Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!nmt.edu!john
From: john@nmt.edu (John Shipman)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Golden Eagles & Sheep
Message-ID: <1990Sep18.193319.1972@nmt.edu>
Date: 18 Sep 90 19:33:19 GMT
References: <1990Sep14.140204.26186@zoo.toronto.edu> <1990Sep18.161125.18761@midway.uchicago.edu>
Organization: Zoological Data Processing
Lines: 25

Robert S. Lewis, Jr. (bob@delphi.UUCP) writes:
+--
| I read somewhere that in Russia noblemen used to hunt
| wolves with golden eagles.  Anyone know if this is true?
| I imagine a full-grown wolf is as difficult to kill as a
| sheep....
+--

I don't know about Russian noblemen, but the Mongols used to
train golden eagles specifically to kill wolves from
horseback.  They used a special perch that attached to their
saddles and propped up their arms---this took the bird's
weight off the rider's arm (try holding a 25-pound weight
with your arm straight out for a few hours!).  It also
allowed the rider to catapult-launch the eagle by swinging
their arm forward, helping the eagle to get to flight speed
quickly.

Based on what I've heard, the eagles were pretty successful
at killing wolves.  The eagle would plant its feet on the
wolf's neck and break its spine.  The legs and feet of
eagles are quite strong.
-- 
John Shipman/Zoological Data Processing/Socorro, NM/john@jupiter.nmt.edu
``Let's go outside and commiserate with nature.''  --Dave Farber