I always laughed at the previous owner of Voyageur Canoe Outfitters who thought I should name my white cat Eagle Meat.  I thought there was a slight chance an eagle could attack my cat but after twenty years of living at the end of the Gunflint Trail I  had pretty much written off his words.

I’ve had four cats over the twenty years we’ve lived on the Seagull River. I’ve seen many eagles soaring overhead but I have never seen an eagle attempt to pick up one of my cats.  I guess I should be thankful as the three deceased cats all died of natural causes. My remaining cat is 19 years old and still faces off fox and pine marten.

But a deer in Russia wasn’t as lucky as my cats have been and I better keep this in the back of my mind.

Caught on camera: Moment golden eagle attacks a deer in Russian wilderness

Astonishing images capture the moment a golden eagle launches a fatal attack on a helpless deer in the wilds of Russia.

Remote cameras set up to monitor Siberian tigers caught the bird of prey burying its sharp talons into the distressed animal’s back.

The photos of the rare attack were shot in the Lazovsky State Nature Reserve in the Primorye region of Russia.

Linda Kerley, of London’s Zoological Society, came across a mangled deer carcass as she approached the wildlife-monitoring device.

‘Something felt wrong about it,’ she explained. ‘There were no large carnivore tracks in the snow, and it looked like the deer had been running and then just stopped and died.

‘It was only after we got back to camp that I checked the images from the camera and pieced everything together. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.’

Golden eagles usually eat small birds, mammals, or snakes, but have been known to also target larger animals.

The photos, captured in 2011, were published in this month’s Journal of Raptor Research.