BLOOMINGTON - The whereabouts of Miller Park Zoo's missing bald eagle egg remained a mystery Saturday, but zoo-goers came out to see for themselves and guess what happened. | New Photo Gallery

Speculation centered on either an animal or a person taking it from the nest, which still held one egg.

"There are varmints all over the place, and a squirrel or something could have gotten in there," Craig Wakefield of Homer said. "It's bound to happen."

Done on a dare?

"I don't see how or why someone would want to come in and take it," Michelle Doddek of Bloomington said. "Maybe someone did it on a dare, but it all seems so weird, and I really don't know what could have happened."

The female eagle, Beauty, in late April laid two eggs - her first in 13 years - capturing public attention. On Friday afternoon, one of the eggs went missing, and no trace could be found.

Zoo Superintendent John Tobias said Saturday the egg could have been taken after the eagles decided they did not want it.

"The eagles themselves could have decided that the egg wasn't any good and pushed it out of nest," he said. "Something could have grabbed it then."

An animal or person trying to raid the nest now would be taking a big risk because the eagles now are extremely protective over the remaining egg.

'A lot of screaming'

"There was a lot of cawing and a lot of screaming, and they made it quite well-known that they didn't want anybody in there," Tobias said of the eagles' reaction to efforts to check up on them.

An eagle's incubation period is 34 days, so Memorial Day weekend still is being considered the time when an eaglet would hatch if the egg is viable.

In the meantime, Beauty and the male eagle, Mathata, continue to incubate the egg.