# The Condor/Volume 1/Number 3/Capture of a Rabbit by a Golden Eagle

Capture of a Rabbit by a Golden Eagle. By Wm. L. Atkinson, Santa Clara Cal.
Before I begin my narrative perhaps it would be well to state that I live on a fruit farm, three and one-half miles west of Santa Clara. At the back of, and adjoining the orchard is an open field containing about sixty-five acres. One warm morning in August, 1894, I was working in the orchard near the back fence when, glancing up, I beheld two large birds circling and swooping at some object in the grain field. A second glance and I knew that the birds were Golden Eagles. Hastening to the fence I saw that the Eagles were endeavoring to catch a rabbit which was running across the field. He was at this time in the center of the field, and about 200 yards from the fence, toward which he was running.
Drawn by Miss Charlotte Bray, Santa Clara, Cal., from a description.
The Eagles circled above him, at a height of about thirty feet; first one of them would swoop down at the rabbit and then the other; but the result was always the same, for the rabbit was quick enough to dodge just as the birds struck at him. The chase was now nearing the fence, and it seemed that if the rabbit could succeed in reaching it, he could, by dodging around among the trees, baffle his pursuers. The Eagles seemed to know this also for, ​when within fifty yards of the fence, the larger one of the two swooped down at the rabbit, and when he dodged the Eagle pursued him, flying at a height of about three feet above the ground. The rabbit redoubled his speed and made straight for the fence, the Eagle following and both doing their best; the one fleeing for his life, the other pursuing to satisfy the cravings of an empty stomach.
This unequal race was kept up until the fence was reached, the Eagle having gained until she was but two or three feet behind the rabbit. When the rabbit passed through the fence, I expected to see the Eagle give up the pursuit, but she had no intention of doing so, for without slacking her speed she raised herself just enough to clear the fence, and, dropping down behind the rabbit, continued as before. Still I thought that he had a good chance to escape, for he had gained a little ground in passing through the fence, but instead of dodging around through the trees, which is something the rabbit always does, when pursued by dogs, he was so crazed with fear that he ran in a straight line down through the orchard.
The velocity with which the Eagle flew at this stage of the chase was something wonderful. Fast as the rabbit ran, the "great black shadow" behind him drew nearer and nearer, until, poising an instant over its victim, the Eagle pounced upon him. A short struggle, a cry or two from the rabbit, and all was still. I hastily ran toward the spot, and had approached nearly to the Eagle when it took wing and joined its mate, which was wheeling around above me. After a few turns they mounted up into the heavens and in a short time disappeared.
The rabbit was a large "Jack," and was in a perfectly healthy condition. A row of deep gashes on either side of the backbone marked the spot where the Eagle had struck him with its talons, and his head was almost severed from the body, the throat being cut almost as cleanly as could have been done with a knife. The gash extended from the jaw bone on one side of the neck, to the ear on the other.