FOREST AND STREAM, 
21 
White s, his traps not having arrived ho walked to the 
river and explored, found a good deal of old “sign 11 of 
beaver, but nothing -my ficsh; very little show of otter, 
no sign of mink, and not a great deal of muskrat. The 
letter continues:— 
"The next evening by sapper lime we had set a number of Newhouso T s 
beBl. No, 3 for beaver, and a few No. 1 for mink or coon. Early morn¬ 
ing found us at our traps, but nothing had disturbed them. The river 
is quite shallow, as we could cross it most anywhere with our gum wa* 
ding-boots, and tlie banks rather low and covered mostly with bushes 
and briars, make it rather difficult trapping for beaver. We had care¬ 
fully eel; a few more of our traps, when we suddenly came on a stake, 
to which was attached a long, rather heavy galvauized chain and huge 
No. 4 trap. We le(£ it as we found it, and continued ou up the river, 
setting u* few more m. what we thought good localities. Meanwhile, 
making close observations, we discovered five or six more huge Lraps, 
evldeurly set by inexperienced beaver trappers, judging from the way 
they were slaked and style of chains used to fasten them with. One of 
the trapaof extra large proportions we.noticed was attached to a heavy 
trace chain about three and a half feet long, not one of them being 
chained by a geuuiue Nowbousc double-linked chain. Next morning 
we visited llm traps, but ouly found a muskrat or two and a rabbit’s leg. 
Learning from a farmer on the opposite side of the river that there had 
been two or three trappers from Northern New York up and down the 
river for three wS'eks, and in reply to our question as to how many bea¬ 
ver and otter they had canght, he said they had caught five or six beaver, 
an otter or two and several mink, besides legging six or oight beavers and 
ap otter or two—t. taking their legs off, or feet, by allowing them to 
get the trap taugled in brush or small trees. From this we felt satisfied 
that what few beaver there were remaining in the Little Nottoway were 
too well frightened to do much more with this winter, and further, vve 
did not wish to trap on ground previously occupied by others. Had we 
felt like turning back and gone further below into Brunswick or South¬ 
ampton counties, we might have had better success; but having got on 
the extreme western limit of the reputed beaver country, and having 
some acquaintances near Lynchburg, we decided toproceed, u»«ke a visit 
to our friends, and return home, hopiug to have some more J'avorable 
reports from some others of the craft through your valuable columns. 
Tyiuax. 
SOMETHING ABOUT SKUNKS. 
Weston, Yt., January 29th, 1876. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
1 am often asked by friendB and brother trappers how I manage to rid* 
my fox traps of skunks without being defiled by their odor. For the 
benefit of the uninitiated I will state that if there are any skunks living in 
the vicinity where fox traps are set they are sure to be taken, an 1 till all 
are thus disposed of there is little chance of capturing foxes. When 
there is reason to suppose the presence of many skunks, it is best to set 
the traps early, in order to get them out of the way at once; setting in a 
manner not to take the fox—that is, less skillfully. To the fox trapper 
this animal is a pest and annoyance, for where the trap ia made fast—as 
in lirl. trapping is desirable—be will in a brier time with teeth and 
daws greatly impair, if not wholly ruin a good setting-place. Some¬ 
times he freOvS himself by selr-amputatlon; in such case it Is good rid¬ 
dance. They seldom get in a second time, as in their weak and mutil¬ 
ated condition they fuLl on easy prey to the fox, who is .fond of their 
flesh; so much so Lbat he will sometimes gnaw off the leg by which the 
skunk is held in the trap, and carry off his booty to be oaten ut Ins lei¬ 
sure. Truppers cognizant of the above trait do not fall to use skunk’s 
flesh for bait. Sometimes he is fuuud asleep after a night of ceaseless 
foil to got free, when, if in good position, he may be carefully ap¬ 
proached from the leeward, and by stepping upon his tail, at the same 
time dealing k smart blow upon the head with a club, hb is easily and 
safely dispatched. But this seldom occurs, and the attempt to dispatch 
him when on the alert with clubs or stones, is to risk and often receive 
defilement. Firearms are out of the question, as a good trapper is 
eharry of their Use on his ranee. 
