370 



RECREATION. 



OLD MOSE NOT DEAD. 



At least he was not yesterday morning; 

 or if he is, his ghost made some big tracks 

 through my pasture leading toward his old 

 stamping grounds on Borough mountain. 

 He was digging in an ant hill and rolling 

 logs for bugs and not following low trails, 

 so I let him go in peace, as his fur is not 

 good now. It would be an unpardonable 

 sin to kill this king of bears just to see him 

 kick. I should feel lower than the pelt 

 hunter. 



I named Mose for a similar bear near 

 Elyria park, bearing the ancient Hebrew 

 name. 



J. J. Pike, of Slegle, Mo., mixed things 

 when he wrote of my "Bull Run Bear 

 Fight," in July Recreation. I only fired 3 

 shots. The first was at a cub which was 

 left behind when the old bear ran across a 

 small opening. I tried to shoot the old 

 bear but only got my gun to my shoulder 

 as she went out of sight. I then turned 

 my fire on the cub. Afterward I ran for- 

 ward until I saw the old lady going through 

 the brush and sent 2 shots in her direction 

 but missed. The other cub was left behind 

 and began crying for mamma. I followed 

 him some distance and got sight of him 

 several times but could not get a shot, so 

 I ran to camp for Pike and his bear (?) 

 dog. On going back I went where I had 

 shot at the first cub and found it shot 

 through the head. 



Pike did not see the cub until after it was 

 dressed. He was too busy beating his dog 

 with his gun because he would not follow 

 the old bear trail. 



Pike left out one of his hunts for the big 

 bear. It was the time old Mose would not 

 go into the stick houses Pike built with a 

 steel trap in the door. Then Pike went 

 back to Canyon City and later to Missouri. 



Sam, Jr., and I got a large lion a few 

 days ago without the help of Pike and his 

 "Yaller dorg." 



Whort, Black Mountain, Col. 



CHANGES' IN ARIZONA GAME LAWS. 



The Legislature, which convened early 

 this year, made only 2 changes worthy of 

 note in the laws passed by the Legislative 

 Assembly of 1901. 



Deer may now be shot from September 

 15 to December 15, making the season one 

 month longer. The killing of does at any 

 time is prohibited, and but 3 male deer are 

 allowed to a hunter during the season. 



The second change in the law permits the 

 shooting of ducks and geese all the year 

 around. Why such a law was passed is a 

 conundrum. It is condemned by all good 

 sportsmen throughout the Territory. 



At present the boom of the shot gun and 



the crack of the 22 rifle are to be heard in 

 all directions. It is dove and Mexican 

 pigeon shooting time, and the season on 

 these poor birds is open the year around. 

 They come in countless thousands from 

 Mexico and lower California, and have 

 been declared a nuisance by the farmers. 

 I can not see what harm the poor doves do, 

 as they live chiefly on wild sunflower seeds 

 and on the seeds of what is here called 

 "dove weed." The Mexican pigeons come 

 from Mexico and South America, and sel- 

 dom get beyond the confines of Texas, New 

 Mexico and Arizona. They arrive here in 

 great flocks in spring and leave in the fall. 

 Hunters wait at water holes and creeks 

 where, in the evening, the birds come for 

 water, and shoot them by hundreds. The 

 Mexican pigeon is larger than the dove and 

 of a slate blue color, with a white stripe 

 in the wings. Its meat is dark and tough, 

 and it is anything but a game bird. 



Formerly great numbers of quails 

 were trapped by Mexicans and Indians and 

 shipped out of the country. It was com- 

 mon, 4 or 5 years ago to see large screen 

 cages filled with quails in front of restau- 

 rants in this city. This has been done away 

 with and quails are now protected as they 

 should be ; consequently they are plentiful 

 in the valleys and foothills. 



J. A. T., Phoenix, Ariz. 



THE WILD LIFE OF MAINE. 



Northern Maine, from Bangor to the Ca- 

 nadian boundary, is practically one vast 

 forest teeming with animal life. Recently, 

 I had the pleasure of visiting this great 

 game country from May to December. Be- 

 sides scores of deer, I saw probably 70 

 moose, 2 of them magnificent bulls with 

 horns in the velvet. Caribou are now rare- 

 ly seen in Maine. The majority of them 

 have crossed into Canada, driven away, 

 the natives say, by ' deer ; an hypothesis 

 which seems plausible, for in New Bruns- 

 wick there are many caribou and but few 

 deer. The same condition existed not many 

 years since in Maine also. About 30 years 

 ago, owing to excessive slaughter for their 

 hides, moose were fast nearing extinction, 

 but thanks to the enforcement of an excel- 

 lent game law, they are, at present, holding 

 their own. 



Following is a list of the animals and 

 birds of Maine which I had the good for- 

 tune to see : Moose, deer, black bear, red 

 fox, beaver, otter, muskrat, mink, porcu- 

 pine, woodchuck, weasel, Northern hare, 

 cottontail, red squirrel, chipmunk, eagle, 

 osprey, hawks of various species, barred 

 owl, belted kingfisher, bittern, great blue 

 heron, gull, duck, loon, spotted sandpiper, 

 plover, ruffed and Canada grouse, pileated 

 woodpecker, yellow-shafted flicker, blue and 



