446 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jdxy 6, 3883. 



sat smoking his after-supper pipe. He slowly took it from 

 his mouth, "and looking at me, said: 



"Young man, 1'se afeared you are just a leetle bit too 

 smart; think you know just a leetle too much." 



"Why, Hunk, "said I, "you have never seen a hoop snake, 

 have you?" 



"Wall, I should rather say I had; hundreds of 'em; that's 

 just why I left Iowa. There was so many of the pesky 

 critters there." 



There was business again for the young naturalist— an- 

 other chance to learn of the wonderful and deadly hoop 

 snake. 



"Why, they are not dangerous are they, Hank?" asked 

 one. 



"You just bet your sweet life they be dangerous. Hone 

 of I hem thar critters strikes that sharp spike on the end of 

 his tail thru' a feller, he's deader'n if six miuner balls had 

 gone thru' him," said Hank. 



"How do they fight'?" said another. 



"Why," said Hank, "if they happen to be mad and see a 

 feller a comin'. they whirl both ends'up, take their tail in 

 their mouth like a hoop, and roll rite at you like a streak of 

 greased lightnin', and when they are near enough, let go 

 their tail and run the spike on "the end of it right through 

 you — even if it don't go through you, if it only sticks through 

 the skin — the spike has a very small hole through its tip, out 

 of which the suake will squirt you full of pizen. I will 

 never forgit how near I was bein' kilt by one in Iowa; it 

 fairly makes the chills run over me jist to think on it." 



"Tell us all about it. Hank," said several at once. 



"Now, boys, I don't like to tell about that scrape evenin's, 

 for I don't sleep well arter it, but seeing as how to'-morrer is 

 Sunday Iwill let her go: I commenced breakin' prerairie in 

 Ingianny when I were fourteen year old. I broke all 

 through Illinoy and Iowa, and now I am away out heah in 

 Nebra'skah at the same old trade. In Ingianny wo had lots 

 of great yaller rattlesnakes, and I was bited several times by 

 'em, but I ajlers had a jug of whisky hanged on my plow beam. 

 and when I'de get bit, I'de worry down about a quart of that 

 and go on with my work. But 1 could hardly make a livin' 

 a-breakin 3 in Illinois, for the little black rattlesnakes were so 

 thick on the prerary they nearly bruk me up; they bit so often 

 ye see it tuk so much whisky to cure rac. Whisky was only two 

 bits a galliu', but when it tuk three or four gallin' a day to 

 cure a feller of snaik bites, it counted up. Besides, I had 

 the shakes a good deal thar, so I had to quit and go to Iowa. 

 There 1 got along fust rate for several years, until I got a 

 iob away out in the center of the State, near the timber. 

 Thar I heard of hoop snaiks for the first time, but bless you 

 I wasent afeared of hoop snaiks or any other kind of snaiks. 

 without it's boar constructors or some of them bigern enough 

 to swaller a feller. Well, I used to turn my seven voke of 



jo 



TJ 



up. 



The old man I was breaking for warned me that it was not 

 jist safe to do so on foot, for he said the hoop snaiks were 

 very sassy, lively, cross and dangerous mawnin's. But I 

 wasent afeared; I did not even take a club with me. 



' 'Wall, one mawnin' a pair of my steers had strayed away 

 from the rest, and I went further back in the timber to look 

 for them. I turned my cattil in the timber because the green 

 head flies were awful bad on the perarie. I traveled along a 

 path for some distance, when I stopped and leaned back 

 against a white-oak tree, about three feet through, to listen 

 and rest. After standing there for some little time, I looked 

 down along the path, and saw laying on a log in the bright 

 mawnin' sun sunthiu' that glistened bright. It was all 

 kinds of bright colors. I soon saw it was a snaik — an awful 

 purty colored snaik. All at. once it looked up, saw me, 

 whipped up its head at d tail together, caught its tail in its 

 mouth, and came rolling right at me like a hoop, so fast 

 that it fairly hissed through the air. Just in time I saw my 

 danger; that the terrible, deadly hoop snaik was coming for 

 me, and just in the nick of time* I sprung fiom between it 

 and the tree. As I run, I heard a report like the keen crack 

 of a rifle. After running a little piece, I looked back and 

 saw the hoop snaik squirming and slashing around the tree 

 in a fearful way. I stopped and watched it for quite a 

 while, and as it still kept it up, I concluded that thar were 

 something the matter with it, so I cut me a strong, long pole, 

 and sneaked up to see what was the matter; and I am a dod 

 rotted liar if the critter had not driven the spike on its tail 

 so far into the tree as to fasten itself. Seein' there were no 

 danger, 1 soon killed it with my pole. After that, when I 

 went in them thar woods, 1 allers took along a good club, 

 and kept my eye skined fur hoop snakes. 