My favorite method of dealing with themisas follows: With a tough 
annealed No. 15 or 10 iron wire I form a slip nooso about five inches in 
diameter on one end, and a standing loop of iwo inches on the other, 
and a space of five inches between. The loop is attached to the small¬ 
er end of a light, stiff pole of eight or ten feet In length. WiLh this 
firmly grasped in both hands I slowly and carefully approach, and slip 
the nose over his head, and with a quick jerk backward* and upwards 
lift him as high as the chain of the trap will allow, and thus hold him 
until he is strangled. The butt ena of the pole may be brought to the 
ground and there held by a foot, the hands moved farther in advance for 
greater ease. When taken by a hind leg I at once lower the trap to the 
ground and release the same with one foot pressed upon the spring; the 
pole may then be set in a secure position against a rock or other sup 
port while the trap is being reset. If the jerk upward hue not been 
adroitly made, the wire may not draw as tight as it ought, in which 
case a discharge of the pungent odor will usually follow; but in this 
perpendicnlar position the discharge descends directly downwards, to 
that if the attack has been made from the windward, as it ought, there 
is no danger. 
The approach is sometimes resented at first, but the gradual arching 
of the tall gives timely warning, and a careful retreat is necessary for a 
moment. The seconder third attempt is successful. The animal by 
that time recovers from the alarm, and at most will merely sniff the air 
in your direction. With this device I have destroyed many hundred 
during the past thirty years, and do not recollect an instance whore 1 
bore any of the odor about me, except I had inadvertently trod npon 
dirt that was defiled, and now offer it for the consideration of brother 
trappers. _ C. L. Whitman, 
|$he fennel. 
POINTING AND SETTING. 
W E are in receipt of the following question from our 
correspondent, D. S.. T., of Toledo, Iowa:— 
“What i3 the cause of a bird dog’s setting or pointing? 
A gentleman of this place says that it is ibe result of 
the dog's cowardice—that he is afraid in the first place to 
jump at the birds after stealing upon them, and that it is 
ibis peculiarity which makes them so valuable to hunters. 
Please unload wisdom on the subject.” 
The pause, point, or set, of the pointer or setter, is evi¬ 
dently not caused by fear, but for the purpose of steadying 
himself in order to ascertain by his wonderful powers of 
scent, the exact spot where the game lies, so that he may 
surely pounce upon it. 
It is no unusual thing for cats to hunt, point, and catch 
birds, but we know that they', in their efforts, are guided 
more by sight than by scent. The wolf also has the same 
propensity lo poiut before pouncing upon game, an in¬ 
stance of which we had an excellent opportunity of wit¬ 
nessing, while On a shooling trip to Floyd county, Iowa, 
about four years ago, with Messrs. J. J. Seilzinger, of 
Philadelphia, Tlieo. Morford, of Newton, N. J.,and J, T. 
Ross, of Milwaukee. One day while shooting on the south 
side of a roll of the prairie, our setter Clyde came to a 
point. We put up the birdsr-a pack of about twenty 
grouse, at two of which wc omptied our gun.. The birds 
passing over the ridge were lost lo our view, but Mr. Ful¬ 
ler, our teamster, being in the wagon oq the rising ground, 
we bailed him lo "mark" down the birds, which he did, 
and just as we re-loaded and secured the pair of birds we 
bad killed, Mr. Fuller cried out lo us that a large gray 
wolf was after the birds, whereupon we hastened to get 
up in 11% wagon to see the performance. The grouse had 
settled about threo hundred" yards from ns, and the wolf 
had evidently marked them down to a dot, and he was 
cautiously approaching to windward—beating the ground 
with the regularity of a welt-trained setter or pointer, mov¬ 
ing near the ground, and with great caution. As he struck 
the scent of a bird, he made a distinct point, head and 
neck distended, tail as straight as a spike, and in all re¬ 
spects, at that distance, with the exception of the ears, re¬ 
sembled many setters we have shot over. But he only 
held his point about ten or fifteen seconds when he made a 
lunge for the bird, which be missed, apparently by a hairs 
breadth, and the instant he found he had missed his mark 
he arose upon his haunches aud watched the flight of the 
bird and marked it down. He then re loaded, Oh not be 
had no gun, but be commenced beating the ground care¬ 
fully, and soon came to another point, and after standing 
a short time pounced in lo catch the bird, but with the 
same ill-success. After seeing him make several such ef¬ 
forts, we concluded that with Clyde and ouv Tolley breech¬ 
loader we could make a better bag of game than be- any 
day, so jumping from the wagon we made “a break” for 
that happy hunting ground without much respect for his 
wolfship, who, as soon as he found we were approaching, 
sneaked oil with a cat like motion, and managed to keep 
about the same distance from us; and in order to graduate 
a ‘‘healthy” distance lie would slip to a roll iu the prairie 
and rise upon his haunches for au observation, and finally 
disappeared in the hazel brush. "Who would say that a 
wolf would point from fear. Wc do not believe that by a 
prairie chicken he would “scare worth a cent.” 
