428 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jowb SI, 188*. 



the hands of some of the State Societies for the Protection of 

 Game to be used at their tournaments. I would use bird lime 

 or strychnia were I not afraid of destroying many song and 

 insectivorous birds. Will some one give me a remedy? 



Forest Field. 

 [The skins sent on by "Forest Field" are those of the male 

 and female summer redbird (Pyranga cestiva), a species 

 •against which we have never any accusations like those of 

 our correspondent brought up. We should be glad to learn 

 more of the depredations of this species.] 



Awonvma. — Two or three anonymous contributions have 

 been received at this office within a short time, which we 

 wish had been signed. One of them over the name "Swal- 

 low" gave an account of the supposed hibernation of a "river 

 swallow" in the mud of a Maine river, and the observation 

 of the exit from the mud of two of the birds this spring. We 

 should be only too glad to have our Maine friend send a de- 

 tailed account of the circumstances, accompanied by his 

 name, which of course will not be published if he objects. 

 Another communication from "H. B. S." asks some ques- 

 tions about earth worms which we should be glad to reply 

 to if we had the writer's name. 



(§mt\e §ug rn[& %m\. 



JULY WOODCOCK SHOOTING. 

 July woodcook shooting ia legal In eleven States, as follows, the sea 

 son opening on the first of the month, unless otherwise designated: 

 Delaware, Minnesota (4th), 



Illinois (4th), Missouri, 



Indiana, New Jersey,t 



Iowa (10th), Ohio (4th), 



Maryland,* Pennsylvania (4th), 



Rhode Island. 



•Season opened June 10 in certain counties, and Juno 15 elsewhere; 

 in Wicomoco county It opens Sept. 1. tCloses Aug. 1 to Oct. 1. 



BEARS. 



EVERT sportsman, and all sympathizers with those who 

 suffer by death and accident, will sympathize with the 

 widow and orphans of William Milliken, of Boston, Mass., 

 who was torn to pieces by bears, on Piseco Lake, Adiron- 

 dacks, on June 10. Given all possible sympathy to the 

 dead ana the living, hoping the mangled remains of the de- 

 ceased were well insured in the best accidental companies, I 

 rise for a few remarks onthe bear. I have known Brain for 

 the past forty years. 1 have met him on the trail, in 

 Northern Michigan, Pennsylvania, and the North Woods. I 

 have seen him in Wisconsin and Minnesota. 



Ordinarily, Bruin is about as dangerous as a raccoon, or 

 the festive woodchuck. But, it does happen, that the 

 mother of any mammal will ignore danger to herself in de- 

 fense of her young. Almost any animal will go wild and 

 reckless of danger m defense of its young, and, the hear is 

 powerful on muscle. Consequently, when a she bear turns 

 on her tormentors, it is well to keep back about 85£ feet. 

 She doesn't want to hurt anybody. She only wants to get 

 her babes away from that fearful biped with the derby hat, 

 and a dead rabbit cut on his hair. 



If you humor her, you are safe enough. If you want to 

 put. four hounds on her, making the escape of her cubs at the 

 least doubtful; well, "you takes your choice." If you drive 

 her to desperation, and she has the grit to stand by her cubs, 

 "better you stand aleedle back." 



I have bagged a good deal of bear meat. I have been 

 twice on a lone cruise in the North Woods. I saw several 

 hears there — all intent on their own affairs. 



So slight was the danger from wild animals there, and so 

 childish seemed the immense armaments of the average 

 tourist, that I came to leave, not only my rifle, but the old 

 revolver behind. And I found the 8-ounce rod and the 

 pocket hatchet all sufficient for defense against wild beasts. 

 All the same, a she bear with cubs may be dangerous. I 

 will give three instances that I can vouch for. 



