American Bald Eagle V. Canada Goose Is the Super Power Showdown We Deserve

Forget Batman v. Superman (for real, it’s not good). Two neighborly animals are waging a battle that has all the intrigue the Warner Bros. film lacked, without the terribly juvenile “Our-moms-have-the-same-name?-Let’s-be-friends!” plot twist.

Last Friday, photographer Lisa Bell caught the once-in-a-lifetime moment on Vancouver Island when a Canada goose and American bald eagle faced off in a metaphorical dystopian future where the U.S. and Canada are mortal enemies.

The series of photos began with the bellicose American perched stoically atop the fallen Canadian, but things were not what they seemed.

“The goose basically was playing dead,” Bell told CTV Vancouver.

Evidently, it didn’t stay like that for long. The goose freed itself from the hungry eagle’s clutches and like the true Canadian pacifist chose nonviolence and fled to a nearby pond, where it was able to keep the eagle at bay.

Will this diplomatic crisis create a rift between the two North American neighbors? Unlikely. (Unless it’s on the hockey rink.) But for now, it seems the U.S. and Canada remain great friends and Mother Nature continues to be the true ruler of us all.