66 



R EC RE A TION. 



pigeons, of any kind, in Central America. 

 This is not evidence that such flocks do not 

 exist there; for while I have repeatedly 

 ridden from side to side and end to end of 

 the republic of Honduras, and have tra- 

 versed Nicaragua from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific slope, and from the Southern- 

 most limit to its Northern boundary, 

 there are large areas in each of those re- 

 publics which I have not seen. Of Gua- 

 tamala, Salvador and Costa Rica I have 

 seen but little. 



I may add that while I have spent weeks 

 in tramping and in riding, on mule or in 

 canoe, through the forests and pine clad 

 opens, over grassy prairies and along 

 rivers and lagoons, I have never seen nor 

 heard of birds of any kind which eat grain 

 being found in flocks. 



In those republics wood doves or ring 

 doves are found. They are of sizes from 

 that of a Baltimore oriole to that of a pas- 

 senger pigeon 24 grown. They are always 

 in pairs, and seldom if ever seen in flocks. 

 They make most affectionate pets, and are 

 easily domesticated, as are, indeed, many 

 of the birds which we do not think of as 

 tameable — the egrets, for example. 



In those countries are no large forests of 

 oaks, beeches or of other trees to furnish 

 food in considerable quantities for pigeons; 

 nor is there wheat, barley, oats or rye. 

 Even of rice there is little grown. Rubber 

 trees yield seeds on which the pavos, or 

 turkeys, feed; but rubber trees are few and 

 far between. There are many seed bearing 

 plants from which pigeons might get food, 

 but they are rarely found together in such 

 numbers as would support large flocks of 

 birds. These facts would tend to lead such 

 birds to go in pairs, or in small numbers. 



E. W. Perry. 



THE DOPING HABIT. 



Oakmont, Pa. 

 Editor Recreation: I know nothing 

 about " doping " of wild carnivora, and 

 cannot remember seeing a cat or dog prac- 

 tise so nasty a trick; but surely it cannot 

 be that animals, wild or tame, practise this 

 to " break scent." That would involve a 

 much higher degree of mentality that I am 

 willing to concede any animal, but most of 

 all, it would certainly be ineffective. All 

 accounts of good man-tracking hounds 

 mention that no " scent breakers," garlic, 

 onions, etc., give the hounds serious 

 trouble. Further, I have known foxhounds 

 pick up a fox trail, just after a fight with a 

 skunk had resulted in their stinking so hor- 

 ribly as to be unendurable, and there have 

 been many accounts in our sportsmen's 

 papers of dogs pointing game when di- 

 rectly to leeward of some decomposing an- 

 imal. Surely the mere smell of carrion 

 could not break the scent for a fairly decent 



trailer, when the essence of skunk has not 

 the least effect. The fact seems to be that 

 the distinctions and differences in scents, 

 are in kind, not in degree. My valued 

 friend " Coquina " told me some years 

 since of a lady who could distinguish dif- 

 ferent persons by their smell quite as accu- 

 rately as any hound can, and this is a com- 

 mon ability of those of the deaf-blind, who 

 possess a keen sense of smell. 



Our inimitable " Uncle Dick " once 

 made a bet with the owner of an exceed- 

 ingly ferocious dog, that he could go into 

 the yard guarded by the dog, and it would 

 run from him. Dick mashed up a handful 

 of red peppers, wrapped them up in a 

 cheese cloth, which he put at the end of a 

 stick, and when the dog rushed at him. 

 shoved the stick at his face. The dog 

 grabbed it — and immediately had business 

 elsewhere. Then Dick played double or 

 quits, betting that he could go into that 

 yard and the dog would follow him out of 

 it, peaceably. Dick went home, saturated 

 the legs of his breeches with the oestrum 

 odor and went into the yard, and although 

 .the dog was a bit shy for awhile, it finally 

 followed him out, and great was the fall of 

 that dog in the eyes of the urchins! Be- 

 tween peppers and certain odors a pro- 

 tection could always be had from him. and 

 his owner's garden, cherry trees, and grape 

 vines were thereafter at the boys' mercy. 



W. Wade. 



I see in the October Recreation some 

 accounts of wolves and dogs rolling in car- 

 rion, etc. 



I think it is done more to drive away 

 fleas and the like, than anything else, be- 

 cause if there is anything that a flea abhors, 

 it is something that has the odor or ap- 

 pearance of death. Everyone who lias shot 

 rabbits has seen the fleas leave them be- 

 fore they were done kicking. 



We don't try to vie with Missouri, but if 

 people think they can get ahead of us in 

 the matter of raising porkers of the genus 

 homo they must get up and hustle. 



There are many people here who hound 

 deer all summer, not making any bones 

 about it, because there seems to be no one 

 who cares whether we have any deer next 

 year or not. 



John Johnson, Merrill, Wis. 



I have been quite interested in the the- 

 ories as to why wolves, dogs, and foxes 

 dope; for foxes also dope. I killed one 

 last fall that was covered as badly as any 

 dog I ever saw. My theory is that they dc 

 it to gratify their love for filth. 



H. M. B. Gaylordsville. Conn. 



