San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-07-23
AN EAGLE THAT MADE A DESPERATE
FIGHT FOR LIBERTY.
Trapped, Shot, Bound and Blinded, the
Bird Held the Field-Fight Enough for
Farmer Williams, and He Was Glad to

"If any person who doubted that wounded
eagle was desperate customer for man to
tacke," said Lewis Williams, of Berks coun.
ty, Pa, could have witnessed an encounter
| that | had with one once on the Blue Noun
tain, in Tulpehocken township, he would
| have had his doubts removed in short order
| had been losing good many chickens one
fall, and supposing that they were being car
ried off by foxes l set trap for Reynard.
The morning after setting the trap | went
out to look for it, and it was nowhere to be
seen. IL had been chained to a small stake
/ in the ground, and the stake was also missing.
FIRST ROUND FOR THE BIRD.
AS | was returning home | heard great
eommOtiOn among big flock of crows in
the woods quarter of a mile up the noun
tain. The crows were cawing in such furi-
Gus chorus that their cries could have been
heard for a mile. The birds were circliRg
round the tree tops in one particular spot,
and frequently number of them would
dart viciousIy down through the trees toward
the ground. | was curious to know what
could he causing this unusual proceeding
among the crows, for they are birds that dc
not fool their time away for nothing |
walked up the mountain, and as approached
the spot where the crows circus was going
on, the tumult among the crows increased.
Whom | arrived within easy gunShot of the
spot tho flock withdrew to more distant
part of the woods, but kept up their hubbuE
and jawed and chartered in a way that left
no doubt of their having been intensely dis.
turbed by some unpleasant experience.
Il walked on, and had taken but few
steps when | heard a sound as of a chain be-
ing dragged along on the ground, and in
stantly concluded that it was the chain of my
missing trap. | momentarily expected to see
the fox, hampered by the trap on his leg,
come into slght, believing that he had been
attacked by the crows who had discovered
him in his crippled condition. Imagine my
surprise then when, instead of the fox making
his appearance an enormous bald eagle strut
ted out from behind big tree, dragging the
trap, chain and stake The jaws of the trap
were fastened on one leg of the great bird
Il had with me an ordinary shotgun, with
which | had expected to kill the fox if found
it in my trap. When the eagle,saw me it rose
with great difficulty from the ground, owing
to the burden on the leg and flew toward the
top of tall, dead tree. | fired at it. The |
charge hit tie eagle in one of its wings and
brought the bird to the ground. The eagle |
was such splendid specimen that | resolved
to capture it alive. approached it with no
thought of having any difficulty in accom-
plishing my purpose in the handicapped and |
crippled condition of the bird, but | found !
that | didn't know as much about bald eagles |
as | thought did, for in spite of the crippled |
wing and the burden of the trap and chain, |
the Gag le rushed upon ME and attacked me |
with such fury that | turned and fed from |
the woods |
AT the edge of the woods stopped, and at |
first thought would go back and shoot the |
eagle, but my desire to have it alive was sc
strong that | determined to make every effort |
to capture it. | hurried home and got stout |
rope and on empty feed bag.
"A LITTLE DIsFIGURED, BUT"-
THE eagle no sooner saw me again than he |
rushed toward me with all the force at his |
command hampered and crippled as he was
and forced the fighting at once. | had made |
a moose in one end of my rope. AS the eagle |
came tearing toward me, his sound wing |
raised several inches from his side, the |
wounded one dragging helpless and bleeding |
on the ground, his powerful hooked beak |
thrown open, the feathers on his neck brist |
ling like the hair on an angry buck, and the |
chain clanking as he dragged the heavy traE |
on his leg, he was a startling picture of IN |
tense hate and unbounded fury | had never |
faced so fierce a presence, nor could have |
imagined one.
II knew that by the plan had formed for !
capturing the eagle could quickly over |
power him if could manage it successfully; |
80 | stood my ground, and when the immense |
bird was almost near enough to me to strike |
me with his beali, | quickly tossed the moose
II biS
and drew it close by sudden and strong
jerk. | then ran to one side and tied the other |
end of the rope to "a Saplng The eagle was
now shorm of the great help of its once power
full wing, as it had been Of the use of one of
its enormous talous by the trap. Yet ii
puHed the rope taut and shook the sapling
from root to top il bis efforts to get at Inc.
AS he thus strained at the rope | succeeded
in slipping the feed box down over his head,
and then clasped the eagle around the body,
s.IppOSing that he was now CT my mercy.
But although blinded, piuioned and doubly
crippled, the eag !e T>S st!h unconquered. Az
| stood clasping the Sve%t bird, endeavoring
to secure the mouth Of the bag about his le.ss,
he suddenly threw himself against me. He
sprang clear off the ground, and striking Inc
in the breast with his one free talon, with a
fierce downward stroke, ripped my clothing
from me, and made two deep burrows in my
<esh clear to the waist. The blood streamed
from the wound, and suppoSng that | was
badly hurt, | hurried home as fast as could |
90 The eagle was trapped, shot, bound and
encased in a bag, and still he held the field
"On reaching home found thatmy wound
was bad enough, but nothing to be fright
ened about, but it put me out of the notion
IF f,,t bat vii I