52 



RECREATION. 



night before, only 49 miles from Colorado 



Springs. 



Geo. L. Cleaver, Colorado Springs, Colo. 



ANSWER. 



It is always dangerous to say what ani- 

 mal's of a given species will not do, or 

 never can do. Thus far, the world has no 

 direct evidence that a beaver ever has eaten 

 a raw fish. We are, however, all willing 

 to believe that the beavers of the South 

 Platte do eat fish ; but before we do so, 

 we must have some direct evidence in 

 proof of it. If a reliable observer should 

 see a beaver eating a fish, or should kill 

 a beaver with portions of a fish in its 

 stomach, I am prepared to believe. Until 

 such evidence is produced I beg leave 

 to disbelieve the story that the beavers of 

 11-Mile canyon are regularly catching fish 

 for food. There must be some other cause 

 for the disappearance of the fish. It is now 

 well known that muskrats will at times eat 

 flesh ; but the muskrat belongs to the rat 

 and mouse family, Muridac, and practically 

 all the members of that family are carni- 

 vorous, when occasion demands. As far 

 as known up to date, the beaver draws the 

 line at fish. 



There is no mark, or marks, by which 

 the age of a deer can be determined. As 

 a general rule, a warm blooded animal at- 

 tains an age equal to about 3 times the 

 period it requires to reach full maturity. 

 Usually, a deer reaches full maturity in its 

 5th year. It is my belief that the average 

 life of wild deer is about 15 years. 



W. T. H. 



COONS, SQUIRRELS, AND GROUSE, 

 Coons give a cry that is hard . to 

 imitate, tremolo whistle beginning high 

 and descending about 10 notes. It is a 

 full round tone that can be heard a long 

 distance. I have heard dozens of coons 

 call, but never in the day time, nor after 

 midnight. I never heard one call except 

 when descending a tree. Have seen them 

 on the ground, in trees, going up and 

 coming down, when they were unconscious 

 of my presence.. I have never seen a coon 

 come down a tree in the evening without 

 giving the peculiar cry. On a still night 

 it can be heard half a mile. Coons are 

 heard here nearly every night near the corn- 

 fields. 



I have seen and shot many gray squirrels 

 and have seen them carrying ears of corn. 

 Have seen 4 grays at once running from a 

 cornfield to the woods, each having an ear 

 of corn in its mouth. If chased hard they 

 would drop the corn. Have known a red 

 squirrel to gather over half a bushel of 

 butternuts, besides hazel and beech nuts. 

 1 see you flatly dispute F. E. Williams, of 

 Minnesota.. As I ho.ve had some experi- 



ence, have seen these things myself, 

 and am ready to furnish witnesses to what 

 ] nave said, you can hardly disagree with 

 hie. I have felled 20 or 30 trees in the 

 past few years that had nests in them, and 

 always found more food than you claim, 

 unless food was scarce. 



I have seen grouse on the nest, on the 

 drumming log, or rock, at the brook drink- 

 ing, and wallowing in the dust, for they 

 wallow the same as barnyard fowls. I 

 think I can safely say I have shot 50 

 grouse when drumming. Have been within 

 10 feet of a drummer and have seen him 

 drum while I stood there. He was in a dense 

 growth of underbrush, and when he was 

 quiet I stood still, but when he drummed 

 I went toward him. I found the end of 

 the log before I found the grouse. 



I am no great hunter nor trapper, but 

 just a man with a natural love for nature 

 and the inhabitants of our forests. Will 

 correspond with any reader if he wishes to 

 make inquiries. 



W, R. Collins, Stowe, Vt. 



ACCIDENTALLY HUNG. 

 The picture in August Recreation of the 

 oriole hanging by the horse hairs from her 

 nest reminds me of a similar case. One 

 clay last June I was wheeling along the 

 road and heard an oriole making distress 

 calls in a maple tree overhanging the road- 

 way. I saw she was in trouble, so I pro- 

 cured a ladder and hatchet and cut the 

 branch the nest was on. I found her fast 

 in the hair that lined the nest; some was 

 around her wing and some around her 

 neck. I released her, and then I tied the 

 branch back to its place, as the nest con- 

 tained 4 nearly full fledged young birds. 

 I hope they came out all right. The oriole 

 is my favorite bird. I watch their coming 

 and nesting every spring. Have always 

 wondered where they go from here, as I 

 never see any after about July 10. Do they 

 go North after raising one brood, or do 

 they change their plumage? An elm is 

 their favorite tree to build in, with maple 

 a close second. 1 saw one nest in a syca- 

 more and one in an apple tree last year. 

 M. W. C, Cleveland, O. 



One morning last spring I noticed some- 

 thing hanging on a dead branch of a locust 

 tree, swaying in the wind. On closer ex- 

 amination I found it to be a robin hanging 

 by a bit of cord. One end of the cord was 

 in the bird's mouth, then there was one 

 turn of the cord, around its neck and the 

 other end was caught in a rough hitch 

 around the limb. My first thought was 

 that a child or some older vandal had hung 

 the bird there. A little study, however, 

 convinced me that was not the case. 

 The victim had evidently been carrying the 



