River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-02-09

An Eagle Attacks a Mountain sheep an
Gets the Worst OF It.

An Eagle Attacks Mountain sheep ana
Gets the Worst of It.
A party of hunters in Kings river
canyon last week saw a struggle be-
tween an eagle and mountain sheep.
and the eagle got the worst of il. The
sheep escaped with the loss of a small
quantity of wool and a few scratches.
II man had escaped from the same
position in the same manner he would
most likely have considered that
miracle had happened.
The hunters saw the sheep In a pisoe
on the rocks that he could not leave.
He had come down the mountain side
but did not seem able to get mp again,
and each moment seemed as if he
would fall from the ragged rocks to
the depth below.
He was about five hundred feet above
the bottom Of the valley. and the hun
tiers speculated as to the means he
would take to get out of his fix.
1t was plain he could not jump TO the
top and there was no visible means of
his getting back to the grass-covered
hills he had left at the top.
The sheep realized his position and
looked in every direction for means
of escape. Not finding one he would
jump a little lower until he was on a
rocky hillside so steep that his hind
legs were on level with his head At
last he got to a small place where he
could not turn around and spent sew
eral minutes jumping from one side to
the other as if making up his mind to
jump to the bottom.
There was only one course left and
he sprang to pinnacle OF rock about
twenty feet below.
Now he was in fix. The top of the
rock was not more than FIVE or six feet
square. and on one side was a wall of
rock impossible to ascend without
wing and on the other side the cliff
went straight down to the valley five
hundred feet below.
He was in position where il seemed
as If he would have to commit suicide
by jumping or starving to death. The
hunters expected every m6ment to see
the sheep dashed to death at the bot
tom of the cliff. and in hopes of wit
Messing the plunge refrained from
shooting him.
But while they were waiting another
actor appeared on the scene and things
became interesting.
The new arrival was large eagle
that saw at once the predicament of
the sheep. 1t seemed good chance to
get a meal by beating the sheep from
the rock and eating it when it was
mangled at the bottom.
The sheep realized its danger and
braced itself for the attack.
The eagle circled around faster and
faster, and at last dashed itself against
the sheep. but not hard enough to
knock it off. 1t made several attempts.
and the sheep was getting weak.
AS it failed to dislodge the sheep by
front attack, the eagle decided to
make one in the rear. The sheep very
nearly went over. and the eagle seemed
to know that method of proceeding was
the better 1t repeated the attack very
fiercely, but in some manner got its
head under the animals horn and could
not get it out again. The sheep. seeing
his advantage. held his head back while
the eagle clawed furiously ami beat the
air with its wings.
Soon both rolled from the cliff, but
the eagle tapped its wings with ter
rible power and the descend was very
slow.
The bottom was almost reached when
the eagle caught in the branches of a
pine tree, and for a moment both hung
in the air few feet above ths earth.
But the eagle was quiet, as its neck
had been broken.
The sheep seemed very weak for some
time. but at last gave few kicks and
fell to the ground, leaving its assailant
hanging to the tree.
The eagle was dead, but the sheep,
after shaking itself to make sure it was
all right, began to nibble the grass at
its feet.--San Francisco Call