NATURAL HISTORY. 



227 



In Ohio we have 3 classes of game 

 hogs that kill game without regard to 

 legal limit and utterly ignore all laws. I 

 refer to hawks, owls and crows. The lat- 

 ter are the worst. They not only kill young 

 birds but destroy vast numbers of eggs* 

 They visit poultry yards and destroy eggs 

 and untold numbers of young chickens and 

 turkeys. Last summer one farmer here 

 lost 35 turkeys in that way. When a hawk 

 finds" a flock of young quails he will follow 

 until he gets the last bird. Hawks kill 3 

 times as many quails as all the hunters in 

 the State. A bounty of 50 cents a 

 head should be offered for hawks, owls and 

 crows. It would in the end save thousands 

 of dollars to farmers and double the supply 

 of small game. S. W. Riggs, Sullivan, O. 



The letters on skunk raising, in Decem- 

 ber Recreation, contain much that is news 

 to me. I especially question the statement 

 that skunks in captivity will give birth to 

 several litters of young each year. I have 

 raised these animals a number of years and 

 never knew one to have more than one lit- 

 ter a season. The period of gestation is 9 

 weeks, and the young, at least when con- 

 fined in yards, run with the mother 3 

 months. All hibernate in extremely cold 

 weather. I have never known the males 

 to destroy the young, and think it only oc- 

 curs when they are -driven to it through 

 scarcity of food. 



A. E. Kibbe, Mayville, N. Y. 



While Cornelius Rusfeldt of Hawley, 

 Minn., was going to the barn one morning 

 recently he saw an eagle swoop down on 

 some poultry in tall weeds. The bird be- 

 came entangled in the weeds, and Rusfeldt 

 succeeded in capturing it unhurt. It meas- 

 ures 7 feet from tip to tip of wing, is 

 about one year old and has an insatiable 

 appetite. It swallows whole the heads of 

 blackbirds, etc., and greedily bolts feathers 

 and large pieces of bone. The only thing 

 it has so far refused to eat was a jack rab- 

 bit, going hungry 3 days rather than touch 

 it. L. A. R., Hawley, Minn. 



I had a strange experience not long ago 

 which may interest some of your readers. 

 In digging out a fox we had holed, we 

 found, about 20 feet from the entrance of 

 the burrow, a dead hedgehog, badly 

 mangled. Beyond him lay another in even 

 worse shape than the first. At the end of the 

 hole we found the fox. He, too, was dead, 

 and his pelt from head to feet was full of 

 quills. He had evidently killed the hedge- 

 hogs, who, perhaps, had tried to take pos- 

 session of the burrow, and had died from 

 his wounds. 



F. H. Pierce. South Londonderry, Vt. 



My experience as a trapper leads me to 

 believe the muskrat a strictly herbivorous 

 animal. I have set traps near their run- 

 ways baited with flesh of the muskrat, 

 fish, fowls, etc., but never succeeded in 

 catching a rat that way. If I bait with 

 carrot or apple I have no difficulty in catch- 

 ing them. Their principal food is roots. 

 They may differ in their habits in various 

 places, but I am convinced that the musk- 

 rat in this section does not eat flesh. 



A. L. Fritts, Olpe, Kan. 



A yearly subscription to Recreation fur- 

 nishes one of the most delightful, instruc- 

 tive, entertaining presents you can possibly 

 give a man or boy who is interested in 

 nature, in fishing, shooting, amateur 

 photography; or, who is fond of the woods, 

 the fields, the mountains, the lakes or the 

 rivers. 



Many of the presents which people give 

 their friends afford pleasure only for a few 

 days, or weeks. A subscription to Recrea- 

 tion means solid comfort a whole year. 

 It reminds your friend 12 times during the 

 year of your kindness and generosity. 

 There are many men and women who for 5 

 years past have annually sent in long lists 

 of names of friends, accompanied with a 

 check in order that these friends might be 

 made happy a whole year. Would it not 

 be well for you to adopt this plan? 



Try it and see how grateful the recipient 

 will be. 



No, I'm not well impressed with the 

 house," said the prospective tenant. 

 "The yard is frightfully small ; there's 

 hardly room for a single flower bed." 



"Think so ?" replied the agent ; "but — 

 er — mightn't you use folding flower beds?" 

 — Philadelphia Press. 



Have you seen those beautiful gun 

 racks, made by E. W. Stiles, of polished 

 buffalo horns? They are useful, unique 

 and attractive additions to a sportsman's 

 den. For 5 subscriptions I will send you 

 one of these racks. 



"Oh, mamma, look at the rabbit!" ex- 

 claimed little Margie, as she watched the 

 peculiar twinkle of the animal's features. 

 "Every time he smells anything he stutters 

 with his nose." — The Pilot. 



A Laughlin Fountain Pen, listed at $3, 

 for 3 yearly subscriptions to Recreation. 

 Everyone knows the advantage of having 

 a good fountain pen in his pocket, and this 

 is one of that kind. 



Do you want a rowboat? If so, send me 

 20 subscriptions. I will send you a boat 

 listing at $20. 



