Shortly after dawn on March 8, a Polson-area homeowner glanced out his window and noticed a group of crows pecking at what appeared to be a pair of dead bald eagles in his yard.

After arriving at the scene, biologist Steph Gillin discovered that the birds were alive, but locked together head-to-toe — each eagle’s talons piercing deep into the other’s face.

“When we got to them, it was unreal,” said Gillin, a wildlife biologist for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. “We deal with bald eagles quite often, but generally they’re injured and don’t have a lot of fight. ... They were still pretty feisty.”

Like other birds of prey, bald eagles are aggressive, territorial animals. Gillin guessed that given the ongoing nesting season, the raptors were likely sparring over territory or food. And when they become stressed, she added, their tendency is to squeeze tighter.

“There was no way to separate them without clipping [their talons],” she said. “At first I tried to pry them out, and there was no way. They were both so stubborn and so locked in place that they were not letting loose. I ended up having to clip three total.”

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The label hints at the Montana heritage that’s part of Chuck and James brand granola.

Chuck and James granola is named for Jody Kappel’s grand-uncle Chuck and grandfather James. A 1913 photo of them as farm boys in overalls and straw hats is on every label.

“I remember going into their mother’s pantry. It was so beautiful, with dried fruit in jars and the smells,” he said. “I liked the photo, and it reminds me of something lasting and good. They were two smart kids who made it. They deserve to be statewide icons.”

The pair ranched nine miles west of Sidney, even cowboying with artist C.M. Russell on a ranch outside Terry. Chuck lived long enough to see himself on the label.

“Maybe I would have given up years ago if clip art was on the label, but with their photo I don’t give up,” he said.

Kappel started selling his granola in 2001, with the Good Earth Market of Billings one of his first accounts.

Kappel has six flavors he sells, with pecan blueberry his most popular. Oddly, the size of the container seems to change which flavor customers are most likely to buy. He has five or six more flavors he’d like to produce, too, but he’s found adding flavors is challenging.

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