FOREST AND STREAM. 



31 



T wn and trapping. 



For Forest and Stream. 

 THE TRAPPER NOT THE ONLY ENEMY 

 OF THE MUSKRAT. 



THAT a good sized pickerel will make mince meat of 

 a muskrat where he has a clear field and a keen ap- 

 petite, there are those who know too well to dispute. Nor 

 -would the} r argue the question as to the disposition of the 

 fish hawk to come in for his share, if the rat fooled his 

 time too long on the surface while this rapacious body- 

 snatcher was hovering thereabout. But when told that the 

 mink, an animal not over one-third the weight of a full- 

 gi7,ed muskrat, is not only a match for but a terror to the 

 latter, there would seem some grounds for a difference of 

 opinion, more particularly when we look at the anatomical 

 structure of both, and the formidable pair of incisors with 

 which the muskrat is provided, aside from his superior 

 weight. 



I was hunting snipe upon a small marsh upon an island 

 below the Kickapoo rapids of the Illinois river cast of 

 Marseilles, and while walking quietly along the edge, I 

 heard a noise in the grass, when I discovered some object 

 rolling towards the water, having the appearance of a ball 

 about six inches in diameter. Being somewhat amused, I 

 stood my gun against a log and walked up to it rather un- 

 ceremoniously, when to my surprise I found a mink and a 

 muskrat clinched, and so completely covered with mud as 

 to be almost unrecognizable. In a moment the feiak re- 

 leased his grip and escaped in the tall grass and flags. The 

 muskrat was too far gone to escape when I arrived, and 

 picking him up I found him bleeding profusely from a se- 

 vere wound in the head and his jugular vein bitten through, 

 from which he soon died. Here was an animal twice the 

 size of its destroyer, caught in open day in a fair fight, and 

 all but bagged by a tiny animal of but slight bellicose pro- 

 portions; and but for my interference would have carried 

 home his well-earned meal. How many lose their lives at 

 the hands of this newly discovered enemy is but a conjec- 

 ture; but judging from the empty muskrat houses in lo- 

 calities where trappers seldom visit, the destruction must 

 he greater than we can conceive. We are aware that the 

 depredations of the miuk, in its forays upon our winged 

 visitors, their eggs and young, are endless, and we charge 

 to his account the destruction of many of our game birds 

 in all stages of their existence. But when we find this 

 pestiferous scamp making meat of the muskrat without 

 counting his hide worth a cent, we acknowledge ourselves 

 not only beaten, but thoroughly disgusted. 



Blreator III, Dec. 7th, 1876. M. A. Howell, Jr. 

 . -•*♦• 



TRAPPING THE MINK. 



This animal, as will be seen by our illustration, has a 

 long, slender body, something like the weasel, to which 

 scientific family l belongs. The mink is an aquatic animal, 

 inhabiting small rivers and streams, and living somewhat 

 after the manuer of the otter. It has a most wide range of 



diet, and will eat almost anything which is at all eatable. 

 Fishes, frogs, and muskrats are his especial delight, and he 

 will occasionally suceeed in pouncing upon a snipe or wild 

 duck, which he will greedily devour. Craw fish, snails, 

 and water insects of all kinds also come within the range 

 of his diet, and he sometimes makes a stray visit to some 

 neighboring poultry yard to satisfy the craving of his ab- 

 normal hunger. A meal off from his own offspring often 

 answers the^same purpose; and a young chicken in the egg 

 he considers the ne plus ultra ot delicacies. The voracity 

 of this animal is its leading characteristics, and is so largely 

 in excess of its cunning or sagacity that it will often run 

 headlong into a naked trap. Its sense of smell is exceed- 

 ingly well developed, and through this faculty it is often 

 enabled to track its prev with ease and certainty. The 

 mink lives in burrows, in"steep banks, or between rocks or 

 the roots of trees, and the young, five or six in number, are 

 brought forth in May. 



