300 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Massachusetts— Duxbury, Dec. 7th. — Very light bags 

 lately. Game well hunted. Demand greater than supply. 

 Largest number 10— taken yesterday. Geese flying plenti- 

 fully. Flock of 70 entirely demolished — none remaining 

 to tell the tale. Ducks, whistlers, quandies and coots, in 

 the bay in good numbers. Grouse. 



Salem, December 11th. — Gunning has frozen up . Teal. 



Ohio — Tiffin, Dec. 1st.— Quail are plenty here this season, 

 but protected by law until 15th November, 1877. Coon 

 hunting has been good here this fall. A young man in 

 our neighborhood has caught about thirty. He shoots 

 them after night with a rifle, using a jack-lamp to throw a 

 ligbt on their eyes. 



December 5th. — Rabbits are plenty here this winter, 

 some gunners bagging eight in a day, A few turkeys some 

 four miles from town. Buck Shot. 



Texas— Oainsville, Dec. 1st. — Captain Rowland and eight 

 others have returned from a three week's hunt, having 

 killed 1 bear, 55 deer and 80 turkeys. Dr. Salmon killed a 

 deer 300 yards with a Sharp's. Edward Fletcher and three 

 others, during the same time, but in a different place, 

 killed 30 deer, and only what turkeys they needed to use. 

 Cold here now; ice an inch thicK. Uncommon for this 

 ea3on. Texas. 



hitn mud fragging. 



TRAPPING THE OTTER AND MINK. 



THE habitation of the otter is made in the banks of the 

 river which it frequents, or sometimes in a hollow 

 log or crevice beneath rocks. A short search will reveal 

 the place where they crawl from the water on to the bank, 

 and at this spot, which will generally be shallow, a steel 

 trap should be set, on the bed of the river, about four 

 inches under water. The trap should be secured by a 

 stout chain, the latter being ringed to a sliding pole, 

 which will lead the animal when caught into deep water. 

 If deep water is not near at hand, the spring pole may be 

 used, the object of either being to prevent the animal 

 from gnawing off its leg and thus making its escape. 



The trap may also be placed at the top or the slide, two 

 or three feet back of the slope, a place being hollowed out 

 to receive it and the whole covered with snow. To make 

 success more certain a log may be laid on each side of the 

 trap, thus forming an avenue in which the animal will be 

 sure to run before throwing itself on the slope. Care 

 should be taken to handle nothing with the bare hands, as 

 the otter is very keen scented and shy. Anoint the trap 

 with a few drops of fish oil or otter musk. If none of 

 these are handy, ordinary musk will answer very well. 



The trap r, ay als v . " with a heavy 



stone and chain, as , v .e. . r - the beaver. 



Arother method still is to hud some og i the stream 

 having one end projecting above water. Sprinkle some 

 musk on this projecting^end and set the trap on the log in 

 three or four inches of water, securing it firmly by a chain, 

 also beneath the water. 



A rock which projects over the stream may also be 

 utilized in the same way as seen in the page title at the 

 opening of this section. Smear the musk on the edge 

 which juts into the water, and secure the trap by the chain 

 as before. When the animal is caught he will fall or 

 jump into the water, and the weight of the trap and chain 

 will sink him. In every case it is necessary to obliterate 

 every sign of human presence by throwing water over 

 every foot print, and over everything with which the 

 naked hands have come in contact. Where the traps are 

 thus set in the water it should be done while wading or in 

 a boat. In the winter when the ponds and rivers are frozen 

 over the otters make holes through the ice at which they 

 come up to devour their prey. Where the water is a foot 

 deep beneath any of these holes the trap may be set in the 

 bottom, the chain being secured to a heavy stone. When 

 the otter endeavors to emerge from the hole he will press 

 his foot on the trap and will thus be caught. If the water 

 is deep beneath the hole the trap may be baited with a 

 small fish attached to the pan, and then carefully lowered 

 with its chain and stone to the bottom. For this purpose 

 the Newhouse, No. 3, is best adapted, as the otter is in 

 this ease caught by the head. 



The beaten track of the animal may often be discovered 

 in the snow in the winter time, and a trap carefully, sunk 

 in such a furrow and covered so as to resemble its surround- 

 ngs, will be likely to secure the first otter that endeavors 

 to pass over it. A trap set at the mouth of the otter's bur- 

 row and carefully covered is also often successful, using 

 he sliding pole, to lead him into deep water. 



