NATURAL HISTORY. 



When a bird or a wild animal is killed, that is the end of 



and scientific value is 



DO LYNX KILL DEER? 



About 30 years ago I was in upper Michi- 

 gan with an Indian guide, still hunting deer. 

 Snow had fallen to the depth of 15 or 18 

 inches. I was trailing 4 deer from their 

 feeding ground to their day beds. To my 

 great surprise I came on the track of a 

 lynx crossing the deer trail at a slight angle. 

 The imprints were large and fresh, stepping 

 into the deer track. 



Not caring much about the deer I decided 

 to try for the lynx. The ground was open 

 and a slight ridge lay in the direction the 

 trail indicated. This I studied with the 

 field glass, but failed to locate the lynx. I 

 surmised he was after the deer for some 

 purpose. Acting on this theory I again took 

 up the deer trail with double caution. A 

 little farther on a great crash and snapping 

 of dry twigs told the story; the deer were 

 gone. They could not have seen or winded 

 me. 



I found the lynx had followed the deer 

 as far as it deemed safe on the surface of 

 the snow, and then ploughed a furrow deep 

 enough to entirely conceal his approach to 

 within 30 feet of one of the deer that was 

 sleeping by a log. The others were in the 

 tree top near.. 



The lynx had packed the snow solid with 

 its hind feet to give a send off, and in 2 

 bounds had landed on the deer's shoulder. 

 Great tufts of hair on the snow told plainly 

 that the deer was caught. After looking 

 the ground over, I started on the trail again, 

 hoping to kill the lynx. Soon I found a 

 crimson spray on the snow. Then marks 

 of a struggle, then a dead deer with its 

 throat torn away. But the lynx was gone, 

 and I realized at once that in following 

 I had gone down wind. There was noth- 

 ing to do but to return to camp with a 

 new experience. 



L. D. Watkins, Lansing, Mich,, 



Yes, decidedly ! Some years ago while 

 hunting in Manitoba I was trailing a jump- 

 ing deer on a runway. It was just after 

 sunrise and a fresh breeze was blowing 

 from the deer to me. I had been trailing 

 some distance and my deer had been walk- 

 ing all the time, when suddenly he started 

 off with a terrific bound and then stretched 

 out into a wild run. I followed a little 

 way and then went back to where he had 

 started running and took a look around 

 to see if there was any sight of anything 

 that could have started him. Soon I no- 

 ticed some fresh lynx tracks in the snow. 

 They went up a long poplar tree that leaned 

 across the path. I could see where the lynx 



it. If photographed, it may still live and its educational 

 multiplied indefinitely. 



had made his spring and quickly decided 

 to follow to see if I could find any trace 

 of the deer or the lynx. After following 

 the path probably a mile I found Mr, Lynx 

 impaled on a broken limb of a spruce tree, 

 which was also lodged across the path. The 

 limb had been broken by the fall, leaving 

 only a knot probably 10 inches long over 

 the deer path. The deer had passed under 

 but the lynx was pierced to the brain and 

 was still hanging when I found him, with 

 deer hair and blood all over his jaws. 



F. L. Wilson, Baker City, Oregon. 



The lynx stories in May Recreation re- 

 mind me of an incident of my hunting trip 

 2 years ago. My father and I were after 

 deer in the Sunol foothills. One day, a 

 little before sunrise, we started up the hill 

 back of our camp for another try at deer. 

 We had not gone 200 yards when a wildcat 

 ran to a tree about 40 yards from us. He 

 placed himself between a fork within a few- 

 inches of the ground and so stood that 

 only his head presented a mark to us. My 

 father, standing a yard ahead of me, took 

 the shot and missed by half an inch. The 

 cat made off in a direction that kept father 

 between him and me. Before I could get in 

 a position to shoot, father had broken the 

 cat's hind leg. Then it did not take me long 

 to poke in a 255 grain bullet. My shot en- 

 tered just behind the left shoulder, coming 

 out the other side. The cat was large and 

 his skin made a fine rug. 



John Obermuller, Hayward, Cal. 



DO BEAVERS EAT FISH? 



I went over on the South Platte to fish, 

 one day last summer, but found the water 

 low and sluggish and practically no fish. 

 The settlers along 11-Mile canyon, where 

 I fished, startled me with the information 

 that the beavers along the stream destroyed 

 the fish. Beavers are protected in I 

 rado and are numerous along this stream, 

 as evidenced by dams and work on every 

 hand. There is a good chance on the 

 Platte' for the man who claims these warv 

 animals can not be photographed alive, for 

 he can stay on the train and take snap shots 

 at 150 feet. 



How old do deer- live to be and i 

 possible to tell their age by any marks 

 about them? 



Colorado is still a great game country, 

 and a paradise for lovers of outdoor life 

 and mountain scenery. I saw deer, wild- 

 cat, marten and beaver tracks, made the 



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