The chief occupation of the mink consists in perpetual 

 8earchfor something to eat, and, when so engaged, he may 

 be seen running along the bank of the stream, peering into 

 every nook and corner, and literally "leaving no stone 

 unturned" in its eager search. Taking advantage of this 

 habit, it becomes an easy matter to trap the greedy animal. 

 Set your trap, a Newhouse No. 2, in an inch of water near 

 the edge of the stream, and directly in front of a steep 

 bank or rock, on which you can place your bait. The bait 

 may be a frog, fish, or head of a bird, suspended about 

 eighteen inches above the water, and should be so situated 

 that in order to reach it, the mink will be obliged to tread 

 upon the trap. The trap may also be set in the water and 

 the bait suspended eighteen inches above it, by the aid of a 

 switch planted in the mud near the trap. It is a good plan 

 to scent the bait with an equal mixture of sweet oil and 

 peppermint, with a little honey added. If there is deep 

 water near, the sliding pole should be used, and if not, the 

 Spring pol§" in crrery «Hw f is M&i to ptrrcot t^ ®*P* 



tured mink from becoming a prey to larger animals, and 

 also to guard against his escape by amputation, which he- 

 would otherwise most certainly accomplish. 



The trap may be set on the land, near the water's edge, 

 baiting as just described, and lightly covered with leaves 

 or dirt. Any arrangement of the trap whereby the animal 

 is obliged to tread upon it in order to seeure the bait, will 

 be found effectual. 



The trap may be set at the foot of a tree, and the bait 

 fastened to the trunk, eighteen inches above it. Minks 

 have their regular beaten paths, and often visit certain 

 hollow logs in their runways. Iu theso logs they leave un- 

 mistakable signs of their presence, and a trap set in such a 

 place is sure of success. 



Borne trappers set a number of traps along the stream at 

 intervals of several rods, connecting them by a trail, the 

 mink being thus led directly and almost certainly to his 

 destruction. This trail is made by smearing a piece of 

 wood with the "medicine," and dragging it on the line of 

 I he traps. Any mink which crosses this trail will follow 

 it to the first trap, when he will, in all probability, be cap- 

 tured. A dead muskrat, crow, fish, or a piece of fresh 

 meat dragged along the line answers the same purpose. 

 The beaten tracks of the mink may often be discovered, 

 and a trap set in such a track and covered with leaves, dirt 

 or the like, will often be successful. 



Minks may also be (asily caught in the dead fall, gar- 

 rote trap or a twitch-up, bailing with fish, muskrat, flesh, 

 or the head of a bird, of which the animal is especially 

 fond. A liberal use of the "medicine" is also desirable. 



The fur of the mink is in best condition in the late 

 autumn, winter, and early spring, and ihe animal should 

 be skinned as described for the fox. — Gibson's Complete 

 American Trapper. 



— Near his fish pond in Foxcrof t, Me. , Mr. Caleb Weston 

 recently felled a cedar tree which had been gnawed by 

 beavers, the prints of their teeth b^ing plainly visible. As 

 there have been no beavers in that section for seventy 

 years the marks have endured at least lor that length of 

 time. 



M m UMicHtions. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Woman on the American Frontier. By Wm. Worth- 



mgtou Fowler, 527 pp. 8vo. illustrated. S. S. Scranton & Co.. Hart- 

 ford, (Jt. 



The object of this work is to present in a narative form the noble 

 deeds of our countrywomen who have been members of the great 

 pioneer army, which for more than two centuries has been pushing our 

 frontier westward and building empires in the wilderness. In a style 

 remurkably lich and graphic the author has shown us the pioneer wife, 

 mother and daughter in the various hardships, trials and dangers to 

 which they have been subjected. The incidents, annecdotes and biogra- 

 phies are largely new and unhackneyed, and all of thrilling interest. 

 As a heroine, a hunter, a soldier, a patriot, a comforter, and as the 

 actress in a tnousand stining and moving scenes, woman is here placed 

 before the eye of the reader in such a manner that having pursued one 

 chapter he will not be content without finishing the book. We can 

 safely say that woman's claims to our recognition as the heroine of the 

 frontier have never before been so brilliantly presented as in this vol- 

 ume. The illustrations, of which the,e are many, are splendid and 



well designed. 



