1914 GAME AND FISHEEIES. 83 



fish was being carried on, and it required a great deal of work to detect them. 

 He is pleased to say that owing to the close watch he kept few illegal fish got 

 through to the United States. 



Deer and moose heads, which when mounted go to adorn the homes of the 

 rich in the United States, make a good trade, and it is his opinion that the pur- 

 chasers of these heads should be obliged to obtain a license for procuring them 

 from Canada. The taxidermists who are in this trade reap a bountiful harvest 

 all the year round. He also found during the deer season that the deer shot were 

 extra large and the sportsmen came home well satisfied. 



Purs. — He seized a lot of furs shipped in the close season; he was on the look 

 out for these as he knew there were law-breakers in the back woods. He also had 

 some trouble with the Toronto fur dealers in the way they shipped their furs. 



The industry of fur farming is in its infancy here, but is carried on with 

 great profit in Prince Edward Island, particularly the fox; he would advise the 

 Department to pay particular attention to this business. 



As far as he can tell there is a great quantity of fur in the Counties of Went- 

 worth and Haiton; the number of muskrats, mink, coon, skunk and foxes is sur- 

 prising. The trappers do their best to clean them up, but the next year they are as 

 plentiful as ever. The ground hog is not so useless an animal as it appears to be. 

 He digs a hole in the hill side and banks himself in for the winter, while the 

 skunk comes and occupies the outer portion of the hole and makes it his home 

 for the winter. Coons are also taking to the ground as the forest disappears. 



Pishing. — Pishing by licensed fishermen has not been up to the average, buc 

 it is hoped that by the close of the year their catch will have improved. He is 

 very strongly opposed to the extension of the open season for whitefish. 



Angling in Burlington Bay during the year was fair, and some fine black 

 bass were caught at the Beach Canal Piers and in other parts of the bay by 

 those who are skilled in the art of catching black bass. T rollers for pike did 

 fairly well, and considering that Hamilton has a population of 100,000, and so 

 much dredging and other work being carried on, the bay is doing splendidly. Carp 

 fishers have done well, about 50 tons of carp being taken out of the west end 

 of the bay and Dundas Marsh. 



Pines, Seizures, and Forfeitures. — Illegal netting in Burlington Bay is a 

 thing of the past, only one man, a foreigner, using an umbrella net, was fined $5. 



He made a great many seizures, and, in spite of the careful investigations 

 which are always made by him at his point, and by the Department whenever reports 

 of illegal work reached them, there have been a great number of infractions of 

 the law. 



Duck Shooting in Burlington Bay. — Burlington Bay can give good sport to 

 those who do not wish to go further afield for good shooting grounds, and who have 

 time to go to the east end of the bay. If the so-called screening were not allowed, 

 and the decoy limit made to be 50 yards from the shore, then the genuine sports- 

 man would stand on equal terms and not be monopolized by the screener. The 

 shooters are getting to be too many for the bay, and on holidays every place of 

 vantage on the beach is taken up the night before, so that it is plainly seen that 

 this sport is appreciated by young and old, and they all seem to enjoy- sleeping 

 out in their boats all night in order to secure their position. 



The early fall duck was not so plentiful in the marshes this year, but they 

 are coming in by hundreds now, and the shooting promises to be very good, if it 

 is not spoilt by the screeners. 