The Kennei, Register. —As we go lo press pedigrees 
for registration are couiiug in in numbers, but the lateness 
of the hour will prevent us from publishing the list until 
next week. We are receiving many letters approving 
of the plan, and it is also heartily endorsed by our sport¬ 
ing contemporaries. 
Mr. Kendall’s Frank. — During a flyiug visit to Bing¬ 
hamton the early part of the week, we bad the pleasure of 
meeting many of the Bportsmen of Brootne county, among 
them Mr. Geo. W. Kendall, whose dog Frank, is the cham¬ 
pion of the county in the field. Frank is a fine specimen of 
the red aud whiteTrish setter, capital in color, and showing 
unmistakable signs of bleeding. lie is one of those dogs 
rarely met with, thoroughly broken on ruffed grouse, at 
which his owner thinks be baa no equal. Frank was bred 
in Worcester, Muss., 1mm a well-known strain, and is five 
years old. 
-- -- 
Mu. Arnold Buuuas’ Book. — We have received from 
Morsrs. J. B. Ford & Go., the publishers, the advance 
sheets of Mr. Burges’ hook, "The American Kennel and 
Sporting Field," hut have not this week either time or 
space to devote to such a criticism as the work is entitled' 
‘to receive. 
—A correspondent writes: “Who had the best kennel of 
good, stout, old-fashioned pointers—small size—at Chicago? 
I am growing old aud begin Lo lean in the direction of a 
pointer pup. 1 think 1 can break one more dog.” Lilly, 
belonging to Mr. Wheatley, of Memphis, although only 
awarded third prize, was to our eyes the best representative 
in the small pointer class. Lilly, who subsequently was 
placed first at Detroit, is to be mated with Mr. Steel’s 
Flake, litter brother to Dr. Webb’s Whisky. This cross 
with the celebrated Flash and Juno strain (the former, Dr. 
Stracban’s dog, by Sir Frederick Bruce's George out of 
old Peg,) should result in some capital stock. 
—Mr. Chas. J. II. Gunter, of Manchester, Carroll Co., 
Maryland, lost on the 2«d ult., from distemper, his fine red 
Irish setter dog Sig. Sig, who was by Crouse's Dash, out 
of R. A. Hammoti’s Fannie, had the reputation of being 
the best field performer in the county. 
— - - ' - - 
—We know that Ranger is not only a good Ranger but a 
good ranger, but we did not mean to assert that lie took a 
prize at Chicago for the latter quality. It was his whole 
list of good qualities that gamed him the honor? 
—Mr. W. Arthur Wheatley's lemon and white pointer 
bitch Lily, has visited Mr. Steele's Flake, own brother to 
Dr. Webb’s Whisky’. Lily was 1st (in small pointer class) 
at Mineola, 3rd at Chicago and 1st at Detroit. 
—Among the best specimens of stylish high bred setters 
we have inspected recently, are those of Dr. A. Russel 
Btraclmn, of this city—Don and Sport. Don is a full sized, 
strong, well formed three-year old seller, colored light 
red, with some while markings, bred out of Belie the 
mother of Mr. N. 84 u” Dash and Bess, by Don senic. 
