spasmodic in this area and may vary 

 considerably under cliangino; local 

 conditions. Comparison of the sit- 

 uation in the Texas area with tliat 

 in the Colorado-Wyoming area (p. 

 •27) appears to indicate tliat the 

 prc^blem is local in nature and one 

 to be handled locally as it occurs. 



Cattle. — There are occasional rec- 

 ords of the golden eagle killing 

 calves. Most of the cattle ranchers 

 interviewed during this study felt 

 that such occurrences either were so 

 rare that they did not warrant eagle 

 control, or the losses were out- 

 weighed by tlie good done by the 

 s[)('cies. As with the sheepmen, the 

 cattlemen's primary interest is gov- 

 erned by economics. One example 

 of this attitude encountered near 

 Middlewater in the Texas Panhan- 

 dle should suffice. When ques- 

 tioned concerning the activities of 

 a certain pair of eagles nesting near 

 a cattle watering trough, the ranch 

 foreman stated : 



The birds have been there for 5 or 6 

 yeai's. Year before last I destroyed their 

 eggs in an effort to discourage them, but 

 last year I let them raise young so I 

 could see for myself what they were do- 

 ing. During the season every time I 

 checked the nest there were rabbit feet 

 imder it. In all, I would say they had a 

 barrel full. I did not find any parts of 

 antelope even though I was looking for 

 them. I have heard that sometimes they 

 eat calves, but now I am beginning to 

 wonder if perhaps they do me more good 

 tban harm. 



Xear (he j)lain of San Augustine, 

 Catron County, N. Mex., E. A. (lold- 

 man (field notes. United States Bi- 



ological Survey) wrote in 1909, 

 ''Some cattlemen believe that eagles 

 kill small calves. Several told me 

 they had seen them eating carcasses 

 but none had seen an eagle kill a 

 calf." E. G. Pope (field notes, 

 United States Biological Survey) 

 in 1905 reported that one of his as- 

 sistants in the moimtains near Ala- 

 mogordo, N. Mex., was attracted by 

 the frantic bleating of a young calf 

 which was being fiercely attacked by 

 a large eagle. The eagle was shot. 



D. T. AVood (1940) writes of an 

 experienced cattleman from the 

 Lompoc area, Calif., who observed 

 an eagle perched on a newborn calf 

 estimated to weigh about 25 pounds. 

 When the observer arrived at the 

 spot, he found the calf near death 

 and bleeding considerably about the 

 back and head. 



Owen W. Morris, United States 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, reported 

 an incident in which an adult cow, 

 attacked by an eagle, lost its footing 

 on an ic}^ incline above a high ledge 

 and plunged to its death. Shortly 

 after, the eagle commenced to feed 

 on the cow. 



Such is the nature of the general 

 evidence concerning the effect of the 

 golden eagle on cattle. The signifi- 

 cant fact is that in the average cat- 

 tleman's analysis of the situation 

 the bird is considered at least a neu- 

 tral if not a beneficial wildlife spe- 

 cies. AVith respect to the survival 

 of the golden eagle this is signifi- 

 cant, as the bird is afforded relative 

 security on many of the large cattle 

 ranches. 



30 



