132 YEARBOOK, PUBLIC MUSEUM^ MILWAUKEE [Vol. II. 



and squealed and struggled in the short grass, rolling into the lake, 

 continuing the fight there under water or on top, and coming out on 

 shore again. Finally one had enough and ran, the other after him with 

 long looping jumps. None of us had ever before seen two wild, shy 

 animals like the mink, fight, and probably never will again. We were 

 all so surprised that kodaks twenty feet away were forgotten. 



From Prairie du Sac, we collected in Dane and Columbia counties, 

 making a trip to and upon Gibraltar Rock. At the base of Gibraltar 

 Rock was a five-acre field of wild bee balm (Monarda punctata). We 

 were pretty sure it was naturally seeded as there was no sign of culti- 

 vation. Yet in an adjoining field there were several acres of Russian 

 sunflower cultivated for silage. The view from Gibraltar is command- 

 ing. Lake Wisconsin, formed by damming the Wisconsin river at Prai- 

 rie du Sac, is in the foreground and the Baraboo bluffs are in the back- 

 ground. The steep bluff sides were covered with vegetation and even 

 the rocks harbored ferns. 



We cannot claim to have explored the Baraboo Bluffs well, though 

 w^e spent three days upon them. There is a large amount of wild 

 country there, where fences have never been built. Deer trails were as 

 well worn as cow paths, and the deer were almost as plentiful, for the 

 season has been closed in Sauk county for many years. One farmer, 

 on the edge of the bluff, had a twenty-acre corn crop harvested for him 

 by the deer. Baxter's Hollow was one of the rough wild spots near 

 Ed Ochsner's bee yard. The little stream running down the hollow 

 was full of trout. We saw more than, fifty in a wide pool, ranging 

 from eight to eighteen inches long. But when you can see them, or 

 rather when they can see you, there is no use wetting a line. The flora 

 of the Hollow is very interesting. While it was a dry August outside 

 on the prairie, it was moist enough in the Hollow and orchids and eri- 

 caceous plants flourished. We saw quantities of Indian Pipe or Corpse 

 Plant standing twelve to sixteen inches tall. One could easily get lost 

 up in Baxter's Hollow. 



The prairie flora was equally interesting, for we had a chance to 

 see a sand prairie that had not been cultivated for thirty-five years, only 

 a short distance back of Prairie du Sac. The sedges and grasses of 

 this prairie were the interesting features of the place, although there 

 were some odd-looking goldenrods. Not far back from the prairie, 

 was a rocky ridge where quite a colony of native cactus grew (Opuntia 

 polyacantha). And around the buffalo-grass and rocks we found one 

 large bull snake. Doubtless there were also rattlers. 



