couple of minutes later, and the falconer finished it off. Nature is harsh, indeed. Nova enjoyed the meal, though he's going to have to learn to eat properly, he didn't really know how to tear into it at first.