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THE GAME BREEDER 



A Sample Letter. 



Dear Dr. — Enclosed order for three pair of 

 R. N. pheasants. This customer wants pair 

 Hungarian, paid Mongolian and pair English 

 pheasants, all the very same birds about. But 

 to please will you please ship 1 big cock R. N., 

 1 ordinary cock R. N. and 1 cock, pull out 

 the white feathers around the neck, called 

 them Hungarian, not showing much R. F 

 pheasants, hens any Ok. In breeding these 

 class of birds they come in all kinds of plum- 

 age. Some even come almost white all over, 

 called white pheasants. 



I will allow you $3.50 per pair, and expect 

 to sell the rest of your R. N. in few days. I 

 understand you have seven pair to sell. Please 

 do let us hear from you. Please do the best 

 you can as to above order. 



Pack carefully and best separate hens from 

 cocks. If peaceful, ok., pack all together. 



The writer of the above letter is no longer 

 a member of the Game Conservation Society. 

 His membership was cancelled and he is not 

 permitted to advertise in The Game Breeder. 



The Control of Snapping Turtles. 



Many wild duck breeders complain 

 about the losses due to snapping turtles. 



We had a short article about the plac- 

 ing of steel traps at the side of the 

 turtles' runways so as to prevent the 

 turtles from springing the traps without 

 getting caught. This was accompanied 

 by a pencil sketch which we gave to an 

 artist to be redrawn. It seems to have 

 been mislaid. 



The trap should be set at one side of 

 the runway so as to catch the turtle by 

 the foot. We have asked an expert of 

 the Oneida Community, Ltd., to describe 

 the trap recommended for turtles and 

 we would advise our readers to use it as 

 directed. We shall get another diagram 

 and publish it. 



Turtles can be caught on fish hooks 

 baited with fish, meat or small birds 

 (sparrows). These hooks should be at- 

 tached to a fine wire to prevent the tur- 

 tles cutting loose, and many hooks can 

 be suspended from a strong line stretched 

 across the pond. 



Small ponds can be dynamited to ad- 

 vantage before the ducks are introduced. 

 Write to the du Fonts or The Hercules 

 Powder Company about the cost of this 

 work. 



At the Game Breeders' Association, 

 where the turtles were a pest, we ran 



a small chicken wire in the water a few 

 feet from the shore and a high wire 

 at the rear of the coops on the bank, 

 with end wires connecting these two 

 wire fences so as to make an inclosure 

 containing a long narrow strip of water 

 and a yard for the coops. 



The turtles in the pond tried to get 

 at the young ducklings and when they 

 appeared outside the wire many were 

 shot by the keepers from a boat and 

 from the shore. 



A gamekeeper who called on The 

 Game Breeder recently said that turtles 

 could get over a low wire two or three 

 feet high from the land, but we had 

 no trouble on this score since we used 

 a five-foot wire. 



Turtles will travel from one pond to 

 another, so that it is advisable to wire 

 the entire pond against them, and to ex- 

 terminate those in the inclosure. A good 

 keeper with gun and traps will not let 

 the turtles take many of the ducklings. 



Turtles, of course, are easily extermin- 

 ated in ponds which easily can be 

 drained and refilled. 



We shall be glad to print any other 

 remedial suggestions our members may 

 make. 



Isaac Walton's Turtle. 



In recalling interesting observations I 

 remember when a boy of setting a trap 

 for muskrats in the water close to our 

 shop. During the afternoon in looking 

 out of a second story window to see if 

 the trap had been disturbed saw near 

 the trap a large snapping turtle in about 

 ten inches of water with his head drawn 

 back, showing only a small portion of its 

 head. He had something- white in his 

 mouth looking much like a white grub. 

 I watched it intently, wondering why it 

 remained so still instead of eating the 

 grub. Presently a white fish nearly six 

 inches long appeared and soon made a 

 dash on the white grub and to its sor- 

 row as the turtle made a move some- 

 what slower than lightning, seized the 

 fish and at once began eating it. 



I ran to the other end of the shop 

 and told father, who grabbed up his 

 cane rifle and loaded it, while I ran 