The skin of the otter should be removed whole, and the 

 operation may be performed in the following manner: 

 Slit down the hind legs to the vent; cut the skin loose 

 around the vent, and slit up the entire length of the tail, 

 freeing it from the bone. With the aid of the knife the 

 skin should now be peeled off, drawing it backward and 

 carefully cutting around the mouth and eyes before taking 

 it from the head. 



With the fur thus inside, the skin is ready for the 

 Stretcher, and the tail should be spread out and tacked 

 around the edges. — Gibson's Complete American Trapper. 



.^|» u- . . 



A Mink Trap.— A mink trap is made by boring a two- 

 Ech @i\two and a half -inch hole in a log, four or fiye inches 



deep, and into the edges of this hole drive three sharpened 

 nails, so that they will project half an inch or so inside, as 

 shown. The bait being at the bottom, the mink pushes 

 his head in to get it, but on attempting to withdraw, it is 

 caught by the nails. Musk-rat is good bait for them, and a 

 hi ghly praised bait is made by cutting an eel into small 

 b Us, which are placed in a bottle and hung in the sun, and 

 after a time become an oily and very odorous'mass. A few 

 drops of this are used. The above simple mink trap may 

 be made by using any block of wood, or a stump of a tree, 

 large or small, and the same plan may be made use of to 

 trap skunks, or, by using a small hole and some straighten- 

 ed fish-hooks, it will serve to catch rats or weasels, enemies 

 of the rural poultry yard, which may be thinned off by the 

 use of this trap. — Agriculturist. 



Trappers.— Messrs. H. C. Jones and John Kellogg, of 

 Massachusetts, reached our county a week or so ago on a 

 trapping expedition. They bring with them some five 

 dozen traps, but the weather since their arrival has been 

 rather unpropitious and has prevented them from making 

 the necessary observations in order that they might find 

 desirable locations for all of their traps; but with only a 

 few set they have caught three or four beaver— several 

 muskrats, and a beaver foot or two. Beaver, minks, musk- 

 rats, and other fur-bearing animals are numerous in our 

 streams and on our water courses. — Laicrenceville (Va.) 

 Advocate, Dec. lih. 



Jfift mid MLivn 



FISH IN SEASON IN DECEMBER. 



SOUTHERN WATERS 



Pompano, Tr achy notus car olinus. Grouper. Epinephelpus nlgritus . 

 Drum— two species. .Family Scicen- Trout (black bass) Cenlropistris at- 



idce. rarius. 



Kingfish, Menticirrus nebulosus . Striped bass or Kockflsh, Eoccus 

 Sea Bass, Sciomops ocellatus. linear us. 



Sheepsnead, Archotargus probalo- TaJlorftsh, Pomatomus saltatrix. 



cephalub. Black Bass, Micropterus salmoides; 



Snapper, Lutjanus caxxi. 31. nigricans. 



* 



Fish in Market. — The heavy storms of the past week 

 have retarded the operations of the outside fishermen some- 

 what, although prices are without material change. In 

 fact, fish are now brought such distances by steamer and 

 rail, and refrigerating has reached such perfection, that 

 even such weather as we have been experiencing effects 

 only the local catch. Just now this is confined almost 

 entirely to one or two varieties, principally of the cod 

 family. A glance at this list below will show that our 

 market is supplied with fish from the most distant portions 

 of the country— smelts from Maine, red snappers from 

 Florida, and white fish from the great lakes. We quote: — 

 Striped bass 25 cents per pound; smelts, 25 cents; blue- 

 fish, 12-| cents; salmon (frozen), 40 cents; mackerel, 25 

 cents each; shad (southern), $1 each; white perch, 18 cents 

 per pound; green turtle, 18 cents; terrapin, $12 to $24 per 

 dozen; frostfish, Scents per pound; halibut, 25 cents; had- 

 dock, 8 cents; codfish, 8 cents; blackfish, 15 cents; flound- 

 ers, 12£ cents; eels, 18 cents; lobsters, 10 cents; sheeps- 

 head, 25 cents; scollops, $1.50 per gallon; whitefish, 18 

 cents per pound; pickerel, 18 cents; salmon trout, 18 cents; 

 red snapper, 18 cents; hard shell crabs, $3.50 per 100. 



— Francis Francis' "Book on Angling," which is a com- 

 plete treatise on the art of angling in every branch, as prac- 

 tised in Great Britain, has now reached its fourth edition. 

