NATURAL HISTORY. 



3*9 



sportsman, in my life, who did not want 

 the largest horns he could get, on all his 

 heads. 



Mr. Hornaday is in error when he says 

 this buffalo head of mine has not long hair. 

 The bull was killed in the dead of winter, 

 high up in the mountains, and has ex- 

 tremely long hair; though the horns are so 

 large and so long they might cause one to 

 think the coat was short. Had the hair 

 been left matted, as in the cut Mr. H. shows, 

 the " chestnut locks," as he calls them, 

 would have fallen in a ragged mass over 

 the head and horns, as on the old bull killed 

 and mounted by Mr. Hornaday, which, by 

 the way, has brought forth as much criti- 

 cism, from taxidermists and naturalists, as 

 any specimen in the National Museum. 

 Men who should know what a buffalo looks 

 like claim the body of this specimen is 

 stretched out of all proportion, and that the 

 hump is twice the size it should be. I no- 

 tice Mr. Hornaday has wisely left these de- 

 fects out of the photograph.* 



He says he challenges the world to sur- 

 pass, in real magnificence, the head of this 

 old bad lands bull. All right Mr. Horna- 

 day; I accept the challenge. Make it an 

 object and I will match you for real mag- 

 nificence, size of skull, size and length of 

 horns and chestnut brown locks. 



I also noticed in August Recreation a 

 few remarks regarding my big buffalo 

 head, from a man signing himself " On- 

 yitta," Manchester, N. H. 



It is really unnecessary to answer him, 

 and I presume every sportsman who read 

 his remarks made up his mind the man 

 never saw a buffalo. • 



I wish to ask the old time buffalo hunters 

 how many buffalo, in a herd, they ever saw 

 with horns the same shape and curve. This 

 man from New Hampshire might be able to 

 pass judgment on boiled horns, stewed 

 tripe, etc.; but his judgment would not 

 carry much weight on buffalo heads. He 

 says " the skin seems to have been 

 stretched. The head looks swelled, and the 

 horns are set too low." He is inclined to 

 think an artificial skull is on the inside, and 

 that the horns have been boiled. 



While I am inclined to think this New 

 Hampshire man was just getting over a 

 case of prostration, and that he must have 

 in mind some of the animals he saw while 

 he "had 'em"; yet if he, or any other 

 reader of Recreation doubts the measure- 

 ments of this head as given, and will deposit 

 $500. with any responsible person, I will 

 send a like amount, with the head for dis- 

 section, and prove that the skull is natural; 

 that the horns are natural; that they have 

 never been off the skull; that the measure- 



* The photograph Mr. Hornaday sent me for publication 

 shows the entire animal, but I had the cut made to show 

 only the head, as that was the only part in controversy. 

 The specimen shows an excellent piece of taxidermy, if I 

 may be permitted to judge. — Editor. 



ments given are correct, and that the horns 

 have not been stewed. 



Since this head was shown in May Rec- 

 reation I have received a great many let- 

 ters congratulating me on owning such a 

 large, well mounted buffalo head. Many 

 travelers, who saw the cut in Recreation, 

 have come in, measured and examined the 

 head and all pronounced it the largest and 

 best they ever saw. W. F. Sheard. 



WHY IS IT? 



Cohasset P. O., Itasca County, Minn. 



Editor Recreation: I noticed the in- 

 quiry of E. S. Thompson as to why wolves 

 roll in carrion. I have never seen a wolf 

 do this, but have seen dogs, of different 

 breeds, rub and roll on the dead carcasses 

 of animals, reptiles and birds, in different 

 stages of decomposition, from the recently 

 killed subject to the most stinking and rot- 

 ten stage. I have studied the habit, closely, 

 and have noticed that if the carcass is fat 

 or oily, the dogs will rub and roll on it 

 before it has much if any smell, other than 

 the natural smell of the subject. 



As the habit is practiced by non-hunting 

 dogs, and by hunting dogs when not on 

 hunting excursions, it would seem to do 

 away with the theory that the doping is 

 done for the purpose of disguising the 

 dog's or the wolf's own odor, to aid him 

 in catching game. 



I have noticed the peculiar actions and 

 expressions of a dog at such times. The 

 mind seems to be a blank to everything 

 else. He pays no attention to being scold- 

 ed, sometimes requiring the use of a whip 

 to get him away from the carcass. Then, if 

 not watched, he will return to it, if passing 

 that way some hours afterward. 



In some such cases, I have allowed my 

 dogs to stay and roll until satisfied, and 

 when they came to me they seemed to say, 

 by their actions and expressions, 



" I disobeyed you, but have been true to 

 my own law." 



Shall we call this habit or superstition? 

 Possibly our dogs are controlled by other 

 dogs' spirits. 



I am an investigator, evolutionist, and 

 mental scientist, and believe in the power 

 of the mind to produce peculiar character- 

 istics. 



I should like to hear from some of the 

 readers of Recreation with regard to the 

 condition of the various hibernating ani- 

 mals, in spring. The old saying that " they 

 go in as fat as butter and come out as thin 

 as a rail " does not prove true with the 

 bear, excepting with the female when she 

 has cubs. I caught a male bear that was 

 very fat. about the 20th of May. 



Would also like to know if all hibernat- 

 ing animals have the valve (Foramen ovale) 

 open while hibernating? Or do they open 

 and close it at will? William Dicer. 



