226 



RECREA TION. 



MARMOT OR WOODCHUCK ? 



I read with interest the article " In the 

 Olympic Mountains," by C. C. Maring. Is 

 it not probable — I am asking for informa- 

 tion — that the whistling marmot, spoken of 

 by him, is the woodchuck, ground hog or 

 " simeur," of the Northern States? Or is 

 it another, who whistles more? 



Many a time, in Western New York, I 

 have heard 'the woodchuck's whistle, espe- 

 cially if, close pushed by dogs, he ran into 

 the butt of a hollow txee and climbed part 

 way up. He objected to being smoked out, 

 and said so, in whistling protests. The 

 sound, which is probably a squeal, may be 

 closely imitated by the whistle produced by 

 blowing between the fingers. A sharp, 

 ringing whistle, with an upward ending 

 pitch, " wheeet! " followed by a tremulous 

 descent of the scale, " whe-e-e-e-e-e," 

 rapidly repeated 8 or 10 times. 



Fishing one day on Lake Delevan, I 

 called the attention of my companion to 

 one of these marmots, 40 or more rods 

 away, on a log, and asked if he would like to 

 see him stand up; offering a wager of a big 

 apple that I could make him do the trick. 

 The bet was taken, and I won by imitating 

 his whistle through my fingers. 



The note is one of anger, and possibly a 

 love call. The animal here in Illinois is the 

 exact counterpart of the woodchuck of my 

 boyhood, and I should like to know 

 whether the whistler or " siffleur," which is 

 French for the same word — spoken of by 

 C. C. M., is not the same Arctomys empetra, 

 who whistles more because it is colder in 

 the Olympic mountains. 



C. C. Haskins, Chicago, 111. 



A GREAT DEER PARK IN COLORADO. 



A year ago some Colorado men, who are 

 interested in preserving our big game ani- 

 mals from extinction, found that by run- 

 ning a fence, 3 miles long, across the mouth 

 of a certain canyon in Garfield county, they 

 could fence in a deer range of 1,800 acres. 

 This was accordingly done, and on count- 

 ing up their herd the men found they had 

 thus captured and enclosed about 150 head 

 of mule deer. 



These gentlemen have meantime acquired 

 a legal title to all this land and have or- 

 ganized The Glen Beulah Park Associa- 

 tion, with John Himebaugh as president 

 and C. E. Noble as secretary. The other 

 charter members are D. B. Fairley, C. W. 

 Fairley, E. W. Giddings and E. Barnett, of 

 Colorado Springs, and C. N. Priddy, C. E. 

 Dickinson and W. H. Beeman, of Lead- 

 ville. 



The association has provided for feeding 

 the deer, in winter, and will buy and turn 

 into their park a number of young elk. 



This is a commendable piece of work, on 

 the part of these gentlemen, and it is hoped 

 their example will be followed by many 

 people in other Western States, 



IS THIS THE RECORD MOOSE HEAD? 



I noticed in February Recreation a de- 

 scription of a moose head which is claimed 

 to be the largest on record. Mr. D. G. 

 MacDonald and I, in the fall of 1889, 

 killed 6 moose on the Magnissippi river, 

 in the Province of Quebec. One weighed, 

 dressed, at Deux Riviere Station, C. P. R., 

 1340 pounds. This animal did not have a 

 good pair of antlers. Mr. MacDonald got 

 one head which beats the one described by 

 Mr. DeWeese. Following are the dimen- 

 sions: Spread of horns, ji l / 2 inches. Num- 

 ber of points, 32. Width of palmations, 

 20 inches. Around burr, 15 inches. I have 

 killed many moose and have seen a lot 

 of supposed record heads; but the above 

 was the largest and most perfect head I 

 ever saw. 



« R. D. Fetherston, Vancouver, B. C. 



DO SNAKES CHARM BIRDS? 



I noticed an article in Recreation about 

 snakes charming game. Here is my ex- 

 perience: 



When I was a child, my father and fam- 

 ily lived on a farm. We raised many chick- 

 ens. One morning I heard a great noise in 

 a new house my father was building. I ran 

 in to see what was the trouble, and there 

 was my best hen jumping up and down 'and 

 sidewise, cackling and flapping her wings. 

 A large snake was about 2 feet from her, 

 thrusting out his long forked tongue, his 

 black eyes fixed upon her. I called mother; 

 she came and killed the snake. It was a 

 yard long, and as large as a broom handle. 

 What could the snake want of a full grown 

 hen when it could swallow nothing bigger 

 than a frog or a mouse? No, that snake was 

 a game hog, and was simply trying to kill. 

 He had more game than he could use. 



Mrs. A. G. Wallahan, Cora, Wyo. 



NOTES. 



I enjoy reading Recreation, especially 

 the articles on game birds, for ornithology 

 is my hobby. Should like to correspond 

 with anyone who can give me notes on the 

 location and distribution of game birds. 



Your policy with regard to game hogs is 

 all right. At Clarks, Neb., the authorities 

 fined a man $35 for shooting one duck from 

 a blind, in the middle of the Platte. At the 

 same place, 3 men secured 80 ducks and 10 

 geese in 8 hours. This seems to me too 

 many for one day. The wind and snow 

 blinded the birds and they were easy to get. 

 Near Loup City I saw over 50 pairs of prai- 

 rie chickens, in a 10 mile drive. They were 

 thick last fall, but many have been shot 

 during the winter. 



A. Wilson Tout, York, Neb. 



It seems to me the pine squirrel shown 

 in Mr. Carlin's photo differs slightly from 



