THE GAME BREEDER 



151 



Meal Worms. 



>ne of our subscribers writes for in- 

 formation about meal worms; where he 

 can procure them and how they are prop- 

 agated. 



These worms are used in feeding small 

 birds but we have never seen them used 

 on any of the American game farms and 

 preserves. We shall be glad to hear 

 from game keepers and others who may 

 have information on this subject. 



Replying to your letter of Jan. 4th, 

 we beg to advise that meal worms can 

 be grown by the following method: 



"Obtain an old barrel and place in the 

 bottom a few pieces of bread over which 

 sprinkle sufficient water to make it damp 

 but not soppy. Over this place a thick 

 piece of paper and on top of same two 

 or three layers of old white rags. The 

 meal worms must be placed in the bot- 

 tom of barrel with the bread. They can 

 be obtained from almost any bird store 

 and those wishing to follow these in- 

 structions can grow their own worms 

 without much difficulty." 



In addition to the bread, some people 

 sprinkle a small quantity of wheat bran 

 On same. 



We are making inquiries in regard to 

 Hue Pit Game and shall write to you 

 further upon the subject. 



We presume that you will send us 

 contract for current year for our sig- 

 nature and files in the near future. 

 Yours faithfully, 



Spratt's Patent, Ltd. 



Are Muskrats Vegetarians? 



Mr. J. H. Tubbs, writing to the 



Rural New-Yorker says: 



"I have just read with surprise Prof. Mas- 

 sey's statement that muskrats are 'entirely 

 vegetarian' in their eating'. It seems almost 

 like an impertinence to take issue with so 

 eminent an authority as Prof. Massey, but I 

 know positively that he is mistaken in this 

 matter. 1 myself have seen a muskrat grab 

 a wild duck and take it to his den in the 

 bank of a stream. I remember, too, of read- 

 ing somewhere that they are very destructive 

 to young wild water fowl of all kinds; also 

 that they are yreat egg eaters." 



Most naturalists believe the muskrat 



is largely if not wholly a vegetarian. 

 We have referred to the fact that wild 

 ducks often are abundant on ponds 

 where muskrats are abundant. We 

 know a gamekeeper, however, who says 

 he has seen a muskrat take a good sized 

 duck and now Mr. Tubbs says he has 

 seen a muskrat "grab" one. 



Probably there are muskrats and 

 muskrats, just as there are hawks and 

 hawks, some having perverted appetites. 

 The marsh hawk was pronounced a 

 "beneficial" hawk, but the keepers on 

 Martha's Vineyard, say he takes many 

 heath hens and is, in fact, one of the 

 worst enemies of this grouse. It may 

 be that the muskrats in some places, and 

 possibly in all, take more ducks than 

 they are believed to take. Gamekeepers 

 soon find out what is destroying their 

 game and soon put an end to the vermin 

 or reduce its numbers sufficiently to 

 show a big increase in the numbers of 

 the game birds. 



We shall be glad to print anything our* 

 readers may say about muskrats and 

 ducks. Since there were no muskrats in 

 the ponds where we have reared wild 

 clucks, we have had no personal experi- 

 ence with this subject. We have, how- 

 ever, often seen wild ducks swimming 

 about where the muskrats did not seem 

 to alarm them, and it occurred to us the 

 ducks would show fear if the muskrats 

 were in the habit of destroying them. 

 The safe rule on a game farm or pre- 

 serve is to see what they do and act 



accordingly. 



♦ 



The Sale of Venison in Maine. 



Chief Game Warden Frank M. Per- 

 kins of Bangor, made a few remarks on 

 the law applying to the sale of deer meat 

 as follows : 



"A marketman or provision dealer 

 having an established place of business, 

 selling deer meat under a license may 

 have in his possession at the close of the 

 season three deer to cut up and sell to 

 his local customers, but must not buy 

 any more after the season closes. No 

 deer shall be transported out of the State 

 by a resident of Maine after 12 o'clock 

 p. m. Wednesday, Residents arc allow- 



