Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1889-02-22
EAGLE AND RATTLESNAKE.
Forty-Five Minutes Fight to the Finish
On tho Wild Prairie.

I'm inc wiz
On beautiful September morning
vas cantering along on my pony, cross
ing a mountain divide, drinking lin the
! fresh air, admiring tho snow-capped
mountains, the lofty pines, the waters OF
| the creek alive with trout, and, far in
the distance, the 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 l 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 firma, when, with sud-
den swoop, he lighted upon a great
prairie RATHER, about five feet long, and
a battle commenced such as had never
before witnessed. / rode slowly up to
the com batants, 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 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 wGs in the
act of striking at him with all it's 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
coiled 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
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 it a number OF
jerks, and threw it down again. The
blood was oozing from several places in
the rattlcr's body, which seemed to
make the eagle more excited than
ever.
The antagonists now remained some
feet apart, and seemed to be resting,
| w h 10 ha Il 1,,1
zing, perhaps to intimidate the bird.
The eagle next tried another plan,
wheeling around his enemy in a circle
but the serpent was acquainted with
this dodge, and kept full in his face.
Thus foiled, the eagle began to whip
his head well thrown back, but the
snake lodged the blows The eagle
then made a feint, jumped to ono side
and struck it fearful blow, caught it
by the middle and shook it until the
make 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 managed to
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
he air, where it was almost jerked in
twain, and when it reached the ground
again its entrails were hanging out, and
it writhed and twisted in great pain.
The proud bird stood looking on with
the victorious air of a pugilist who has
won world renowned battle, his head
erect and his wings resting on the
ground. For the first time he cast his
large eyes upon me, showing neither
surprise nor anger at my presence; he
seemed to understand that | would not
modest him, for he turned to the snake
and gave it another good shaking to
make sure of its death. was tempted
to take him home as trophy of the
battle, but his mistaken confidence in
me unnerved my arm. When the agon-
les of death were over and his enemy
had ceased writhing he stretched his
wings, seized his prey where the skin
was not broken, and with a steady flight
bore it to a mountain crag, the highest
one in the neighboring mountain. As
he slowly winged his way the huge SER
pent could be seen hanging from his
powerful claws. The fight lasted three
quarters of an hour, and had the eagle
been less careful of his eyes and head
he could have torn the snake to atoms
in a moment but he seemed to realize
the danger of the poisonous nature OF
the snake, and gained his victory by
the exercise of his strategic instinct. =
american Field.
Red Tap in Russia.
How easy it is in Russia to get a
| IL IL.