Sport is a jet black setter, rather under size, we think, but 
showing every indication of the high breeding of his strain. 
He is bred from tlie splendid brace of Gordon setters im¬ 
ported by J. G. Bonnet, Esq. Don and Sport, Dr. Strahan, 
assures us have beeu exceedingly well broken by Dock 
Stewart. Some of Don's pups are advertised for sale in 
another column. 
Dn. Aten’s Dogs. —We bad the pleasure of visiting Dr. 
Aten, of Brooklyn, a few day’s ago, and examined his 
splendid collection of game birds and wild fowl, most of 
which are very rare specimens, and they are artistically 
mounted. But what interested us mostly, was his brace 
of setters, Glen and Ned, and a more desirable brace of 
thoroughly broken dogs Is very seldom met with, as will 
be Been from the following pedigree of Glen:— 
Sire, Colburn’s Dash; dam, Belle. Dash was out of Mr. 
"Valeniine’s black and tan bitch, and Mr. Putnam’s Dan. 
Mr. Valentine's bitch was out of Daniel Talcot’s black and 
tan bitch, and his imported orange and white dog. Mr. 
Talcot’s black and tan bitch was out of Wm. Watson’s 
black and tan Gordon, imported. Belie was out of Ham¬ 
ilton Thompson's red bitch June, by his old Duke, (import¬ 
ed) a pure blade and tan Gordon. Jane was out of Belle, 
by Mr. R. Robinson’s Jack. Belle out of Mr. Thomp¬ 
son,s imported Fan by Scott Rodman’s Dash. Fan was 
three-quarters Irish according to Mr. Thompson, therefore 
Belle is half Irish and half black and tan Gordon. Ned is 
a remarkably well formed, full sized lemon and white set¬ 
ter bred from stock of the Prince of Wales kennel, and 
shows distinctly his high breeding. 
QUERY TO “J. W. M.”—POINTERS. 
Springfield, Mass., Feb. 9th, 1876. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
In your issue of Feb. 3d. “,J. W. M.,” in criticising the Baltimore 
Bench Show, says, with apparent “disgust,” that “a split nose pointer 
took that prize." Why not, pray, if he was the best dog? 1 do not know 
that he was, and "J. W. M." evidently believes that howaanot; but 
hiscoodemuatiou is palpably because of the spilt nose. I believe that 
evidence could be accumulated from au army of sportsmen who have 
owned them, that split-nosed pointers are liable to be tbe very best of 
dogs, and a poor one is rare, indeed, is the exception. I do not mean to 
claim, as I have beard it advanced, that Ihu double nose indicates neces¬ 
sarily a stronger-scented dog than the single nose, bat do claim that the 
thorough double nose Is an indication in a pointer of good breeding and 
purity of blood. And here 1 take issue with yonr respected Kennel Ed¬ 
itor, and believe it to be trueandcapablo of as positive proof os anything 
can be concerning the origin or early history of our sporting dogs, that 
the double nose is natarally inherent, and belongs exclusively to tbe 
pointer, and that Its possession iu tbo setter indicates somewhere an in¬ 
fusion of pointer blood. 1 have seen a few- setters with tbe double nose 
that were fairly good, but none to equal the pointer with Lhe same pecu¬ 
liarity; aud iudeed your Kennel Editor, in his late article upon the sn b- 
jeet, coniines his experience—if I recollect it aright—to one uobie settor 
and his progeny. Itis time, I submit, that sportsmen rid themselves of 
false notions concerning matters of this kind, and let performance speak 
insteodof prejudice. The split nostrils of a pointer may look badly to 
one unused to it, but there is no reason tint it should interfere with 
judgment of the animat upon the show beuch or in the held. 
if sportsmen w ill recall all the reilt. split nosed d- ga they ever knew, 
they will remember that with the divided nostiils there went the high, 
broad head, tow set ears, and full, bilglil eye of un iliK-illgetii good dog. 
I am glad to see that tbe “pointer men” nre making themn l cs heard in 
the papers. The setter has become fashionable, uuj the clean-limb-d, 
sleek-haired, affectionate, springy pointer bus beeu ob-cured loo kng. 
