Gull Swallows Salmon!

What does this gull have in it's mouth?  A really large salmon, that's what.  Furthermore, he is going to choke that big fish down in about two seconds.  It was a sight to see, I'll tell you!

We were lucky enough to arrive at Lake Tahoe (at the border of Nevada and California) right when the salmon were running upstream.  A hotel employee said that people were seeing bears eating the salmon, so our Nevada friends met us at the mouth of the stream to see them.  As it turned out, there weren't any bears that day, but it was an amazing experience nonetheless.

One of the most incredible sights was a gull chowing down on a salmon as large as he was - maybe larger.  It seemed a physical impossibility for the bird to make that fish a meal.

One should never underestimate a hungry gull, however.  They can consume unimaginable things!

At this point, he has swallowed most of the fish.  He's eaten so much that he is actually sitting lower in the water because of the added weight!

He's got all but the tail of the fish inside of him, but look at the size of his neck! Surely he can't survive with that massive thing inside him!  He looks as if he will explode any second!

A moment later he has consumed the whole fish, and even his neck is somewhat smaller than it had been seconds earlier.  Yet it still seems to me as if he couldn't possibly fly with that huge wriggling fish inside him.  Even if the fish is now dead, surely it is too much 'deadwieght' for the gull to get airborne. Once again, though, this plucky gull will prove me wrong.  I turn away for just a moment, and when I look back the bird has flown - salmon and all!