Odds are, when you grew up there weren't any eagle pairs migrating into your area.

Very few raptors in the area where I grew up, we used to watch them migrate through suburbia. Then they learned they could make a living there and some stay year round now.

The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men.
In it is contentment
In it is death and all you seek
(Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)

member of the cabal of dysfunctional squirrels?