CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



99 



of !|>2.r)0, be placed on them. This would 

 give trappers more inducement to rid the 

 country of this pest. I keep the doss 

 for my own protection and at no small 

 expense, but feel this the best insurance 

 my stock can have. It is sure some sport 

 to follow the dogs and at the end of from 

 thirty minutes, sometimes only ten. up to 

 two and a half hours, to find your- 



Fig. 55. Freak antlers of black-taileJ Jeer 

 killed near Mount Hamilton, September 

 10, 1918. According to law this deer was 

 unlawful game in that it lacked branched 

 antlers. Photograph by W. N. Dirks. 



self looking- up at a very nervous cat in 

 a tree. — C. H. Cooley. 



ADULT DEER WITH UNbRANCHED 

 HORNS. 



A freak deer was killed near Mount 

 Hamilton, September 10, 1917. This deer 

 was apparently an old stag and weighefl 

 close to 150 pounds. The antlers, how- 

 ever, were unbranched in spite of the fact 

 that they were much longer than any 

 normal pair (see fig. 5r>). The law defi- 

 nitely states that the killing of such deer 

 is a violation. Deer of this sort are so 

 rare that the hunter loses nothing, the 

 supply of deer is augmented, and the law 

 more easily enforced when such animals 

 are not killed. — W. N. Dirks. 



SWANS RARE THIS YEAR. 

 Proof of the oft-quoted statement that 

 swans are driven south during severe 

 weather is to be found in the lack of birds 

 of this species during the past winter, 

 which has been an unusually open one. 

 Last season a mile or two of water north- 

 west of the Marysville Buttes was cov- 

 ered with swans. This year in the same 

 place not over twenty birds have been 

 seen on this body of water. As swans 

 nearly always loaf in the same situation, 

 these birds could be expected in this local- 

 ity had they come south into California. 

 — Geo. Neale. 



UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE CO-OPERATION. 



FOREST FIRE KILLS FISH. 

 Ranger Robert Finley, who is in charge 

 of the trail crew, reports that in places 

 at the head of Arroyo Seco in the Mon- 

 terey National Forest where fires occurred 

 last summer the rains have washed so 

 much hardwood ashes into the creeks 

 that the fish have been killed. — H. G. 

 Merrill. 



ANTELOPE IN MODOC COUNTY. 



A small bunch of antelope range on 

 the plateau country north of Alturas and 

 although local opinion is much divided as 

 to their number, I have heard of but one 

 man who had seen over a dozen head. 

 This man claimed to have counted seven- 

 teen. — Wm. S. Brown. 



MOUNTAIN QUAIL SCARCE IN 

 TRINITY COUNTY. 



A general scarcity of mountain quail 

 is reported in the Trinity National For- 

 est, except at the lower elevations along 

 the Trinity River. This condition is at- 

 tributed mainly to the heavy snows of 

 the past season, which prevented them 

 from securing the usual amount of food. 

 After the storm numbers of dead birds 

 were found along the trails and roads in 

 our region. The coyote is also responsible 

 for a heavy annual loss, as it is a well- 

 established fact that great destruction, 

 especially to the young, is due to these 

 animals. — E. Y. Jotter. 



BURLINGAME 

 PUBLiC 