■ * 



MAGAZINES. 



The American Naturalist for December opens with a 

 very important and interesting article on "The Development of Flound- 

 ers" by Mr. Alexander Agassiz. The author discusses very clearly the 

 piogrese of the young of thisfijjb, commencing with individuals only an 

 inch in length, and announces the startling fact of the passage of the 

 "eye from the right side to the left through integuments of the head 

 between the base of the dorsal fin and the frontal bone.' 1 The observa- 

 tions on which this announcement is founded are soon to be given to 

 the scientific world at more length and in greater detail iu a paper with 

 illustrations which Mr. Agassiz is now prepariug. It is interesting to 

 note that the young flounder at first swims vertically, and that the 

 change from this position to the horizontal takes places gradually with 

 the translation of the eye from one side to the other. The young of the 

 transparent flounder, of which the author speaks, do not invauably lie 

 down on the right tide. J t seems more or less accidental which side is 

 chosen Out of fifteen of Mr. Agassiz's specimens eight laid down on 

 the left, and all these died without accomplishing any part of the trans- 

 fer of the left eye to tne right side, although living as long as the seven 

 which on the other side completed the transfer of the other eye to the 

 left Dide. All the other species kept alive turned down on the proper 

 side for the transfer of the eye. 



Prof Allen, in a very readable article, gives the "Former Kange of 

 NewEnglandMainmals." By a most industrious examination of the 

 works i f early historians, and of the records of some of our New Eng- 

 land towns, he determines the former range and abundance of our 

 larger mammals, showing that their present "restriction of range and 

 numerical decrease are obviously due to man's agency." The inform- 

 ation afforded to the reader is most valuable. His citations are from 

 "Kalm's Travels," "Lewis' History of Lynn," "Natural and Civil His- 

 tory of Vermont," etc., etc. 



'•Rock Inscriptions of Ancient Pueblos of Colorado, Utah, New Mex- 

 ico and Arizona," by Mr. Edwin A. Barber, is an interesting article on 

 a subject about which not much ha* been written. It shows careful ob- 

 servation and the descriptions of the rock writings, and the probable 

 exDlanati'one are given with considerable detail. A number of illustra- 

 tions which are given will afford to the reader a fine conception of the 

 oharacters of these inecripti ns. "Microscopy at the International Ex- 

 hibition," by Dr, Ward follows, being little more than a catalogue of the 

 different instruments and their makers. 



"Bastian and Pasteur on Spontaneous Generation," by Mr. Henry J. 

 Slack, is reprinted from the "Monthly Microscopical Journal" for Oc- 



t0 Dr r ' Elliot Coues, in a brief essay on the "Destruction of Birds by 

 Telegraph Wire," announces that the mortality among birds from this 

 cause amounts to many hundred thousand annually, a number far 

 greater than we could have supposed possible had our authority been 

 other than Dr. Coues. ,. . 



General Notes are full and interesting, and the number as a whole is 

 quite up to its usual high standard. 



VicVs Floral Guide for 1 877. We have j ust spent an hour 

 or two very pleasantly over VicVs Floral Guide, which comes to us full as 

 ever of good things, and so suggestive of the beauty of summer and the 

 odor of many blossoms that the pinching cold and driving snow are 

 forgotten while reading its cheery, chatty pages. Mr. Vick, this sea- 

 son has added a very useful and compendious Botanical Glossary giving 

 plain and practical definitions of such terms as all who love and culti- 

 vate flowers should understand S&d which wi'l proy? of gfg&ftfefyise to 

 IMS? ®f hisre&&fi 



$Mwt\% %a (H,ar\M$<m&ml$> 



No Notice Taken of Anonymous Communications. 



A number of correspondents who have sent us queries of late will on 

 derstand why they do not find replies by attentively perusing the line at - 

 the head of this column. 



B. E. Haneaburg.— Can vou inform me where I could purchase a few 

 English hares? wish to stock an island. Ans. No English kaies to be 

 purchased alive that wc are. aware of. 