"The next mawnin' I tuk out a measurin' rule to measure 

 the critter, to see how long he were. As soon as I come near 

 the tree, I saw that what had been a nice grown tree the 

 mawnin' afore was now all withered and dead from the pizen 

 of the snaik. I measured as much of the hoop snaik as 

 stuck out of the tree, and found there were nine feet and 

 thirteen inches of him sticking out, and it looked as if there 

 ware a good many inches of him driven into hit. 



"The next winter I an' the old man who owned the tim- 

 ber went out to cut the dead Tree down. So soon as we 

 stuck our axes inter it. they all turned green from the pizen 

 of the snaik; but we chopped her down, and found that the 

 snaik had dnven the spike into the solid white oak, plum to 

 the heart, or just eighteen inches. 1 cut the spike out. 

 soaked it a year in running water to soak the pizen out, and 

 have it now up-stairs in my trunk." 



(Jasps of horror, but none of incredulity, w T ent around the 

 circle, as old Hank closed. Soon he began to untangle him- 

 self and arise up to go to bed. Said I — 



"Wait a minute, please, Hank." 



"Web?" said he. 



"Hid you see any more hoop snakes there after that?" 

 said I. 



■■Yes hundreds of them, big and little, but, none quite so 

 large as the one that killed the tree. I allers carried a good 

 club when I was in the woods, and killed a good many of 

 them. They are very dumpish and easily killed after" the 

 middle of the day, and uot at all dangerous. They never 

 roll after noon But after that ere cuss killed the tree instead 

 of me I allers felt a little uarvous when in the woods and 

 weren't never satisfied until I cum away." 



This was all told with the seriousness of a Methodic class 

 leader, andthacaJm truthfulness of an elderly man, and I 

 am confident that there was not a person in Hank's audience, 

 except Byrne, that doubted one word the old man said. 

 "Hank," said I, "I suppose those hoop snakes aie yet plenty 

 in thai part of Iowa?" 



"Yes, one of my old pards came from thar last summer; 

 he had a good job thar, buy sed he was feered to stop on 

 account of the cussed things." 



"I£ you were, there now," said I, "you could kill some, 

 afternoons, without any danger." 



"O, yes," said Hank, "no troub'e about that at ail." 

 "We'll," says I, "I have got $500 in gold, a good horse 

 and buggy, and a hundred and sixty acres pre-emption of as 

 fine land as there is in Cass county. I know it's no great 

 stake, but it's something; now you are getting a little old for 

 prairie breaking; you can hire a young bull-whacker to 

 break up the quarter; you can build' you a snug house with 

 the money and drive into town every day with the horse and 

 buggy to see the boys, aud live like a prince. I know it's 

 not much, but I will give it all freely for a hoop snake, dead 

 or alive, and 1 think I can find scientific institutions that 

 will give $100 apiece for several more. I will take an}- size, 

 genuine hoop snake, from five to eleven feet and eighteen 

 inches long. Say Hank, do please drop everything else and 

 get one; I will break prairie for you while you are~gone." 



"And I," spoke up Cant. Dan Able, "will give my steam- 

 boat the Ediuburg (the jovial captain had stepped off to see 

 his old friend Judge McCornas, and had slipped up unseen to 

 hear Hank's story) forthat spike he has up-stairs in his trunk." 

 At this Hank bridled up with his eyes snapping a little. 

 "As for you, Mr. Posey, [meaning me — it was the only name 

 I w^as known by there— I had told one of the boys who 

 wanted to put on airs that / was from Ingiany, Posey coun- 

 ty, hoop-pole precinct], "if yer wants hoop snakes so bad, 

 you jist ketch them for 3 ourself. As for you, Cap, you jist 

 hunt yer own spikes; I aint in the steamboat business. If I 

 had cr known it were lies you fellers were tellin', I wouldent 

 have gone so far into details. When I lies I lies, which is 

 werry seldom, but when I tells the trufth I tells the trufth, 

 and if any on you think I've been lyin' ter night, just yer 

 say so, and either you or old Hank "el got whipped purty 

 quick." And lie stumbled up stairs to bed ; and then and 

 there that very evening, his name was changed from eupho- 

 nius Hank to "Old Spike Tail," by common consent. 



