Evening star., 1949-05-11
This and That
By Charles Z. TracepeH
MOUNT HOLLY. Va.

Dear Sir:
"The Old Man, as we call him. an eagle.
has been on my place over 20 years. It was
his custom to leave each spring for about two
months but this spring he stayed just one
week and came flirting back with o mate,
and they are building O nest.
II would like to know II you could help me
contact zoo with some way Of taking these
eagles away, as I do not like looking forward
to more eagles.
II have had to take down my feeding sta
tions. They steal chickens. ducks. kittens
and my small birds.
THE Old Man is dragging @ crow today.
last week q baby goat.
Eagles are: White head. white vest. brown
wings. staccato whistle.
ANY help will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely. =. Z"
This is problem for the county game
warden.
These great birds, Americas emblem, are
vigorously protected.
They would scarcely be a subject for anna
teur trapping or handling.
Even a hawk is a fearsome figure when
trapped.
The open beak, the spread wings. even Of
a moderate-sized hawk, or one OF the larger
owls, make O truly fearsome picture.
A bald eagle, In trap. would be awesome.
Eagles along the Potomac are . common
sight.
One reader brought in an eagles egg he
had found not far from the National Capital.
Blank cartridges may be used to scare the
eagles away.
After few shots. the birds would become
very wary.
with little persistence, one could cause
them to select another site, maybe.
1t would also be necessary, Of course, to
keep small animals and birds well protected
at all times, especially after the young eagles
appear. Eagles must eat
Nests usually are put In large trees, from
20 to 80 feet above ground. Sometimes cliffs
are utilized.
The nest is coarsely built, large, made of
sticks and grasses. with small pieces Of turf.
Usually two large ivory eggs are laid, but
occasionally three.
Mr.. Eagle Is fish eater. That Is why he
prefers q river site. usually. He also takes
rabbits, mice. squirrels and snakes. Now
and then he selves q hen or lamb, but not
too often, as d rule.
The high call Of the male may be put on
paper as cac-cac-cac. The females noise is
more broken. even. somewhat resembling q
mad laugh.
Eagles usually mate for life, and use the
same nest year after year. One brood is
raised. taking about 80 days. SO our corre-
spondent need not worry over too large an
increase In the eagle population.
The young are covered with white down.
but acquire their plumage shortly. After
they leave the nest. they actually are larger
than their parents. and their coloring Is very
dark, almost black. with no white.
These large babies are 30 different from
the old folks. and with an even wider wing
spread than that Of their parents twho nor
mally boast q spread from 6la feet to ia
feet), that they are often regarded as Diff
ferent birds altogether. In the early Colo
NAL days they fooled most observers into
thinking them different species.
The opportunity Of watching eagles Is not
to be despised.
Many city bird lover would trade al his
song birds. ct least for time being. for such
q treat. There would be problems Of course.
but they could be met as they came up.
Small animals could be kept In. for the
time. and extra care could be taken TO SAFE
guard chickens. etc. Yes. 1t would be trouble.
but what In life .isnt?
The main thing would be that one would
have q grandstand seat at the life and love
OF eagles. gigantic birds. really great fellows.
after their fashion.
The ways Of IN eagle are not exactly those
OF q blue jay. song sparrow or q red bird.
No one would call him pretty" or 'cute.
He is master Of the air. though. and wen
worth watching and admiring.