Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1888-12-15
EAGLE AND RArrLesNAxs.



A Forty-Tivs Min.tsS Fight to the E1.iaA
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
the lofty pines, the watersoi
the creek alive with trout, and. far in
the distance, the head-waters Of the
Missouri winding their serpentins 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 l saw him prepare to de-
scend, and down, down he came. with
the swiftness Of q 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 hrma. when, with sud-
den swoop, he lighted upon q great
prairie rattler, about five feet long, and
battle commenced such az had never
before witnessed. ! rode slowly up to
the combatants, as near as could with
out disturbing them, and eagerly
watched the progress Of the fight. The
bird was ono Of the largest bald eagles,
and the snake was monster Of it,
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
act Of striking ut him with all its force.
Quick as thought the eagle then caught
1t In its talons, scared about ten feet In
the air, gave it furious shaking, and
lot 1t fall to the earth, where it lay
coiled in warlike attitude, rattling
and kissing in great wrath. The eagle
made 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 .
desperate effort, wound itself around
the eagles body, and it looked for .
moment IA though the powerful bird
must die. But, with a violent flap OF
his wings, he broke the deadly embrace.
caught the snake, gave 1t a 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
zing, perhaps to intimidate 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 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 fearful blow, caught II
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 tc
give way. The eagle ran around and
around his victim, in every conceivable
way. but 80 far the snake managed II
hold him off, until he threw back hi
head and made desperate drive. Thu
snake struck with all its force as tn
eagle came in contact with its head
: and, while trying to coil around hi
, body, was caught and carried up int
, he air, where it was almost jerked Il
, twain, and when it reached the grOun,
again its entrails were hanging out, an
7 1t writhed and twisted in great pain
: The proud bird stood looking on wit
' the victorious air OF a pugilist who ha
I won world renowned battle, his hea
: erect and his wings resting on tn
: ground. For the first time he cast hi
;. large eyes upon me, showing neithe
surprise nor anger at my presence; b
seemed to understand that would nj
molest him, for he turned to the snak
and gave it another good shaking
make sure of its death. was temple
to take him home as trophy OF th
DALIle, DuI ulb uHSudhcu OOuuucuCO
' me unnerved my arm. When the agor
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 a steady figh
!, , bore it to mountain crag, the highes
one in the neighboring mountain. A
he slowly winged his way the huge sci
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 moment but he seemed to realiz
the danger Of the poisonous nature Q
the snake. and gained his victory b,
the exercise of his strategic INSTINCT
american Field.