And Byrne has been wandering over the earth, up and 

 down, lo! these twenty-five long years, still anxiously search- 

 ing for that thing so common everywhere, one to two hun- 

 dred miles away, the veritable and true hoop snake. And to 

 capture that snake he is even risking the spending of a sum- 

 mer here, yvhere snakes, fleas, ticks, chiggers, scorpions and 

 alligator gasps abound ; where the shakes and swamp fever 

 soon rattle (by hearsay) one's bones under the sod. Oh, how 

 his heart thrilled with joy when he commenced reading the 



little note of Susan B in the Foxiest and Stream of the 



Sth inst. Dear Susan, lovely Susan, why, oh why, did you 

 give the ardent amateur student of natural history such a 

 fearful si ock? 



Well, I thought I was done, but I find myself in trouble 

 again. I took this over to read it to my friend Ben, good 

 honett soul (he don't know anything about hoop snakes or 

 anything else in particular). He said it was "very good, 

 very good, but I never saw any, so don't know." While we 

 were sitting there discussing it and fighting skeeturs, Ben 

 said, "Here comes old man Frank; he can tell us all about 

 them. Now this same man Frank has run saw-mills and 

 trapped in all the Western States and Territories, and if one 

 will follow up the years he has lived in each place, and 

 count them up, he will be found to be about 750 years old. 



" Good evening, Capt. Frank." "Good evening, Colonel," 

 said he (yve all get to be officers when we get down here, the 

 lowest title for a gentleman of leisure like Byrne being 

 Colonel). 



"Did you ever see a hoop snake, Captain?" said I. 

 "Yes, "but not since I left Nevada. We had lots of 'em 

 out there; some called 'em hoop snakes, others robin' snakes." 

 "What were they like?" said I. "Were they big and dan- 

 gerous? What co'lor were they? Tell me all you know 

 about them." 



"Well, a full grown hoop snake out thar was about twelve 

 to fourteen feet long, brownish black, with a pure while 

 stripe nearly around the back of their head; they were not 

 very thick, but looked rather slender, owing to being nearly 

 of the same thickness their yvhole length. Their tail ended 

 in two strong, sharp, very hard spikes, or in a fork, these 

 spikes spread apart from each other at the points, so that 

 when the snake struck them into anything they would not 

 pull out. These hoop snakes were found only in the hills ; they 

 would lay away up on the side of a hill and watch only be- 

 low them, where, if they saw anything they wished to strike 

 or capture, they would erect both ends, lay their head back 

 in the fork made by the two spikes (these spikes were about 

 three inches long each) and then roll just like a hoop down 

 the hill toward their prey; and then, when within proper 

 striking distance, strike those fearful spikes deep into the 

 side of their victim, and then coil themselves around its 

 neck, strangle it to death, and swallow it." 

 "Did you ever see them strike anthing?" said I. 

 "No, Colonel; I have seen them roll often, and often, but 

 never saw them strike anything; but I have seen plenty of 

 men who have; who have seen them strike and kill deer 

 often." 



"Did you ever knoyv of them killing a person?" 

 "No, I never knew of sich, but I have heard mountaineers 

 tell of such cases often." 



Well, here is trouble again. Byrne will know no more 

 rest until he goes to Washington and prevails on Congress 

 to appoint a commission to go to Nevada and study this new 

 double-spiked hoop snake scientifically, and to smooth down 

 the hillsides, free them from stones, so that the sweet crea- 

 tures can roll smoothly down without danger to life and 

 limb, and capture what deer and men and things they may 

 want for food. But I do hope the boys will not nickname 

 our good old Captain, " Old Forked Tail." Byrne. 



Crockett's Bluff, Ark., Juno 17, 1882. 



Florida Gallinule Near Harrisbtjg, Pa. — In my 

 last, Mr. T. P. Montgomery, while snipe-shooting in Witzel's 

 swamp, near Harrisburg," Pa., shot a Florida gallinule 

 (Gallinula galeata), which his dog stood. The bird was a 

 full plumaged female and a very good specimen. Mr. 

 Montgomery has had it mounted. 



Depredations of the Squirrel. — Red Hook, N. Y., 

 June 26, 1882. — Will you please inform me, through your 

 journal, if squirrels drive birds away from a place? There 

 have always been great quantities of robins about our place 

 and no squirrels, but for the last two years some squirrels 

 have appeared, and I often see them apparently robbing 

 nests, and the old robins trying to drive them away. What, 

 makes me think that squirrels drive birds away is, because, 

 at my grandfather's country seat, there arc hundreds of squir- 

 rels and no birds at all. — S. Simpson. [The small red squir- 

 rel is one of the worst enemies of our small birds during the 

 1 in iia season, and does much to drive birds away from a 

 place by robbing their nests of eggs and young. We have 

 seen the squirrels take from the nests the eggs aud young 

 and devour them. At this season of the year, they seem to 

 hunt through the treed systematically to find the nests. The 

 robins tight them with a good deal of vigor, but of course 

 the smaller birds are helpless against their attacks. 



