By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2025-03-05 19:20:05 | Updated at 2025-03-06 04:14:08
8 hours ago
Now the feathers are really starting to fly in the trade war.
A bald eagle was captured on film doing battle with a sickly, bird-flu-riddled Canada goose — in a stunning new viral image that is being called a metaphor for the tariff battle between the United States and our northern neighbor.
The avian avatars for both nations did their dance of death on an icy, Burlington, Ont. bay, in a face off harsher than any Olympic gold medal hockey match — and about the only thing the duel was lacking was a crowd of rival fans booing each nation’s national anthem before the puck dropped.
Mervyn Sequeira, the 74-year-old Ontario-based photographer who captured the shot told CBC Hamilton that gloves off battle of the birds was “very symbolic” of the tariff tussle engulfing the two nations.
“I know people are comparing this to what’s going on between Canada and the US,” Sequeira later told The Post. “I have no control over what others see in my photographs. I’m just trying to document what I see in the wild as best as I can, as an amateur, it’s what I do.
“But it’s inevitable that people will interpret what they’re seeing, given the current state of the world.”
Sequeira said the Feb. 23 fight began when the bald eagle descended onto the frail goose, which he surmised was suffering from bird flu.
“The goose appeared to be sick to me because it was all alone, which is not common for these birds,” he told The Post. “It remained on the ground, so something must have been wrong with it.”
The bald eagle attempted to tear the goose to shreds, but the gander stood its ground.
“The bald eagle made several assaults at the goose, attacking at least four times to try and take it out,” Sequeira said. “But the goose fought back every time.”
It “desperately defended” itself until the bald eagle inexplicably abandoned the fight after about 20 minutes and took off, Sequeira wrote on Instagram.
Sequeira saw his photos as just being a demonstration of “how nature works,” but understands why others are looking at it in a different light.
“But we’re living in a slightly polarized world just now, so some people looked at it differently,” he told Canadian press.
The collection of photos started gaining traction online following President Trump’s announcement of new 25 percent tariffs on most Canadian goods.
The tariffs come as Trump also continues to insist that Canada should permit the United States to claim it as a 51st state, which the Great White North has repeatedly rejected.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau placed retaliatory tariffs on approximately $30 billion worth of American goods on Tuesday.
“To the American people, we don’t want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally and we don’t want to see you hurt either, but your government has chosen to do this to you,” Trudeau said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Trump also placed the same tariffs on Mexico and China. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised to respond with retaliatory tariffs similar to Canada’s and plans to announce further details this coming Sunday. China has already responded with tariffs of up to 15 percent on some U.S. goods.
