53 



RECREA TION, 



this idea is apparent at a glance. The 

 respiratory organs of the otter and mink 

 differ in no way from those of the raccoon 

 and rabbit. So far as I can see their lung 

 capacity is comparatively no greater. How, 

 then, can the otter stay so long beneath the 

 surface when the rabbit can hardly survive 

 a momentary submersion? " 



It is an interesting question, and one 

 many of your readers, no doubt, would like 

 to see scientifically, or at least intelligently, 

 answered. Nearly 30 years ago I was trap- 

 ping on the tributaries of the North Platte 

 river, above Fort Fetterman, in Wyoming. 

 I frequently found beaver alive in my traps, 

 and invariably on my appearance they 

 would sink slowly to the bottom of the 

 pond and remain there, immovable, until an 

 attempt was made to pull them out. On 

 several occasions I tried to ascertain how 

 long they could remain beneath the sur- 

 face, but in no instance did I succeed. On 

 a pleasant morning I have lain on the bank 

 and watched a beaver, with almost breath- 

 less anxiety, thinking every moment he 

 must come up for air; but over and over 

 again I exhausted my patience, and am as 

 ignorant to-day of how long a beaver can 

 stay under water as though I had never 

 seen one. I will not attempt to state how 

 long I have watched them, for in fact I do 

 not know. But I do know that no inex- 

 perienced reader would believe my state- 

 ment should I tell him the exact truth. 

 Cannot the author of '" The Big Game of 

 North America " and " Hunting in the 

 Great West " throw some light on this sub- 

 ject? J. W. B. 



Referred to my readers. — Editor. 



WINTER FOOD OF SHARP-TAIL GROUSE. 



In March Recreation is an article 

 which refers to the food of the Northern 

 sharp-tail grouse, during the winter. It 

 mentions twigs, buds and a dark red berry. 

 I think this must be the berry of our 

 wild rose which is abundant in the wooded 

 parts of Manitoba and which is also found 

 on the prairie in some places. This rose 

 bush, in favorable seasons, yields a won- 

 derful crop of beautiful and fragrant flow- 

 ers, followed by a crop of berries. These, 

 in early autumn, turn to a rich and some- 

 times dark red, and remain on the bushes 

 all winter. In fact I have seen them 

 among the roses the following summer. 

 These berries are the favorite food of the 

 sharp-tail after it has been driven from the 

 stubble fields by the snow. I think, while 

 these berries are to be found the grouse 

 will eat few twigs or buds. Some years 

 ago, when the shooting season remained 

 open until January, I shot some -of these 

 birds and on opening their crops, found 

 them to contain nothing but the rose ber- 

 ries. Of course, there were plenty of buds 

 and twigs to be had if they had wanted 



them. Their favorite buds are, I think, 

 the high cranberry and hazel. In regard 

 to the sharp-tail burrowing in the snow, 

 when frightened, I am confident it does 

 not; but I know it burrows in the snow 

 quite often to sleep and to protect its self 

 from cold winds. I have often, when walk- 

 ing, seen a flock start out of the snow 

 around me, sometimes within 2 feet of 

 where I stood. 



Geo. Compton, Opawakae, Man. 



SWIMMING SKUNK AND RABBITS. 



Last winter while tracking a skunk I fol- 

 lowed the footprints to a creek 10 or 12 feet 

 wide, and 2 feet deep. The skunk went 

 along the bank for a short distance and 

 then swam across. I could see where the 

 water had dripped from its fur to the snow, 

 as it walked away. The animal recrossed 

 the same stream that night by swimming. 



Three years ago I spent 2 months in 

 Alabama, on the Warrior river, and while 

 there killed a few rabbits of a kind new to 

 me. The natives called them water rabbits. 

 They are the color of the common gray 

 rabbit, and as large, or nearly so, as the 

 jack rabbit. All I found were sitting near 

 the water, arong the river. One sat in water 

 perhaps an inch deep, but with good cover 

 about him. One day while drifting with the 

 current, watching for game ahead and along 

 the banks, I saw something swimming in 

 front of us. My partner said it was an ot- 

 ter, and so I thought. As it passed out of 

 sight around the bend, we put to shore and 

 I got out and ran aross and below where 

 we saw it last. Coming cautiously to the 

 bank, I saw the wake of something just be- 

 low me and still thinking it an otter I raised 

 my gun and kept a sharp lookout. Soon I 

 saw something move, in a bunch of floating 

 weeds, and so did a passing hawk. The 

 bird swooped, missed its quarry and, see- 

 ing me as it rose, sailed away. Then the 

 animal in the water moved again and I 

 fired. 



You can imagine my surprise on drawing 

 from the water, a rabbit as large as 2 of the 

 common cotton-tails. 



C. E. McDermott, LeRoy, O. 



ADMINISTERING MEDICINE TO 

 ANIMALS. 



The article by Dr. J. C. Hennessy in 

 March Recreation " On Educating the 

 Horse " is very interesting. The simple 

 methods he mentions for treating balky 

 horses are worth knowing. I hope we shall 

 hear more from the Doctor. 



A man well known in this vicinity, as an 

 expert in training horses, stopped in front 

 of my store the other day with a sick horse 

 and wanted 15 drops of aconite to give to 

 him. I gave him the desired quantity in a 

 medicine dropper supposing he would open 

 the horse's mouth and put it on the tongue. 