 Between thirty and forty pages of fresh matter have been 

 added, and the author has made considerable changes in 

 the salmon-fly list, founded upon information supplied by 

 local authorities, to bring it up to the present date. This 

 book has now been before the public nine years. Mr. Fran- 

 cis is well known from his long editorial connection "with 

 London Field. .% 



—A correspondent writing from Tiffin, Ohio, says thai 

 Black bass in the river there, (the Sandusky) can be caught 

 after night by baiting with a piece of red flannel and troll- 

 ing it when the usual method baiting with minnow will avail 

 nothing. Darker the night the better and near midnight. 

 He doubts if the above method is generally known. 



— A large number of the members of the Massachusetts 

 Anglers' Association, with their ladies, met on Saturday 

 evening to listen to an address on "Salmon and Salmon 

 Fishing" by Walter M. Brackett, Esq. The President, Dr. 

 John P. Ordway, occupied the chair. The lecture was 

 chiefly confined to salmon fishing in Canada, and was of a 

 very interesting and practical character, the lecturer exhib- 

 iting a thorough knowledge of this peculiar fish, and of 

 the best methods used in its capture. The speaker was ap- 

 plauded frequently, and at the conclusion of his remarks 

 the chairman stated that the Society intended to have a se- 

 ries of such lectures the present season. 



BLACK BASS OF NEW YORK. 



% 



Albany, December 4th, 1876. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: — 



In your issue of November 30th, appeared and article on 

 the black bass of this State, which is the most correct, ac- 

 cording to my experience, of any yet published in your 

 valuable paper. I have always been informed (or misin- 

 formed) that the Mohawk and Oswego bass were the same. 

 It would do me, and no doubt many others a favor, if you 

 or any correspondent could give the source from which 

 these aforementioned fish sprung; also, whether their ad- 

 vent into swift water has so changed the form and actions 

 when hooked, or are they a different variety ? Like the 

 Hudson bass, they have dusky bars on the side after being 

 caught, and do all their fighting in the air. The former i 

 have always attributed to the clearness of color, caused by 

 living in pure, swift water, and their rage to the fact that 

 there was not depth enough for them to go down very far. 

 I have noticed two varieties in Lake Ontario; one at Stony 

 Island being very thick and light colored, always sound- 

 ing the minute they were hooked; another in the Black 

 Kiver Bay, dark colored, much slimmer than the former, 

 and most always coming to the surface the first thing. I 

 know of two instances where they ran under the boat, and 

 leaped clear of the water on the other side. On one of 

 these occasions there were two of about three pounds 

 weight, only one of which was saved. The gentleman 

 fishing ha<i a light bamboo rod, and dared not check them, 



which accounts for their getting under the boat in such a 

 manner. Your Glen's Falls correspondent states four and 

 a half pounds as the largest river bass to his knowledge 

 yet caught. In the Mohawk a number have been taken of 

 five pounds and over, mostly in the spring with nets a 

 practice that has ruined the lower section of this once 

 fruitful stream, unless it is restocked, and a law passed 

 prohibiting all kinds of netting. As regards the carmine 

 dot, I have always noticed it in the rock bass, but never in 

 the black. In relation to bait, I agree with your corres- 

 pondent, but always found the Dobson or Hellgramite" 

 crawfish and grasshoppers, the staple baits for river fish- 

 ing, the former in spring and fall, and two latter in 

 summer and autumn. One season, however, we caught 

 more bass on common worms than with all other baits 

 combined. There must be some cause for the change 

 Whether it was in the river or in the fish, remains to be 

 proven. Of one thing I am certain: if some of our fish 

 cuiturists would give the trout a little rest, and study the 

 habits of the black bass, they need never be in want of 

 something to occupy their mind and time, and the black 

 bass would receive his just des rts. In hopes of hearing 

 more on this, one of the foremost, if not first, among our 

 game fishes, I remain, Dexter. 



^ Seth Green on Oswego Bass.— Mr. Green sets himself 

 right in the following note: — 



Rochester, Dec. 8th, 1876. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: — 



I notice in your issue of November 30th, a correspondent 

 from Glens Falls, criticizes me on the black bass question, 

 and I think he is right in doing so. From the way it is 

 worded in your paper, I may have said that the river and 

 lake black bass was the livelier fish of the two, and was 

 called the Oswego bass. If I did, it was a slip of the tongue. 

 You will see by reading my circular, that I have always 

 called the Marsh bass the Oswego bass. As I see he takes 

 it from the article of October 12th, when I spoke before 

 the Fish Cuiturists at Philadelphia, I think the more likely 

 supposition is. that your reporter misunderstood me when 

 I was speaking. Yours, Seth Green. 



