The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1900-08-18
sOxR QUEER FIGHTS.
new an Oyster kilisd . Dask ana .
Toaa Pct snake 20
FIighL

new an 0ystsr Kiilsd . Deck y .
Toaa Put . ssske 20
FiighL
Il have witnessed some queer lights
In my time" said my friend, the nat
uralist, az he leaned back In his arm
chair In q cog cottage al Spring
Lake, "and been told Of others equal
" strange-and they were not be-
tween men or nations, either"
who were these eombatanisS'
Beasts, birds aud Ash. The domes-
tie and the wild, and very often these
two classes pitted against each 9TH
er. 1 once heard a terrible cutlery
among the geese swimming on q
pond, and on going 10 see what the
matter was behsld an immense gray
eagle which had buried his talons in
the back Of an ancient gander. The
latter was making all the noise he
could, and, on seeing me, swan d.
rectly toward one. The eagle tried
to rise with his prey. but his purchase
on the wind was not strong enough
to lift the load. When they were
within reach / seized the bird and
held his head under water until he
was drowned. The old gander then
gave q satisfactory squawk and wad-
dled on toward the barn.
"When i was . little fellow 1 was
n day fooling about . village black
smith shop, which was built OF logs-
A squeak down in n corner at
tracted the attention Of the smith
and myself. We saw . large toad
backing into the DON from under a
log. and 9 ls-inch garter snake came
with 1.-THE snake having swallowed
one of the toad's hind legs. The
blacksmith caught up . pair Of rather
warm tongs and caught the snake,
which dropped the toad with great
alacrity. We expected to see the lat
ter hop away, but instead OF doing
that he turned about, leaped into the
air and came down on the snakes
back. He bit again and again, and at
last the reptile turned tail and disap-
peared under q log, while his toadshil
sat down and blinked at us both in
satisfied and victorious content"
The speaker spun story after story
Of queer encounters he had e Oh
been told about. One Of these. sayi
the Cleveland Plain Dealer. was be
tween a bumblebee and q locust. Tn,
bee went for his enemy, which evi
IDENTIFY felt the point" Of the at
tack, and tried to get away, but tn
hot little insect was too much fo'
him. They fell to the ground to
gether, and the tussle continued 70
. few minutes, when both fell owe
- II exhausted. In q little while tn
bee revived and few away with tn
air OF one who had paid dearly 70
his Victory. The locust was left deaI
upon tho turf. There was also q hsl
which had raised q brood, which al
forded some entertainment for a col
ony Of rats installed IN the neighbor
hood. After three or four of tn
chicks had disappeared the hen be
gan to open her eyes, and, being opsr
they rested on a sleek rat that wa
edging up to 4 small fowl that wa
Inspecting Q crust Of bread. Befor
the rat knew where he was at h
found . fat and angry hen upon hi
: back, digging away with beak an
claws. A moment later he found hin
self lifted into the air, and the
chucked into the water Of q cor
venient tub and held there until b
was drowned.
, The oyster that whipped a due
was probably as greatly surprised
the outcome as was the fowl himsel
The oyster was enjoying his mea
and after the fashion of his kind ha
opened his shell until the greater POI
ton Of his body--if II can be Gale
that-was revealed to view. The due
was q diver. and when he saw a juiC
oyster open to his advances he ma,
Q jump for H. But the bivalvs Wi
!. too quick. The shell snapped togetI
er. and then came a struggle for If
The oyster was dragged from Its be
with three smaller ones clinging
It, but the bunch had weight enoul
to keep Mr.. Divers head under wat
until he was drowned.
a That's a pretty lie," was my nj
ural comment.
nj There Is no lie about II. The boz
Of the duck held the whole outfit
N and kept 1t afioat, and the duck W
" picked up by q friend Of mine VIII
the body was still warm.
&. ~ heard Of q fight between a b
,e and . hawk that showed unexpect
,e pluck. The old hen was peaceful
se scratching away with her brood, VIII
lie there was . whirr Of wings In I
n air, and Q hawk, with his wings Gle
he To his body, landed among the frigl
ened little ones. The hen laid out h
plan Of campaign and never wayer
In carrying It out. Her wings ,
tended, the feathers upon her tou
m old neck became s%-rufie, and she n
the hawk headforemost. As soon
he touched the ground she went
him. There was an exciting roul
nv and luck went with courage u
time. The hens beak entered the Z
he Of her opponent, penetrated his brl
m. and laid him hfeless at her feet.
n, measured Just four feet from tip to
AT II once saw . large spider and
small spider In pursuit Of a house,
The small q caught him and
on started for his parlor, when the
spider pounced down upon him, c
nj Jared the fly and started OF. The
lie tie n then crept up in the rear,
on the other fellow on the leg and
IA away. The big fellow began to sv
Ter up, and In less than Ave minutes '
Va dead. A hawk was seen to sw,
or down into a poultry yard. steal a !
.ke and fly TO the top Of . tree. A su
low pecked ct the hawk until he
ia 20 Of the hen, more swallows few
ng and in o few minutes they had dri'
the hawk to the ground and KILLED
act by pecking its eyes out. In a I'll
ed. between a parrot and a rat the b
Dk pecked his eyes out, killed him "
lev beak and claws and then sprang
ms TO her perch and chanted: 'Ps
are wants Q cracker"
II