464 



RECREATION. 



They may see or hear, but never under- 

 stand. Their perceptive organs mav be 

 perfect, yet in reality they hear and see 

 nothing. Poor things ! They are to be 

 pitied; they do not live. They are automa- 

 tons, existing in a man made city, and to 

 them the God-made country is incompre- 

 hensible, 



Sara ivi,. Armstrong, Everett, Mass. 



A RATTLESNAKE SOUVENIR. 



CHAS CRISTADORO. 



We slowly, on a hot August day, drove 

 up the winding road toward the crest of the 

 Blue Ridge mountains in search of change 

 of air and scenery and incidentally to try 

 for a few trout in the Rapidan. 



As our panting horses slowly crawled 

 along I noticed a gigantic rattler out- 

 stretched in the dust beside the road, its 

 head partly hidden. To all appearances it 

 was as dead as a mackerel, and presumably, 

 having been wounded by some passerby, 

 had crawled to where we saw it and there 

 died. Its tail was ringed with over a 

 dozen rattles and ended in a button. What 

 a souvenir of Blue Ridge I thought, and 

 reaching for my knife I told my friend to 

 stop the horses while I jumped out and cut 

 off those rattles. 



''Rattles be blowed !" said my companion. 

 "'You don't want them, and there is no use 

 wasting time at this hour of the day. Leave 

 the snake alone. He'll be there when we 

 come back." 



With that we jogged along, reached the 

 mountain top, drank at the spring until we 

 could hold no more, tried the trout, and 

 long before sunset were again on the way 

 down the mountain. As we neared the 

 place where our dead snake was we looked 

 carefully for the overhanging chestnut limb 

 under which he lay. When we stopped at 

 the spot the snake was missing; but across 

 the road through the undisturbed dust was 

 the trail of the serpent, almost broad 

 enough to walk in. 



I never see a snake without thinking of 

 what might have happened had I peristed 

 in securing my souvenir of rattles. I pre- 

 sume as my foot struck the ground the 

 snake would have coiled, rattled and before 

 I could have recovered my equilibrium and 

 moved backwards, struck me ; and then 

 there would have been a wild race to town 

 for help, and perhaps a dead man before 

 we reached it. 



Since then I would not attempt to cut 

 rattles from the most inanimate appearing 

 snake until the fact and manner of its 

 death had been certified by a coroner's 

 jury. 



young trout except for a pair of legs at- 

 tached to their shoulders in about the 

 same place that pollywogs have their legs. 

 These vertabrae were like pollywogs, but 

 their heads were larger and flatter. Can 

 you tell me what they were? 



Samuel Rudy, Anaconda, Mont. 



ANSWER. 



These animals were evidently larval sal- 

 amanders, most certainly of the species 

 Amblystoma triginum. In Cope's "Ba- 

 trachia of North America," page 83, it is 

 stated that the "Larvae of this species are 

 exceedingly abundant in all still water in 

 the Rocky Mountain region and the plains. 

 They are rapacious, eating animal food, 

 and taking the hook readily. Late in the 

 summer they complete their metamorpho- 

 sis and take to the land, where they hide 

 in the holes of marmots, badgers, etc. 

 From these they emerge during and after 

 rains. The larvae are much less frequent- 

 ly seen in the East, where the species is 

 less abundant, and the opportunities of 

 concealment are greater. Market lake is a 

 temporary body of water covering many 

 square miles in Eastern Idaho. It is 

 formed by the overflow of the Snake river 

 in spring. On its shores I have found this 

 species. On the shore of an adjacent pond 

 of more permanent character I have ob- 

 served this species occupying vertical holes 

 which were kept filled with water by occa- 

 sional waves, but from which their heads 

 emerged into the air. In this position 

 their branchiae were gradually absorbed." — 

 B. W. E. 



THEY WERE SALAMANDERS. 

 A year or so ago I saw in a pond thou- 

 sands of pinkish vertebrae that looked like 



HOW TO TAKE CARE OF A COON. 

 I have a coon that was given me 

 last summer, and I wish to know how to 

 take care of it during the winter. It is 

 only partly tamed, is fastened by a 

 chain from its collar to a post in the yard, 

 and on top of the post is a box for its 

 home. I think it will be too cold for it 

 there in winter, but do not know its hab- 

 its or what to provide for it. 



Mayne Mason, Buda, 111. 



ANSWER. 



The thing most necessary in providing a 

 winter shelter for a raccoon is to make its 

 sleeping place free from direct drafts. In 

 other words, the sleeping box should have 

 a sort of vestibule, with the outside door 

 on the left, and the inside door on the 

 right. Of course, the interior must be 

 kept perfectly dry ; for a leaky roof means 

 wet bedding and a dead animal. In stormy 

 weather it is a good plan to hang a piece 

 of canvas or gunny sack over the door, 

 to break the force of the wind. The door 

 should be toward the South or Southwest. 

 In the matter of food, a raccoon is 

 omnivorous, and eats almost anything that 