, -*•+»- ■ 



Movements of the Fishing Fleet. — There have been 

 7 arrivals of the fleet the past week, 5 from Georges and 2 

 from the Banks, bringing in 27,000 pounds of halibut, and 

 30,000 pounds of codfish. The shore fleet have landed 

 small fares, indicating a scarcity of fish off this shore. 

 While this scarcity exists in this section there is an abund- 

 ance of "rock" cod off the southern coast of Long Island. 

 The Forest and Stream says that they are very plentiful 

 off Rockaway Inlet and SheepshAd Bay. Two parties 

 caught in one day's fisbing 400 fish, running from four to 

 seven pounds in weight. The supply has filled the market, 

 and prices have ruled low, in some instances fish having 

 sold for fifty cents per hundred pounds at wholesale This 

 probably will not last a great while as it is quite unusual 

 to find fish so plentiful in that section. — Cape Ann Adver- 

 tiser, Dec. 8th. 



§JMhting mtd Ranting. 



, — ♦ 



All communications from Secretaries and friends should be mailed no 

 later than Monday in each week. 





HIGH WATER. 



FOR THE WEEK. 





Date. 



Boston. 



New York. 



Charleston 



Dec. 14.. 

 Dec. 15.... 

 Dec. 1(5.. . 

 Dec. 17.... 

 Dec. 18.. . 

 Dec. 19... 







H. M. 



9 56 



10 47 



11 84 

 eve. 15 



59 



1 40 



2 20 



B. M. 



7 31 



8 15 



9 I 

 9 45 



10 24 



11 S 

 11 44 



h. -m 



5 56 



6 47 

 r 82 

 8 15 



8 59 



9 40 



Dec. 20 



10 20 



— pur London correspondent states that the proposed 

 "ell between., Higgins and Boyd, the scullers, for the 

 ehc^.xpionship of England is off. Higgins issued a chal- 

 lenge to any man in the world to row him for £500. This 

 challenge is replied to by Edward Hanlan of Toronto, who 

 wants Higgins to go to Canada to row. As Higgins' chal- 

 lenge was to row on the Thames, and as he would not go so 

 far even as the Tyne, to row Boyd, it is not likely that he 

 will cross the Atlantic to row Hanlan. In fact the latter's 

 letter will probably be considered as partaking very much 

 of the nature of "bounce." 



—The schooner A.talanta, N. Y. Y. C, which put into 

 Norfolk some time since and went on the ways at Graves' 

 ship-yard for repairs, sailed on the 4th inst. for Jackson- 

 ville, Fla,, where her owner, Mr. William Astor, is await- 

 ing her arrival. 



The Countess of Dufferin.— The Toronto Mail, ia al- 

 luding to the fact that this yacht still remains unsold, says 

 that "Maj. Gifford, it is understood, is likely to be a heavy 

 loser by his spirited undertaking to whip the champion 

 yacht of the New York Club. If properly sailed 

 and trimmed, the best American authorities agree that the 

 Countess could next year give them very serious trouble. 

 Under these circumstances we are not surprised to hear 

 that several gentlemen have it in contemplation to buy 

 and equip the Countess for what is sure to turn out a more 

 successful tiial of her speed. The price asked for her is 

 so moderate that we need not despair of patriotic sports ■ 

 men enough being found to improve the occasion." 



A Missionary Yacht.— During the past summer an 

 English mission yacht, called the Evangelist, traversed the 

 southern coast of England and distributed Bibles and Tes- 

 taments in various languages, and other religious reading, 

 to ail of the vessels it met. 



R. A. A. C— The Rowing Association of American 

 Colleges, or at least what is left of it, held its annual meet- 

 ing last week at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. But three col- 

 leges out of the twelve which were represented last year 

 sent delegates, these being J. N. Ostrom, of Cornell; E. E. 

 Sage and G. T. Goodwin, of Columbia; C. C. Clarke and 

 R. N. Corwine, of Princeton. Mr. C. S. Boyd, of Co- 

 lumbia, was President; Mr. C. C. Clarke, of Princeton, 

 Vice-President ; Capt. Ostrom of Cornell, Secretary, and 

 Captain Goodwin, of Columbia, Treasurer. 



After hearing the report of the Regatta Committee, it 

 was resolvea that tae annual regatta of t&e Association for 



