NATURAL HISTORY. 



ns 



our places, and live in content, we must 

 keep out all injurious birds. The leader 

 of these is the English sparrow. It de- 

 stroys fruits and grain, disfigures build- 

 ings and drives away other birds. It in- 

 creases with great rapidity, and we should 

 all aid in exterminating it, while at the 

 same time making our places attractive to 

 the beneficial birds. 



began to fight. Possums out of the same 

 hole do not fight as a general thing, and 

 a hunter would take no notice of an oc- 

 casional growl from such animals in a 

 bag. 



A SNAPPING POSSUM. 

 J. E. TAYLOR. 



In October Recreation Mr. E. C. 

 Brown wastes 2 pages of space in an art- 

 icle headed "Fishing for Possum." My 

 experience leads me to believe some of 

 his statements the creation of a vivid 

 imagination rather than a plain narrative 

 of facts. 



For instance, when the author of this 

 romantic possum story had climbed the 

 tree to the hole and "peered down into 

 the opening," there came from it a "rapid 

 succession of sounds resembling the click 

 of a steel trap." Mr. Brown should have 

 the proud satisfaction of knowing his one 

 experience at that hole was different from 

 that of any other possum hunter on 

 record. I have cut possums out, dug them 

 out, pulled them out and punched them 

 out of holes; but never yet have I seen 

 one keyed up to a steel trap click, whether 

 I simply peered in the hole or punched 

 the beast to death in trying to get it out. 



Then think of a man having the nerve 

 to run his bare hand into the sacred domi- 

 cile of an animal after being warned by a 

 prolonged steel trap symphony! But 

 "with 2 fingers perforated and an arm 

 laid open in 3 long stripes," we find this 

 dauntless individual making a second at- 

 tempt with no more protection than a 

 felt hat! We are next told that the pos- 

 sum lay in such a considerate position 

 that a hook from a dangling line could 

 catch it under the tail. This possum was 

 surely different from others of its kind, 

 for they, when at home, invariably cover 

 up in a bed of leaves or other light stuff. 



And then when being lowered by the 

 string the "vicious little jaws" of this steel 

 trap wonder "were snapping right and 

 left." No, Mr. Brown, possums do not 

 snap right and left, and if you can prove 

 vours did I will pay your subscription to 

 Recreation for 10 years in advance. 



"A great scratching inside the hole in- 

 formed me that madame was also at 

 home." I presume this possum was afraid 

 it would be overlooked, though T never 

 knew one to court attention. They are 

 generally still as death, especially when 

 disturbed. Then there was Harry, who 

 knew all about possums, "between 2 fires" 

 when crossing a stream and the possums 



PANTHERS IN WISCONSIN. 

 I notice in Recreation a correspondent 

 inquires if panthers are now ever found 

 in Wisconsin. I am interested in the 

 subject, and should be glad of any infor- 

 mation from parties who have a positive 

 knowledge of the existence of such ani- 

 mals here. Early last fall while my wife 

 and I were enjoying^a trip up the Somo 

 river, we came across tracks of a different 

 sort from any we had seen before. They 

 were on an old road, and the soil being 

 sandy, and the time not long after a rain, 

 they were clearly defined. The outline of 

 the footprint was nearly round or similar 

 in shape to that of a house cat, the pad, or 

 ball of the foot, and each toe mark show- 

 ing plainly. I had a tape line with me, and 

 the exact diameter of the foot print was 

 5 inches. Tracks were about an hour old 

 when we saw them. I followed the trail 

 a short distance down the road, and a small 

 animal making same style of imprint had 

 joined the larger one. They had contin- 

 ued together and had finally turned off 

 into the brush. Could a lynx or a wildcat 

 have made tracks of that size? The tracks 

 were not those of a bear. Two weeks 

 prior to that time 2 parties from this place 

 were hunting in that neighborhood and 

 jumped an animal that they fired at, but 

 missed. It ran, or rather jumped, with 

 great rapidity, and was white or light col- 

 ored under the belly, but beyond that they 

 could not describe it, owing to intervening 

 bushes and trees. Are panthers ever 

 known to attack adult human beings un- 

 less wounded or suddenly surprised at 

 close quarters? 



J. C. Webster, Tomahawk, Wis. 



ANSWER. 



All the evidence in your letter, as well as 

 the probabilities, go to show that the ani- 

 mal was a panther. One form or other of 

 the species extends from the Atlantic to 

 the Pacific, and from Ottawa to South 

 America. Wisconsin is within the ac- 

 credited range. — Editor. 



CHINESE, MONGOLIAN OR ENGLISH ? 



In looking over April Recreation I 

 find a bit of pheasant lore from H. R. 

 Foster. There seems to be a great mis- 

 understanding about the proper name of 

 these birds. Is it Chinese, Mongolian, or 

 English? All I can find about these birds 

 is that the Chinese pheasant is found in 

 China, Corea and Mongolia, In the first 



