222 



RECREATION. 



to it in sound, that I ever noticed, is the 

 call of a skunk, though the 2 sounds are 

 not the same. Most of my observation 

 concerning coons was made on a pair I 

 once had for pets. They were taken about 

 June 10th, out of a tree that had been cut 

 down for wood, and when taken were 

 about the size of a common rat. They 

 were brought up on a bottle and so be- 

 came very tame. This was done by one of 

 my neighbors who afterward tired of his 

 pets, and I got them about August 1st. 

 They were allowed their full liberty, going 

 where they pleased, naving a nest up on the 

 woodpile in the shed. Those coons could 

 call, and in a way that would touch one's 

 heart, especially when they were teasing 

 for maple sugar or cherries, of which they 

 were very fond. I have taken a lump of 

 sugar, given them a taste, and then held 

 it out of their reach, allowing them to 

 crawl over me in their efforts to get it, 

 and what I listened to was no owl chatter ; 

 it was coon chatter, pure and simple. I 

 have observed many other conditions 

 under which coons call. 



E. T. Wheelock, Swanton, Vt. 



MULE VS. BLACKTAIL. 



I have just read in Recreation the in- 

 quiry of Mr. Morris, of Florence, Mont., 

 as to how to distinguish blacktail deer from 

 mule deer and your answer thereto. You 

 say that the blacktail deer is almost iden- 

 tical with the whitetail deer, except that 

 its tail is black on the outside; and that the 

 mule deer is the same as the blacktail deer, 

 only its ears are shaped like a mule's. I 

 have been hunting and killing deer in New 

 Mexico, Western Texas, Arizona and Old 

 Mexico the past 23 years and your an- 

 swer to Mr. Morris interested me. I have 

 never seen but 2 mule deer ; that is, ani- 

 mals that were called mule deer by old 

 Western sportsmen who ought to know, 

 Those 2 deer were killed by George Sligh 

 and Will Lane, on the South slope of 

 Carizo mountain, Lincoln county, New 

 Mexico, in the winter of '81. The largest 

 one weighed 450 and the other 325 pounds. 

 The fat on their hams was an inch thick. 

 They looked something like a blacktail, 

 only they did not have any horns. It is 

 my opinion, formed from the suggestions 

 of old hunters, that the mule deer is a 

 cross between the blacktail and the elk 

 and is alluded to as the "mule deer," not 

 because it has ears like a mule, but be- 

 cause it is "muley" — without horns. The 

 ears on those 2 deer were just like those 

 of any other deer. All species of deer 

 have the same kind of ears, only those of 

 the whitetail are larger in proportion to \he 

 size of the animal than those of the black- 

 tail. The whitetail deer is only about half 



as large as the blacktail and his tail is 3 

 times as long. When he runs it flaps up 

 and down while Mr. Blacktail keeps a 

 tight grip on that appendage as he bounds 

 along. J. D Lea, El Paso, Texas. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 

 Does the English ringneck cock pheasant 

 naturally crow like a domestic cock? If 

 not, then I have one that is a curiosity in 

 that respect. He will stretch up his neck, 

 throw back his head and crow in almost 

 exact imitation of a bantam cock. During 

 the performance he looks as if he 

 was trying to swallow his tongue. Have 

 watched him often at close range and am 

 certain the sound is not an abortive attempt 

 to utter some other cry. At times he 

 makes a sound similar to the k-e-o-u-k of 

 a turkey. My birds are penned close to the 

 poultry yard and I sometimes think the 

 cock has learned a trick from chanticleer. 

 A. C. Thatcher, Urbana, O. 



Man ' eould not live in a birdless world. A 

 French naturalist asserts that if all the birds in 

 the world were to die suddenly human life on 

 this planet would become extinct in 9 years. In 

 spite of all the sprays and poisons which could 

 be manufactured to kill off destructive slugs and 

 insects they would so multiply that in that length 

 of time they would have eaten up all the orchards 

 and crops in existence, and man would be starved 

 to death. All that man does in the way of "pre- 

 serving to our use the kindly fruits of the earth" 

 is as nothing compared with what is accomplished 

 by the vast army of birds which prey on insect 

 life and thus keep it down to a point which per- 

 mits of the growth of sufficient food to support 

 human life. Take away the birds and in 9 years 

 not a man, woman or child would be alive. All 

 would be dead of starvation. — Exchange. 



Last fall while cutting up corn, my hired 

 man saw a large garter snake crawl from 

 under the bundle which he was lifting. 

 Striking it with his corn knife, he cut it 

 in 2 and we were much surprised to find 

 it literally full of shelled corn. There 

 was at least a third of a pint of the 

 grains, all in the "milk" stage. I never 

 heard of the like before. Did any of 

 Recreation's readers? 



A. C. Thatcher, Urbana, O. 



Did you ever notice when walking up a 

 pair of mallards that the duck always flies 

 first? I have watched them many times, 

 sometimes when the duck was a little slow 

 about getting up the drake would seem un- 

 easy, but he always watched until the duck 

 started. Of course he would be a close 

 second, but he waited every time. 



S. N. Leek, Jackson, Wyo. 



Recent letters in Recreation remind me 

 that last summer many grouse visited 

 every day a spring on our place. I watched 

 them several times, and saw them drink 

 just as chickens would. 



Lester Locke, Arko, Ore, 