Give him a chance again, a fair field aud uo favor, and hu wi.l tie heaid 
from to advantage. I disparage no good setter or no man that pretera 
him; but to my genial brethreu of the gun w ho have owued and loved 
pointers as long as I have, been comforted witli their doc lay, retention 
of knowledge when once broken, perfoeti n of position when -‘on the 
point," superb carriage and pride when retrieving, together with ail the 
qualities possibly possessed by the eulogized setter, do I look for iccog- 
nition and approval. 
When I rend of some mttu'a condemnation of the pointer because he 
will back from briers, I should like to show him a pupp, with hide like 
velvet, who hunted his first two days on quail among ill- ball briers that 
fringe the shores of Long Istund Sound until his mottled sides were en¬ 
sanguined as were Lady Macbeth’s hands; when from ears lo hips not a 
finger could be laid upon him ana not he frescoed with his blood; and 
not a whimper out of him all ttie two days, and while this battle of brier 
and blood went on, two setters—and good oueB, too—stood back. 
E. H. L. 
Albanian. Y., Febrnary 8th, 1876.- 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Mr. Cullender, of AibanM.tT. Y., has purchased from Arnold Burges, 
of Maysviile, Ky., the dog If .ry O'Moore from tbe last August litter of 
his celebrated red Irish seiie, Rufus. Rory was on exhibition at tbo 
late Chicago show ns one of the get of Rufus, and while there attracted 
a great deal of admiration on neconrt of his fine proprrtions, exceeding¬ 
ly intelligent countenance, and beamy generally. He is the exact linage 
of his sire, being a dark red, with uo wad", except on breast, and with 
hair us fine as .ilk, and he appears almost as intelligent as a human be¬ 
ing. Rufus, his siro, is winuer of seven prizes, abroad and in this 
coontry, and is considered one of the handsomest dogs in America. 
Friend, the dam af Rory, is in the hands of Mr. Campbell, who bred 
and broke Tom, winner of brace and single stakes at Memphis, and he 
pronounces her one of the best dugs In the field that ho ever saw. She 
was imported by Mr. E. H. Stoddard, of Dayton, Ohio., for whom she 
was purchased by Mr. Buckell. Mr. Sampson, of Troy, has also become 
the posrossor or Sybil, a magnificent and most promising bitch of the 
same litter as Rory. ^_ Camp. 
KIRBY’S LITTER. 
Lkebugro, Ya., Fob. lllh, 1870. 
Editor Forrst and Stream:— 
All the litter of the field trial setter bitch Kirby, by Pride of the 
Border, whelped Nov. 30th, 18i6. have been disposed of by Capt. Foster, 
lie keeps two of tbo Utter himself, viz.: Count, a bine Belton dog, and 
Brenda, a black, while and tan hitch. Duke, a black and white dog, 
(with Borne blue ticks) has become the property of Powell Harrison, 
Esq , of LeeBbuig, Ya. Flash, a handsome dog, marked in the same 
way, goes to Geo. H, Ntxon, of same place; while HcDry Harrison gets 
Lara, a black and whitodog Hoi, a blue black and tan dog, is owued by 
Muj. B. P. Noland, of MiddJeburg, Va., and Mat), a bileh marked in the 
same way. to Dr. M. G. Ellzey., of Blacksburg, Ya John C. Higgins, 
of Delaware City, lakes Belle, a blue Belton bitch, and the original owner 
of Kirby a blue black and white bitch, name not known by voar inform, 
ant, _ T. W. 
Flowers tn Church yards.—As the beautiful custom of 
decorating tlie interior ut churches is becoming much more 
common, we would suggest, at least iu lhe country, for each 
Church lo grow its own flowers, and thus accomplish iwo 
end3, decorating both the church and churchyard. We 
would, therefore, suggest that aiupng the flowers planted 
should be some of the beautiful "Everlasting" flowers or 
Erauthemums which dry aud preserve their colors. They 
are useful lor Christmas decorations. At somc-iulure lime 
we will give a list of white flowers. This is now a good 
season to prepare the ground or the beds, which should be 
well manured with well-rotted manure, and dug deeply. 