Forty years ago, "Jim Steele," with a record of seven 

 panthers, twenty -one bears and 1,800 deer, resided at the 

 mouth of "Asoph Run." He sent his son, aged fourteen, 

 up the creek for the cows one evening. The boy came back 

 frightened and crying, saying that a big bear had chaBed and 

 nearly caught him. Old Jim was disgusted at the boy's 

 cowardice. Leaving his rifle he went back with the boy, 

 and at the mouth of Kennedy Run the boy commenced to 

 say: "It was jest here," when an immense bear jumped 

 from under the bank, reared on her hind legs and show- 

 ing all the teeth she had, growling, snarling and threatening 

 made at the party. Old Jim took it in at once. "Jump 

 onto my back," he yelled to tho youngster, which the boy 

 did at once. And yelling, backing and flourishing a knife, 

 all the weapon he had, old Jim and the boy got away. Then 

 they saw the mother bear cross the "riffle" on the creek, and 

 scatter up the mountain side to be seen no more of men for- 

 ever. 



Thirty-three years ago, "Harry Ellis, " horn and bred on 

 Pine Creek, guided a party to the' huckleberry hills of the 

 Barrens. While prospecting for the best berrying grounds, 

 he was suddenly confronted by an immense bear which arose 

 from behind a Targe fallan trunk, and rearing on her hind 

 legs made directly at him, roaring, grunting, snarling and 

 showing her best array of teeth. Harry seizedand flourished 

 a pine knot, whooping and yelling at the top of bis voice as 

 he ran backward at his best pace, for a few rods only, when 

 the bear turned and quickly conveyed her two cubs out of 

 danger. 



On the same range of hills I once went huckleberrying 

 with farmer T., his wife and daughter, on invitatioD. I was 

 invited because I had been there before and knew the hills 

 like a book; also because 1 had a good shelter tent, a handy 

 thing in case of a heavy shower. Our rig was a two horse 

 farm wagon, the bottom of the wagon packed with inverted 

 tubs aud buckets, on which the party of four found seats as 

 best they could, Distance to the ground twenty-one miles, 

 fourteen of it on a good road, the last seven miles steep and 

 rough log roads. 



By dint of starting at 8 A. M. and abusing the horses to 

 unwonted speed we were on the ground and "onhilched'' at 

 11 A. M,, among berries so plenty that the ground whs abso- 

 lutely hidden by the dull green and rich blue bloom of leaves 

 and berries. It was a short job to pick a bushel of berries 

 on such ground; but I had been there before, and I thought 

 I knew of a place, about three-quarters of a mile westward, 

 sphere the berries were equally plenty, but larger. So 

 Fanner T. suggested that I had better go over and see, bring 

 back samples, etc. 



I took a large tin pail and started. Half way to the ground 



there was a gulch— a gully they call it here— to be crossed, 

 and this gulch was badly blocked with fallen timber. When 

 uear the bottom I halted to select the best route for getting 

 by or over some fallen trees that lay in my path, when a very 

 large, dingy-looking " brown-nosed" bear sprang on a fallen 

 pine, sprang off again directly at me, got on to ner hind legs, 

 and began to play the usual game of scare — showing all her 

 teeth, making the savage, roaring, barking, growling noise 

 common to enraged bears. On the instant I commenced a 

 lively retrograde movement. Once I caught my heels and 

 tumbled over backward, but got up suddenly. Had I staked 

 my last dime on a free-for-all-go-as-you-please backward race, 



I couldn't have improved the time one second. 



You see, as Mr. C. D. Warner remarks, "the bear was 

 coming on." 



It was a Chinese fight. Growling, snarling, teeth and 

 claws on one side; whooping, yelling and pounding tin-ware 

 on the other. Nobody hurt. Bear badly scared. As for 

 myself, I wasn't scared a bit ! Why my knees should have 

 jack-knifed and kinder knocked together as I slowly climbed 

 the side of the gulch on going back to the wagon, or why 

 Farmer T. should have thought it worth while to ask what 

 made me look so white, are questions too irrelevant for 

 notice. He had heard the row distinctly, and was an old 

 bear hunter. But some people like to appear sarcastic. 



