NATURAL HISTORY. 



221 



last. He was of great size. Our people 

 have always regarded "bi-su" as a de- 

 stroyer of "suc-se." 

 Chief Charles Pokagon, Hartford, Mich. 



Referring to Mr. Gilmore's experience 

 in Colorado, and the query, "Does the 

 Lynx Destroy Deer"': Three years ago last 

 fall, I was hunting deer in Northern Wis- 

 consin. Our camp was in a part of the 

 woods where lynxes were plentiful. Early 

 one morning, an hour after leaving camp, 

 I, with my companions, came upon the 

 carcass of a deer, the throat and shoulder 

 torn, bleeding and partly devoured. Al- 

 though the weather was freezing, the body 

 of the deer was warm and limber. The 

 deer had been dead but a short time. It 

 was a fawn, apparently in good condition, 

 and we could discover no wounds on its 

 body, other than those made by the ani- 

 mal,' which, apparently, had been devouring 

 it when frightened away by our approach. 

 There was no snow at the time, and tracks 

 could not be seen, but there was evidence 

 of a struggle. The fawn lay a few steps 

 from the edge of a lake, where it had 

 probably been drinking when pounced on 

 by the beast which destroyed it. We were 

 convinced the fawn had been killed by a 

 lynx. We found lynx tracks numerous 

 when the snow came, and several of these 

 animals were killed in the locality. There 

 were no wolves or dogs in that vicinity. 

 J. S. Edmond, Janesville, Minn,. 



SHREWDNESS OF MINK. 



The Delaware river is famous for its 

 suckers, which the natives of this region 

 consider a great delicacy in the winter and 

 early spring. The suckers begin to run 

 up stream as soon as the ice breaks up. 

 The ordinary way of catching them is with 

 a hooped fyke, made of cdtton twine. 

 Sometimes more are caught than can be 

 consumed and for convenience they are 

 put in a perforated box and kept alive in 

 pure running water. They can then be 

 dressed for the table as wanted. 



In March, 1880, I had a fine box of 

 these fish in a small brook near the house. 

 They kept disappearing night after night, in 

 lots of half a dozen at a time. As I had a 

 good bulldog lock on the box I could not 

 account for my losses. The box showed 

 no indication of having been disturbed. 

 In the lid, which was 6 inches above 

 the water, was a round hole 2^ 

 inches in diameter. Examining this hole, 

 I found signs of some small animal hav- 

 ing passed in and out, so the next night, 

 there being a bright moon, I armed myself 

 with a gun, took a position on a bank 

 near, and awaited developments. In an 

 hour I saw a dark animal approach with 

 all the air of being thoroughly acquainted 



with the premises. He quickly scrambled 

 on the lid and disappeared in a twinkling 

 through the hole. At that moment a 

 larger mink appeared, and then another. 

 The last comer boldly mounted, and pass- 

 ing by the large mink, disappeared through 

 the hole,. 



Presently I heard the fish splashing and 

 saw the large mink put his paws through 

 the hole, pidl forth a fish and lay it down. 

 Immediately one of the minks came out, 

 seized the fish and disappeared with it in 

 the shadow of an overhanging bank. Then 

 there was more splashing and the large 

 mink reached in again and abstracted an- 

 other sucker. Out popped the other 'mink, 

 and made off with it after the first. Then 

 the large mink went in, caught a sucker and 

 tried to push it upward through the hole. 

 After repeated trials he suddenly emerged 

 without the fish and springing down took 

 the trail of his companions. In a few mo- 

 ments he came back followed by the others. 

 All immediately scrambled on the box 

 again and the large one at once diapp eared 

 down thi hole. Soon a fish was pulled 

 forth by one of the minks on the c/tside 

 and carried off. This the others repeated. 

 By that time the first was back and dupli- 

 cated the order and thus they kept up the 

 performance until the fish were all gone 

 except a pickerel weighing perhaps 5 

 pounds. 



When the mink attempted to kill him 

 there was an unusually loud splashing. The 

 accomplices outside peered down anxiously 

 at the battle. Presently they, too, entered 

 the box, when taking advantage of the 

 noise I placed a flat stone over the hole 

 and had the thieves secured. 



I left them until morning, and as their 

 pelts were salable, killed them. The stolen 

 fish were carried about 50 feet and deposit- 

 ed in an old stone wall. Every one had 

 been killed by a bite in the back of the 

 neck, severing the vertebral column. 

 M. L. Michael, North W r ater Gap, Pa. 



HIS PET COONS CALLED. 



The Natural History department of 

 Recreation is both interesting and in- 

 structive, and to me is one of the best 

 features of your excellent magazine. Some 

 of the statements made by contributors to 

 this department are surprising to say the 

 least. One asks. "Do grouse drink?" and 

 another asserts that they do not. Another 

 wishes to know if coons can call, and some- 

 body comes up to say that they can not. 

 I have never seen a grouse drink, but in 

 their general make-up and habits they 

 seem to be not unlike other birds that do 

 drink, so I simply take it for granted that 

 grouse drink. However, I can make the 

 positive statement that, at least, some coons 

 do give a loud call. The nearest approach 



