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Show - v - V - j Aiv- .,. . ' . f V '.!' - y ; " - ' - ' ' ' - - ' ' ' L - , v , - ; i - i : , t f , , . - . . , ' , I , i . ' v ' - " ' f , 1 i .; ; v.,k' : " ' . , ' : ' "A 4- . '. - - - - ? t. ' - rv" - , Youth Makes Pet of Wild Golden Eagle Craig Clements with the 6-ft-wing spread Golden Eagle he found, injured, and nursed back to health. Reams of paper have been used in writing about "A Boy and His Dog," but when Craig Clemepts of Milford is the boy, the story can be about dogs, porcupines, crows, or even eagles. Craig is nursing back to health a full-grown golden eagle which he found along Minersville Creek east of Milford, Mil-ford, half-dead from starvation and exposure. The eagle had been caught by its feet in a steel trap, escaped after becoming be-coming very weak, and was "just standing in the sagebrush sage-brush looking at me," Craig said. He walked up to the -eagle which docilely allowed him to pick it up, and brought it home. After a few days in the Clements garage, eating jackrabbits, dog food and hamburger, ham-burger, the mighty eagle decided decid-ed to try its wings and with Steve Clements, Craigh's father, fath-er, watching, soared completely com-pletely out of sight. An hour later, the injured bird landed at a Main street intersection, in-tersection, was captured by City Mars mil Melvin Tait, and returned ; 5 the wildlife-loving Craig. The hi, e bird has a G foot 6V2 inch wingspread. At night it sleeps in the garage, with Craig's pet dog, a 6-month old Boxer-Pitt Bull combination, combina-tion, sleeping alongside. The eagle makes no protest when the pup sneaks a few bites of his hamburger or jackrabbit, and the two seem to enjoy each other's company. "When the eagle's strength has returned, and his wings are strong enough," Craig said, "I'll let him fly away. I'd like to keep him, but he belong on high mountain tops or soaring soar-ing around the sky." Pets that have lived at the Clements home in the past include a crow and a goose, both of which were adopted by Craig when they were injured in-jured . . .and both of whom aroused the ire of neighbors with their early-daylight honking honk-ing or caw-cawing; a porcu-pine.which porcu-pine.which Craig turned loose after neighbors with dogs complained com-plained and other homeless or injured wild creatures. Craig is a true outdoorsman, loves camping out, is a crack shot with a deer rifle and an excellent fisherman. |