C. H. B., Exeter, N. H. -Will you please give me through your paper 

 the names of some responsible fish dealers in New York. Ans. E.G. 

 Blackford and Messrs. Middleton, Carman & Co. ; address, Fulton mar- 

 ket. 



F. W. S., Philadelphia.— Being desirous of subscribing to your 

 paper the coming year I ask for information: Can I subscribe here, or 

 how will I send subscription to you? Ans. Send postal order, check or 

 greenbacks— $4 . 



Snipe, Montreal.— Where within 200 miles of this city will I find 

 good deer and rabbit shooting, and what will be the best method of 

 hunting them in that locality? I want to hunt about Christmas week. 

 Ans. Go to Renfrew, or the upper Ottawa and strike in. 



J. H. W., Buffalo.— Will you please inform me, if possible, through 

 the. column of Answers to Correspondents the best part of California 

 for sheep raising, and who to write to about buying a ranche. Ans. 

 Los Angeles or San Diego counties. Write to J. W. Haverstick, TJ. 

 S. Land office, Los Angeles. 



J. A. B., Boston.— 1. Can you kindly inform me where I can pro- 

 cure live quail now, and the proportion of male and female, per dozsn. 

 and price; best time for putting out for breeding. 2. Is there any 

 better book on Florida than "Camp Life in Florida" for a sportsman's 

 use? Ans. 1. Address J W. Brown, Lock Box 1097, New Haven, Conn. 

 For instructions as to breeding quail see our issue of January 7th, 1875. 

 2. No. 



J. E. S., Sussex Corner.— Is there any work published which would 

 show the cheapest manner of building a skating rink, and the probable 

 cost? Also, any work on the art of pkatiug? An answer through the 

 columns of your valuable paper will greatly oblige. Ans. No work on 

 skating rinks. Would have sent you worm on skating, but you do aot 

 give State. Price, 25 cents. We do not club with any other paper. 



F. R. G., Noroton, Ct.— 1. What kind of decoys should I have for 

 ducking on the Sound, in this neighborhood? 2. Do you think a 9£ 

 pound gun too heavy for quail shooting? 3. Wouldasuitof bag (corn 

 bags) cloth be fcood for ducking in sedge grass, over a suit of old clothes? 

 Ans. 1. Shelldrakes, widgeon and black ducks. 2. We should not like 

 to carry it all day, but if you weigh 200 pounds it is not too heavy. 3. 

 Yes, if water was no objection. 



J. W. K., Ayer, Mass.— Do yon know of any person near Boston and 

 Worcester that can and would perform the operation of spay on a pup? 

 Also at what age had it ought to be performed. Ans. We d© not know 

 of any one in Massachusetts who performs the operation. The proper 

 time to have it done is before the pup is ten weeks old. If the operation 

 is performed after pups are grown up it enervates them, and they gen- 

 erally get very fat and their usefulness is partially destroyed. 



W. B., Monmouth Junction.— I have a hound dog eighteen months 

 old who has about two inches of his tail sore and the bone partly eaten 

 off lengthwise. He scratches himself constantly, and his coat smells 

 badly. He has a spot on his hip as large as a silver dollar which is bare 

 and red. His toe nails are from an inch to an inch and one-half long. 

 Can you tell what is the matter with him? Ans. Give your dog a small 

 dose of compound cathartic pills once a week for three weeks. Feed 

 moderately, and give him no meat; and give him plenty of exercise. 



L. E. 8., Philadelphia.— Is there not an explosive bullet manufactured; 

 and if so, where can it be purchased? What sort of a gun can it be 

 used in? 1 suppose it would be unsafe in anything but a breech-loader. 

 My idea was to try it on sharks. Would those bullets be safe to carry 

 or handle? Ans. The Mead explosive bullet Is used for rifles, and there 

 is an imported explosive bullet for shot guns. They are safe when 

 handled with care, and can probably be had through H. C. Squires, No. 

