St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-10-06
EAGLE AND RATTLESNAKEs
A Forty-Five Minutes Fight to the Finish
On the Wild PrairiSt

EAGLE AND RATTLESNAkEs
A Forty-Five Minutes Fight to the Finish
On the Wild PrairiSs
On q beautiful September morning
was cantering along on my pony, cross.
ing mountain divide drinking in the
fresh air, admiring the snow-capped
mountains, the lofty pines, the waters OF
the creek alive with trout, and, far in
the distance, the headAwaters of the
Missouri winding their serpentine way
through the valley On every side the
beauty of the scene was ttugumented by
herds of deer and antelope. which dot
ted the land in the distance, but the
stillness was suddenly broken by the
shrill screaln Of an eagle. High up IN
the heavens | saw him prepare to de-
scend, and down, down he came. with
| the swiftness of a shooting star, until
he had nearly reached the earth, when
he spread his powerful piliions and
eased himself down until he had nearly
reached terra frmd when, with a sud-
den swoop, he lighted upon great
prairie rattler, about five feet long, and
battle commenced such as | had never
before witnessed. rode slowly up to
the combatants, rs near as | could with
out disturbing them, end eagerly
watched the progress Of the fight. The
bird was one of the largest bald eagles,
and the snake was a monster of it's
kind, being three inches in diameter
The eagle, with its crest thrown back,
fan UP to the snake and gave /: blow
over the head with its wings that CONS
pletely stunned it, just as it was in the
act of striking at him with all its force.
Quick as thought the eagle then caught
it in its talons, scared about ten feet in
the air, gave it furious shaking, and
let it fall to the earth, where it lay
eoiled in warlike attitude, rafting
and kissing In great wrath. The eagle
made a second attack in the same man
ner as before; but the snake watched its
chance this time, and when the eagle
was close enough thrust its head be-
tween his head and wing, and, with d
desperate effort, wound itself around
the eagles body, and it looked for 81
moment as though the powerful bird
must die. But, with violent flap of
his wings, he broke the deadly embrace,
caught the snake, gave it d number of
jerks, and threw it down again. The
blood was oozing from several places in
the rattler's body, which seemed to
make the eagle more excited than
ever.
The antagonists now remained some
feet apart; and seemed to be resting,
while the rattler kept up deep buzz
sing, perhaps to intimidate the bird.
The eagle next tried another plan,
wheeling around his snemy il a circle;
but the serpent was acquainted With
this dodge, and kept full in his face.
Thus foiled, the eagle began to whip
the rattler with the tips of his wings,
his head well thrown back, but the
snake lodged the blows. The eagle
then made feint, jumped to one side
and struck it a fearful blow, caught it |
by the middle and shook it until the |
snake was about to entwine itself around |
his body, when he again threw it to the |
ground. Both showed signs of great
fatigue, but neither seemed inclined to !
give way. The eagle ran around and
around his victim, in every conceivable
way, but so, far the snake td@naged to
hold him Off, until he threw back his
head and mads desperate drive. The
snake struck with all its force as the
eagle came in contact with it's head,
and, while trying to coil around his
body, was caught and carried up into
the air, where it was almost ierked in
5Wain, and when it reached the ground
again its entrails were hanging out, and
It writhed and twistea in great pain.
The proud bird stood looking On with
he victorious air of a pugilist who has
Won a world renowned battle, his head
erect and his wings resting on the
ground For the first time he cast his
arge eyes upon me, showing neither
surprise nor anger at my presence he
eemed to understand that | would not
nolest him, for he turned to the snake
md gave it another good shaking to
make sure of it's death. [ was tempted
o take him home as q trophy of the
,att1e, but his unshaken confidence in
ne unnerved my arm. When the agon-
es of death were over and his enemy
lad ceased writhing he stretched his
Wings, seized his prey where the skin
vas not broken, and with steady fight
ore it to a mountain crag, the highest
me in the neighboring mountain. AS
e slowly winged his way the huge SER
ent could be seen hanging from his
owerful claws. The fight lasted three
uarters of an hour, and had the eagle
cen less careful of his eyes and head
e could have torn the snake to atoms
a a moinent but he seemed to realize |
he danger of the poisonous nature of {
he srseke, and gained his victory by S
be exercise OF his strategic instinct
lalaerican Field.
o-Somebody has published the state !
lent in Philadelphia that If one wished ]
, have good luck in the daily transac- s
ons of life all that was necessary was {
} watch the first humpback man or |
oman who chanced to pass down the
rect and touch him Or her upon the {
ump. At first this idea was confined i
} the theatrical profession, the men, 6
ers of which are notoriously supersti-