NATURAL HISTORY. 



463 



PROTECT THE BEAVER. 



I recently returned from a trip to Indian 

 river, the South fork of the South branch 

 of Moose river and am surprised to learn 

 that beavers still exist in this State. I 

 found a white poplar, about 7 inches in 

 diameter, nearly cut down,, and fresh chips 

 scattered at the foot of the tree. The chips 

 could not have been made more than a week 

 and probably not more than a few hours. 

 Owing to the distance and the difficulty of 

 traveling in that locality few people now 

 visit it, and the beavers are in no immediate 

 danger of being disturbed, but we must look 

 farther. The lumbermen are steadily work- 

 ing their way back into the wilderness, and 

 as it will be comparatively easy to float 

 logs out into and down Moose river, it 

 will not be long before lumbering opera- 

 tions will be pushed into that region and 

 as a consequence the beavers will be crowd- 

 ed out. Can not something be done through 

 Recreation to prohibit the floating of logs 

 down that stream, and all others known to 

 be inhabited by beavers? It seems to me 

 that if the true sportsmen of New York 

 State would pull together and demand this 

 protection for the beaver it could be ob- 

 tained. 



I did not have time to go down the river 

 far enough to learn whether or not the 

 beavers were building a dam, but the 

 drought of early summer so lowered the 

 streams that I have no doubt they found 

 it necessary to commence one. 



Ira L. Park, Holland Patent, N. Y. 



The only method of prohibiting the run- 

 ning of logs in such streams as you men- 

 tion would be by the enactment of a law to 

 that effect and this would be a difficult 

 matter. Still such a bill could be got 

 through the Legislature if the sportsmen 

 of the State would work actively for it. 

 Personally, I should be glad to do every- 

 thing in my power to aid in securing such 

 legislation. 



Will not some good lawyer who is inter- 

 ested in the preservation of the beaver draft 

 a bill and have it introduced at Albany next 

 winter ? — Editor. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



In answering a question you said, in 

 August Recreation, that the common toad 

 whistles but does not croak as frogs do. 

 Whatever they do in the East, they cer- 

 tainly croak here, and, particularly after a 

 rain, so loudly and persistently that they 

 keep us awake. I know I can not be mis- 

 taken, for on one occasion while we were 

 watching what my husband declared was a 

 frog, my little boy waded out and caught 

 it. It was sitting on a sunken log with its 

 head and shoulders above water. Every 

 now and then its throat would puff out, 



and we would hear a loud croak. When 

 brought to shore it proved to be a common 

 toad. 



Annie Beckelhyneer, Laredo, Tex. 



Here is a way to poison coyotes with 

 little danger of killing domestic animals. 

 Any dog that will take this kind of bait 

 deserves his dose. Every one who raises 

 chickens has a few scrubs that he can spare. 

 Take a live chicken, cut the feathers from 

 the back, and rub honey in the short feath- 

 ers. For poison, use strychnine, rubbing it 

 in with the honey. Put a cord on the 

 chicken's leg and stake it out where coyotes 

 are likely to come. This has been tried by 

 several people and works well. 



J. E. L., Madera, Cal. 



Replying to Buck Shot would say : Never 

 put poison in the carcass where the coyotes 

 gather, but procure some untried beef tal- 

 low, cut it in small mouthfuls, use 

 strychnine, and put a liberal dose in 

 each piece. Then, at 50 to 75 yards from 

 the carcass, make a circle of baits, placing 

 them 4 or 5 rods apart. Baits not taken 

 should be gathered and burned. Take care 

 to not cut tallow too large or the coyotes 

 will not bolt the bait, consequently will de- 

 tect the poison. Stubb, Orwell, O. 



Does the male sparrow have a dark spot 

 on the breast? 



Is the female speckled without the brown 

 spot on the breast? 



Ralph B. Haverstick, Carnegie, Pa. 



ANSWER. 



If by "sparrow" is meant the English 

 sparrow, Passer domesticus. The male has 

 the throat and foreneck black. The female 

 lacks this and is of a uniform dirty white 

 below. Her breast is not speckled. — Editor. 



The domestic cat is one of the worst 

 enemies of the rabbit. A cat belonging to 

 a farmer at Ten Mile Run, New Jersey, 

 brought 59 dead rabbits to the house in one 

 season. The cook of a boat on the Dela- 

 ware and Raritan canal told me that the 

 boat cat brought 11 rabbits aboard last 

 summer, and doubtless killed many more. 

 E. H. Bowne, Kingston, N. J. 



Already many thousands of people are 

 wondering what they, are going to get 

 for Christmas presents. Other thousands 

 are wondering what they are going to give 

 their friends. If you wish to make a pres- 

 ent to a man or boy who is interested in 

 shooting, fishing, amateur photography, or 

 nature study, give him a year's subscription 

 to Recreation. Nothing you can possibly 

 buy for $1 would give him so much pleas- 

 ure as 12 issues of this magazine. Come 

 early and avoid the rush. 



