282 



RECREATION. 



small fry that bite viciously. There 

 is no known case of skunks having 

 rabies, and it is highly improbable they 

 ever have anything worse than a harmless 

 fit. If a bite was ever serious it was 

 through the skunk having eaten some 

 poison, which in turn entered the bite, an 

 experience possible with any of our per- 

 fectly safe domestic animals. 



In their free state skunks have 2 litters 

 annually, of 3 to 5 each; but in confine- 

 ment, if suitably housed and sure of feed, 

 could be induced to have several, when- 

 ever planned by the raiser. One male to 

 15 of the gentler sex would be about right; 

 but, again referring to domestic stock rais- 

 ing, all the same principles are applicable. 

 If the skunks are to be yarded small 

 bands of 16, with one male, do best. When 

 actually breeding, it is well to have a dou- 

 ble supply of males, keeping half fresh in 

 individual pens and alternating them with 

 those in use. If the method is to let them 

 run riot among a lot of tumble-down 

 buildings that have been enclosed, then 

 one male to about 30 females has proved 

 best, alternating them with fresh ones, ac- 

 cording to the observations of the raiser. 

 When the males show a tendency to mo- 



nogamy they should be changed about fre- 

 quently; if they show less discrimination, 

 then not so often. 



Skunks should be bred to skin in Jan- 

 uary and February, as then the fur attains 

 its perfect condition. Sometimes the fur 

 is perfect from the 1st of December, but 

 more often prior to January it is hairy 

 rather than furry, and lacks its exquisite, 

 sleek gloss and silkiness. After February 

 it rapidly becomes rusty in color and wool- 

 ly. The skunk is invariably subject to this 

 change wherever his new home is or 

 former habitation may have been. He 

 will not, however, deteriorate or change 

 otherwise one particle in confinement; 

 and could only acquire the inferior charac- 

 teristics of the local skunk through being 

 allowed to again go free and become wild. 

 Even then it would require 3 or 4 genera- 

 tions to acquire the local qualities; and the 

 good qualities brought from elsewhere 

 would also be in marked evidence, as in 

 all breeding stock. 



I admit myself stumped on the question 

 of how many males and females may be re- 

 lied on to a litter. I pass it on to the 

 next. Any other question I challenge and 

 will gladly answer. 



HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE. 



ARTHUR F. RICE. 



There are many out-of-the-way places 

 in the Adirondacks where the game laws 

 are violated with comparative impunity 

 because of their remoteness, the ineffi- 

 ciency of game wardens, the temptation to 

 procure meat for the lumber camps, and 

 the notion of some permanent residents 

 that the game laws are an infringement 

 of their private rights. All these things 

 conspire to make the killing of deer out 

 of season, or in excess of the legal quota, 

 more common than is generally believed. 



It is the mission of the League of Amer- 

 ican Sportsmen to ferret out and convict 

 these violators of the law; but it is also 

 the pleasant duty of the League to put on 

 record those who steadfastly adhere to the 

 laws, and, without apparent regard to self- 

 interest, refrain from breaking them them- 

 selves or allowing others to do so where 

 they can prevent it. Such a man is Clar- 

 ence A. McArthur, proprietor of the ho- 

 tel known as "McCollom's," 10 miles 

 Northwest of Paul Smith's. McCollom's 

 used to be a famous place for hounding, 

 and when that form of sport came within 

 the limits of the law, big parties used to go 

 there in the fall with every probability of 

 a successful hunt. When hounding be- 



came illegal, McArthur stopped it him- 

 self, and compelled every one else to stop 

 it at McCollom's, although it is morally 

 certain that many of these parties went 

 elsewhere where the laws were not so 

 strictly enforced — to Lake Placid, for ex- 

 ample, where, if numerous well-authenti- 

 cated reports can be believed, hounding 

 has been going on during the past season, 

 and certain hotel proprietors and others 

 who pose as advocates of game protection 

 have been among the most flagrant vio- 

 lators of the law. They will hear from 

 the L. A. S. a little later. 



But now mark the results. The hunters 

 went away from McCollom's, but the deer 

 did not; and while other sections were be- 

 ing depleted by illegal killing and the deer 

 were driven out by dogs, they found a 

 sanctuary in McArthur's preserve, and 

 flourished and multiplied, until, now, he has 

 one of the best still-hunting territories in 

 the Adirondacks. I understand that in the 

 Lake Placid region and other similar law- 

 less sections it is becoming difficult for a 

 man to get a deer by still-hunting. At 

 McCollom's, judging from the number I 

 saw there last season, he must be a poor 

 shot or in exceedingly bad luck who can- 



