The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1888-12-07
EAGLE AND RATrLssNAKe.
A Forty-Five Minutes Fight TO the Finish
On the Wild Prairie.

On the Wild Prairie.
On 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, tie head-waters of the
Missouri winding their serpentine way
through the valley. On every side the
beauty of the scene was augmented by
herds OF deer and antelope. which dot
ted the land in the distance, but the
stiffness was suddenly broken by the
shrill scream 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 pinions and
eased himself down until he had nearly
reached terra frma, when, with sud
den swoop, he lighted upon a grea,
prairie rattler. about five feet long, and
battle commenced such as had never
before witnessed rode slowly up To
the cornbatants, as near as ! could with
out disturbing them. and eagerly
watched the progress of the fight. The
bird was one of the largest bald eagles.
and the snake was a monster of its
kind. being three inches in diameter.
The eagle, with its crest thrown back.
ran up to the snake and gave it blow
over the head with its wings that COM
pletely stunned it. just as it was in the
of %, a. al
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
coiled in u wnrlike attitude, rattlin2
and kissing in great wrath. The eagle
made second attack in the same man.
1er as before, but the snake watched its
chance this time, and when the eagle
was close enough thrus, its head be-
tween his head and wing. and, with a
desperate effort. wound itself around
the eagles body. and it looked for a
moment as though the powerful bird
must die. But. with a violent flap OF
his wings. he broke the deadly embrace.
caught the snake. gave il 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
'eet apart, and seemed to be- resting,
while the lattler kept up deep buz-
zing, perhaps to iI.tinidate the bird
The eagle next tried another plan.
wheeling around his enemy in circle
but the serpent was acquainted with
this dodge. and kept full in his face.
Thus foiled. the eagle began to whip
the RATHER with the tips of his wings.
his head well thrown back, but the
snake lodged the blows. The eagle
then made feint, jumped to ono side
and struck it fearful blow, caught ii
by the middle and shook 1t 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
waE. but so far the snake managed tc
hold him off, until he threw back his
head and made desperate drive. The
snake struck with all its force as the
eagle came in contact with its head.
and, while trying to coil around his
body, was caught and carried up into
me air, where 1t was almost jerked ir
twain. and when it reached the ground
again its entrails were hanging out, ant
it writhed and twisted in great pain
The proud bird stood looking on witt
the victorious air of a pugilist who ha:
won a world renowned battle, his heaC
erect and his wings resting on tbs
ground. For the first time he cast his
large eyes upon me, showing neithei
surprise nor anger at my presence; h,
seemed to understand that would no
modest him, for he turned to the snak,
and gave it another good shaking t,
make sure of its death. ] was temptei
| to take him home as a trophy of tn,
| battle, but his unshakeu confidence il
me unnerved my arm. When the agon
les of death were over and his enem.
had ceased writhing he stretched HI!
| wings, seized his prey where the ski
was not broken, and with steady figh
bore 1t to mountain crag, the highes
| one in the neighboring mountain. A.
/ he slowly winged his way the huge ser
| pent could be seen hanging from hi
| powerful claws. The fight lasted three
| quarters of an hour. and had the eagl,
/ been less careful OF his eyes and hea,
he could have torn the snake to atom
| in a moment but he seemed to realiz'
the danger of the poisonous nature o
the snake, and gained his victory b!
the exercise of his strategic instinct
/ A711ga.icnE Field