 1 Courtland street, this city. 



D. F. E., Strasburg.— 1. Will you please let me know if Ames' rifle 

 (holding 33 cartridges, or in that neighborhood,) has any reputation for 

 accuracy and penetratiou? 2. What would it cost to have a pair of 

 Gieener's choke-bore shot barrels fitted to a Remington stock (breech- 

 loaders), cost of barrels and fitting? Ans. 1. We know nothing about 

 the iifle. 2. The action would have to be sent to England, and the ex- 

 pense would be as much as the cost of a new gun . 



K. Virginia City, Montana.— I have a Parker gun, No. 10, choke-bore 

 At target it nhoots close and shows good penetration, but does not kill j 

 game dead. Not one bird in ten shot with it comes to the ground dead. 

 What is the cause? Is it in loading? I load with pink edge wads, two 

 generally on top of powder and one on shot, with from 3£ to .5 drs. of 

 powder, and from 1 to H ozs. of shot. Ans. There must be some error 

 about the penetration of your gun ; try it on wood. We once had a i0- 

 bore breech-loader, made by a celebrated maker, that would not kill 

 quail dead with less than 41 or 5 drs. powdtr. 



A. D. B., Carlisle, Pa.— My setter dog (two years old) has a large swell- 

 ing on his left shoulder, and on the point of the shoulder blade there is a 

 round rough lump forming. The swelling is quite large, and extending 

 over both shoulders. I am fearful that it may stiffen his leg. It does 

 not pain him or impede his movement, and after a day's hunt it is not 

 near so large. Will you please suggest some means by which I can re- 

 move the lump on the shoulder blade without resortiug to the knife? 

 Ans. Before resorting to the knife, try bathing repeatedly with crude 

 coal oil . 



L. C. W., Brookville, Saline Co., Ky.— I have a better bitch three 

 years old, in good condition; works well, eats well, and looks well 

 enough with two exceptions. Her nose is dry and hot, and has been for 

 the past two years and now she has a sort of cough. After coughing 

 two or three times tries to vomit, but generally nothing comes up. She 

 seems to feel as well as ever now, but the cough is getting worse and I 

 wish to find some remedy. Have given areca nut, and am now giving 

 pine tar. Ans. Try the following remedy: Barbadoes tar 2 drachms, 

 powdered squills, 4 drachms, extract of belladonna, 2 scruples, licorice 

 powder a sufficiency. Make into 20 pills and give four daily. 



G. C. R., Portland, Me.— 1. Can you give me the address of J. W. 

 Long, the author of "American Wild Fowl Shooting"? 2. Where can I 

 obtain a copy of the English Kennel Club Stud Book, and at what 

 price? 3. Where may I obtain the condition powders for dogs I have 

 often seen recommended in the Forest and Stbb am? 4. What would 

 be an A 1 pattern of No. 2, 4, 6 and 8 shot, 40 yards, 30-inch circle, with 

 a 12-gauge breech-loader, using 1J ounces of shot? An*. 1. J. W. Long, 

 Beethoven street, Ward 19, Boston, Mass. 2. The first two volumes, 

 new, can be had at this office; price, $13. 3. Our KennelEditor can 

 send them. 4. No. 8, 175; No. 6, 130; No. 4, 90, and No. 2, TO, would be 

 a good average. 



T. S.K., Allegheny, Pa. — 1. I have a fine skye terrier that I would 

 like to exhibit at a bench show in January, but his ears are so sore from 

 running through briars and underbrush that I am afraid he will not look 

 well. Please tell me in your next what I had better do for him. My 

 setter also hnd his front paw almost taken off by another dog; is it 

 best to let him lick the sore or not. 2. Also the best way to promote 

 the growth of hair on a dog that has had the mange. Ans. 1. Bathe 

 the dogs ears with a solution of sulphate of copper, 18 grains of the 

 sulphate to one ounce of water, and secure thenars with a cloth ove? 

 the head, so that he cannot shake the BCabt- oft .while the sbies are .heal- 

 ice. 2, It is bette?tb.5t your sett*t Mmu^ i* rV *V» *wm) - b 



