The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-11-13
EAGLES WHIP A BEAR.
Novel Fight Over the Possession OF .
Piece of Sturgeon.

Novel Fight Over the Possession OF .
Piece Of Sturgeon.
A fight to a finish between pair
of eagles and bear few persons have
seen, and the sportiest sport on the
turf would hardly know on which to
bet in such a combat. Hans Larsen,
Norwegian fisherman, who has
been fishing for salmon in the Colum-
bia near Eagle Cliff this season, saw
a desperate fight between two fine
bald eagles that had their nest not
far from his camp and half-grown
bear. The eagles won.
A huge sturgeon had been washed
up on the river bank, and the eagles
were using it to feed theiryoung. One
morning the eagles were serving
breakfast to their young, and one Of
them had flown up to the nest with
lot of pieces of sturgeon and the other
was tearing away at the huge fish,
when the bear came crashing through
the brush to find the sturgeon he had
scented. Bruin walked straight up
to the fish. But the eagle was not
scared and he tapped his wings and
stood on the defensive
Big, fat sturgeon do not come ashore
along the Columbia so frequently as
they used to, and the carcass Of this
one was a prize, and 1t rightfully be-
longed to the eagles as the original
discoverers. The bear paused mo-
ment and then rushed mt the eagle,
which gracefully eluded him. and,
soaring a short distance in the air,
screamed bloody murder as a signal
to his mate. She came swooping
down from the nest and Joined forces
with her mate in an attack on the
bear, which was so busy tearing the
sturgeon that he paid no attention to
the royal birds till they landed like
thunderbolts on his neck and rump
and sank their talons in his flesh.
The talons of the full-grown eagle
are not to be sneezed at even by a
bear, and the howl Of rage bruin let
out showed that he had been both
panied and hurt. He reared up on
his launches and clawed savagely at
the birds, which whirled agilely about
him. One would make a dash at his
face and eyes and the other would
hit him in the back of the neck like
catapault. For ten minutes or so the
bear stood up to the "scratch,"' and
when he had scratching enough he
began to show signs Of wanting to
get away. He did not exactly show
the white feather, for the eagles had
all the white feathers, but he began
edging of toward the brush, which
was fifty feet distant.
AS soon as he was on all fours the
eagles were on him, and he would
have to get on his launches to use his
paws effectively. The blood was
streaming down his face and showed
in spots all over his glossy hide, but
the great object Of the eagles ap-
peared to be to get at bruins eyes,
and he seemed to be aware OF this,
and was very anxious to get under
the protection of the brush. The
eagles were evidently Just as anxious
to prevent this. When bruin turned
his head toward the bushes they
would plump down on his head and
try to sink their talons in his eyes,
or to dig them out with their sharp
beak and drum his ears with their
strong pinions until the poor bear did
not know "where he was at"
All this time Larsen was sitting
quietly in his boat watching what he
says was the most savage and enter
tanning fight he had ever seen. 1t
was, he judges, nearly half an hour
from the time the bear came out Of
the brush till he was able to drag him
self back under it's friendly cover,
where the eagles could not get at him,
and he was the most dilapidated
looking bear imaginable. The eagles
flew up on a tree and smoothed their
rufied plumage and congratulated
each other on the outcome Of the
struggle. Then, as their eaglets were
sQuawking for more breakfast, they
resumed their work Of carving and
serving their sturgeon, and until it
was all used up, which took several
days, no animal offered to approach
it, in the daytime at least.-Portland
Morning Oregonian.