As for the bear; it goes without saying that when she 1 ad 

 sc — played me off a few rods, she got down on all fours and 

 took herself out of that with her cubs for all she was worth. 

 And the two women? Well, they found " pickin' " good 

 enough where they were, and for the rest of the day seldom 

 got more than two yards away from the masculine element. 

 At night they insisted on absurdly large fires, also that one 

 of us "men folks" should keep constant watch and ward. 

 We fixed the shelter tent nicely with a royal bed of hemlock 

 browse, on which we put them to sleep as if they had been two 

 infants. But they would not. I think there was not a half 

 hour during the night in which one or the other of them did 

 not come up on her "head's antipodes" with a snap like a 

 jack-knife, and, peering into the outer darkness for bears, 

 with a wild, disheveled look, proceed to make sarcastic re- 

 marks to me, or throw obloquy on my lurcher and still-hunt 

 dog, Lupus. 



Poor Lupus! Half greyhound, half terrier; perfect on 

 deer; supposed to need only a chance to develop into a first- 

 class bear dog. At the first glimpse of the bear he "lit out" 

 like a streak of greased lightning. It must have been after 



II A. M. when the row occurred. At 1 P. M. he was at 

 home in Wellsboro, with the last inch of his tail curled away 

 under an old lounge, whence he refused to be coaxed by beef 

 or blandishments until my return. "He builded better than 

 he knew. " Had he clinched a cub, causing it to squall and 

 cry, that muscular old brown nose might have made it sultry 

 for somebody. 



And not always will the mother bear stand by her cubs. 

 Five or six years ago two young men were prospecting timber 

 lands on the hills of Pine Creek, near Cedar Run. They 

 had a still-hunt dog and rifle, and they came on an old she 

 bear with her two cubs. The dog grappled one cub, the 

 other climbed a tree, and the old bear ran for her life. The 

 first cub was securely tied, and one of the men climbed the 

 tree and dislodged the other. After using up two pairs of 

 suspenders, the straps and strings of bullet pouch, powder 

 horn, etc., both cubs were safely tied and both men were 

 badly scratched. All the time the cubs had kept up a series 

 of whines and cries, but the mother did not come back. 



Last April, John W. Bache, of this place, while prospect- 

 ing for coal, came across an old she bear with her two cubs. 

 The old bear did not offer to defend her cubs, and Mr. Bache 

 has had them here until last week, when he sold them for 

 $25, which, although considered cheap, is $34.50 more than 

 I would give. One experience with tame bears is enough 

 for me. 



And, while I am just as sorry as any hunter and stranger 

 can be for Mr. Milliken and his bereaved family, I breathe 

 the freer that there is one well-authenticated bear story in 

 which the bear killed the man. Nessmdk. 



[Our correspondent's "freer breathing" is in this case 

 premature, Later reports say that Mr. Milliken emerged in 

 safety from the North Woods, and the fellow who started 

 the story about him is in greater danger from Mr. Milliken 

 than the latter ever was from the bear.] 



How Massachusetts regards it; Boston, June 22, 1882. — 

 1b not that the worst bear story ever out? Query: Was 

 there ever a "bear story truthfully told? Beautiful weather 

 here in Boston, and everything is'lovely. — E. M. M. 



MARKET SHOOTING IN NEBRASKA. 



Editor Forest aud Stream: 



A shfort time since I happened to be looking over a copy 

 of the New York Clipper, where I saw an item substantially 

 as follows: " 'Mr. Blank Blank,' the celebrated wing shot, 

 has been hired, together with several others, to goto Ne- 

 braska this season to shoot prairie chickens for the New 

 York market." I have concluded to take this opportunity 

 of imparting a little information to 'Mr. Blank Blank,' et. al. 

 relative to our game laws and the laws relating to the trans- 

 portation of game in this State, etc. I quote verbatim from 

 the Annotated Statutes of Nebraska, of 1881 (containing 

 the last session's laws), pages 377 and 878: "It shall be un- 

 lawful for any person * * * * to kill, ensnare or trap 

 any wild grouse between the first day of February and the 

 fifteenth day of August in each year." "It shall also be un- 

 lawful for any person, agent or employe of any association, 

 corporation, railroad company or express company to re- 

 ceive, carry, transport or ship any such animal or "bird at 

 any time oftlve year." This la?t quotation refers to all game 

 birds or animals mentioned in the game laws. The law then 

 proceeds to affix the penalty for violation of any of these 

 enactments. I will further inform 'Mr. B. B.' and his 

 friends that we have in this place a Sportsmen's Club, and 

 that there are similar clubs all over the State, organized 

 mainly for the purpose of seeing that our game laws are en- 

 forced; also that we propose to keep a sharp lookout for all 

 "market hunters" and violators of said laws, whether from 

 New York, Nebraska, or elsewhere; and finally, that this 

 information is all given gratuitously, cheerfully and without 

 malice. D, B. Faknbwohth, M. D. 



FiiBitoNT, Nebraska, June 20, 1882. 



I Clems my Gun in this way: Wipe the muzzle off 

 clean and blow three or four good long breaths through each 

 barrel, which will moisten "the burnt powder. Let the 

 barrels lie a minute or two to give time to moisten before 

 wiping out. I have found this method works to a charm in 

 the field or return from the hunt. — An Outsider. 



GAME IN CALIFORNIA. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In reply to your inquiry I beg to say that the inclosed is u 

 full and correct copy of the present game and fish law of 

 California; that is, it is the law as expressed by the Legisla- 

 ture, but strange to say, there is a class of persons here who 

 seem to hold about the same sentiments regarding the rela- 

 tions of the several counties to the State as are still held by 

 those people who believe in the doctriue of States' rights. 



To be more explicit— in several of the counties of this 

 State the local boards of supervisors have taken it. upon 

 themselves to ignore the authority of the Legislature and 

 have assumed the right to make game laws to suit them- 

 selves, or rather the whims of certain persons who have no 

 appreciation of the necessity for game protection and want 

 to continue the slaughter into the breeding season. In the 

 main, the provisionsof our game laws are well considered, and 

 if respected there would be no danger of auy appreciable 

 diminution in the quantity of wild game for many, many 

 years to come, if indeed a marked increase would not result. 

 It is true that the close season for quail, grouse, ducks, etc.. 

 might be extended a few weeks later in the fall and made to 

 take effect a few weeks earlier in the spring, with benefit to 

 all who look to field shooting for a pastime and amusement. 



But instead of extending the protecting arm of the law 

 over the game, the chief efforts of a large number of men, 

 including these supervisors, are directed toward a contrary 

 result. For instance, the deer law is made to take effect on 

 the 1st of November and continue until the 1st of July of 

 the following year. Eveiybody who has hunted deer in this 

 State and is familiar with their habits knows that the rutting 

 season begins in November, and that the young are not large 

 enough, as a general thing, to shoot before July, and often 

 they are not then. But sec what these supervisors (1 allude 

 now to those of El Dorado, Nevada and Placer) have done. 

 The counties named are all foothill localities, lying along the 

 western slope of the Sierra Nevadas, and in the higher por- 

 tions of them the snow falls quite early, being sometimes 

 very deep by the latter part of November or the fore part of ' 

 December. This drives such of the deer as managed to 

 escape the army of summer hunters by fleeing to the sum- 

 mits, down toward the towns and mining camps, and the 

 shooters (it would be almost sacrilege to call them sportsmen) 

 cannot resist the impulse to purBUe the poor creatures into 

 the snowdrifts and shoot them down like hogs. So, in order 

 to be able to pursue this kind of "sport," tbey prevail upon 

 the supervisors to pass an ordinance declaring that the open 

 season for deer iu these counties shall extend until the 1st of 

 December! And worse than that. In El Dorado county, 

 two years ago, the early snows kept off, and the lazy shoot- 

 ers, after waiting iu vain until the latter part of November 

 for the deer to be driven down into their backyards, peti- 

 tioned the supervisors to extend the open season another 

 month — to January 1 — in order that they might be enabled 

 to sit on their doorsteps and shoot the deer that would surely, 

 by that time, be compelled to leave their mountain retreats. 

 Of course the supervisors — "by and with the consent of the 

 district attorney" — granted the request; hence we find this 

 state of affairs to exist: the law of the State declares that 

 every person who, in any county of the State between the 

 dates first mentioned (November 1 to Julyl), kills a buck 

 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and in the face of this 

 plain enactment men go on killing deer in El Dorado coimty 

 until the 1st of January. This, too, by the permission of 

 officials who had taken an oath to uphold the laws of the 

 State I What would the people of the Eastern States think 

 of such officers? 



Again, they have done the same thing in regard to the 

 dove law. The Legislature very wisely concluded two years 

 ago, to restrict the season in which these birds might bo 

 killed, and inserted in the general law a provision (as will be 

 seen by reference thereto) to the effect that they should not 

 be killed between January 1 and July 1 of each year. The 

 supervisors ' of the counties above named— of Placer and 

 Nevada, at all events — have decreed that they may be shot 

 as early as the 1st of June, and a Nevada county paper 

 boastingly announced the other day that the doves had come 

 in plentiful numbers, and the "sportsmen" there were killing 

 upward of five hundred a day I The same story comes from 

 Placer county, only in an exaggerated form. A gentleman 

 who was up there last week informs me that thousands of 

 the birds are slaughtered every day, and the despicable work 

 is upheld and sanctioned by the law officer of the county. 

 Now, be it known that this is the breeding season of the 

 doves, and it is safe to say that every _ female has either a 

 nest of eggs or a brood of young. Think of the number ex- 

 terminated by this process, and then estimate how long it 

 will take to complete the job of wiping out the whole species. 

 li the doves were hke other birds that go far up into the 

 mountains to rear their young, it would not, be so bad, but 

 on the contrary their nests are thickest where the country is 

 most settled. They always seek tho hay and grain fields, 

 and thus are at the mercy of every man and boy in town 

 and couutry who can handle a gun. 



The question might naturally be asked, "What is the State 

 Sportsmen's Association about that it does not take hold and 

 punish those who violate the laws ?" The truth is that the 

 State Association can accomplish little without the aid and 

 co-operation of local clubs, and in the counties where these 

 illegal practices arc carried on the local clubs are as deep in 

 the mud as others are in the mire. Moreover lite district 

 attorneys of the counties and the supervisors would resist 

 all attempts at prosecution, aud the matter would have to 

 be carried through several courts before the question of 

 jurisdiction could be determined. At the recent State 

 Sportsmen's Convention, however, the matter was discussed, 

 and it waB resolved to petition the next Legislature to pass 

 such laws as will in the future prevent the possibility of any 

 clash of authority. Some ten years ago there was in force a 

 provision in a law of the State defining the powers of boards 

 of supervisors, which gave them authority "in counties 

 where local laws for the protection of game existed," to sus- 

 pend the operation of the State, law, But this provision has 

 been tune and again n lhfied by subsequent Legislation of a 

 general character. There were also al <\i'<>- time several 

 counties excepted from the operation of the game law, but. 

 all this was Long since done away with, and there now exists 

 but one general law for the whole State, as is expressly re- 

 quired by the new constitution, adopted three years ago. 



1 am no lawyer, but if the district attorneys of the. counties 

 named have no better knowledge of law and the relations 

 existing between old and new legislative acts affecting the 

 same subject, to say nothing of tin:- requirmente of the Con- 

 stitution, than to advise their boards of supervisors to over- 

 ride the authority of the Legislature, 1 think they had better 

 "sell out" and allow the same number of schoolboys to 