Bull Bats on City Roofs. — Philadelphia, Pa., June, 

 1882.— Your correspondent never knew before last week 

 that what is known as the "bull bat," or "night hawk" fre- 

 quently built their nests on the flat rooftops of city houses. 

 In our city I am informed that more than one pair have be- 

 gun operations, and have taken up their abode on the roof of 

 two of the warehouses in the busy portion of Philadelphia. 

 — Homo. 



%mt\t §itg m\d %m\. 



JULY -WOODCOCK SHOOTING. 

 July woodcock shooting is legal in eleven States, as follows, the Bea 

 sou opening on the first of the month, unless otherwise designated; 

 Delaware, Minnesota. (4th), 



Illinois (4th), Missouri, 



Indiana, New Jersey,+ 



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



Maryland,* Pennsylvania (4th), 



Rhode Island. 



*Season opened June 10 in certain counties, and Juue 15 elsewhere- 

 in Wicomoco county it opens Sept. 1. 1-Closes Aug. 1 to Oct, 1. 



VIGOROUS LANGUAGE ON THE GROUSE 

 QUESTION. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As we who "shoot 'em settin" are held responsible by 

 some correspondents for the decrease of grouse, I propose 

 to show just exactly to what extent I murder them. Of 

 the six seasons that elapsed between the completion of my 

 ninth and fifteenth years I can give very little a 

 Part of fie time I prowled around with a forked stick and a 

 relic of the old flint-lock period, and for another very con- 

 siderable portion I picked them off with a double 20-bore 

 Mantou. I was too careless to keep any record of the num- 

 ber of birds killed, but I am pretty safe in saying that I 

 killed a good many. I have hunted nine seasons out of the 

 ten that have elapsed since 71, and for them I can give 

 "chapter and verse." During that time I have killed 143 

 grouse, or an average of less than 16 to a season. The 

 greatest bag I ever made in one day was 6 birds. The 

 largest number killed in one season, 38; smallest, 2. From 

 carefully gleaned information I believe that grouse were 

 more plentiful here in '61 than at any Other time during the 

 last fifty years. Since I commenced to shoot, the seasons of 

 greatest plenty were '67, "71 and '73, while '69 and '81 stand 

 out in bold relief as the seasons of greatest Scarcity. 



It never seems to occur to some writers that man is often 

 victim of circumstances. H I had nothing else to do than 

 to hunt. 1 might shoot at grouse on the wing exclusively in 

 order to make one bird last as long as possible. But 1 work 

 from ten to seventeen hours out of twenty -four, for eleven 

 months out of twelve, and by the time that month is subdi- 

 vided, the grouse come in for a very email share. A few 

 blank scores mean no birds for the season. The premise that 

 every person is supposed to shoot on the wing, and conse- 

 quently the tree-shooter is sailing under false colors, may bo 

 all right for New York, but "it would not do for Gal way. " 

 Here, a person who said that he took no sitting shots, would 

 be considered a lineal descendant of Ananias. Conse- 

 quently, we. never feel "im comfortable about the gills" when 

 we pick up a murdered bird. They say we are meat hunters. 

 True, we bring in meat for nearly every shot yve tire, but I, 

 for one, am a "boarder," and payfor my meat, and never 

 sell my birds. Does any one suppose I am philanthropic 

 enough to go to the woods for the sole purpose of replenish- 

 ing the larders of my friends? No, sir; I go for the sport, 

 but it takes less to satisfy me than it docs some others. I 

 admit that wing-shooting is higher art; so is wing-shooting 

 with a rifle, but either is a notch too high for inc. 1 was 

 amused at a quotation in a letter thai, appeared some time 

 ago in your journal that discoursed eloquently about "curs- 

 ing the 'hand that destroyed the game which God created for 

 man's recreation." I wish I was sure about the "recreation" 

 part. 



I am no theologian, but for every passage of scripture that 

 can be quoted in support of the "recreation" theory, I can 

 find one that will justify killing for meat. For my part 1 

 am willing to plead guilty to the charge of selfishly destroy - 

 life for my own amusement. 



Pot-hunter is another epithet that has been repeatedly fired 

 at us. Now, what is a pot-hunter? It seems to be a word 

 that means anything at all, aud yet nothing. I believe thaL 

 every man constructs his own standard, and either carefully 

 adjusts it so as not to include himself, or uses it solely for 

 the benefit of others. My definition is, "one who hunts in 

 season and out for greed of filthy lucre;" but some scribes 

 could truthfully describe him as "a person who does not do 

 just as we say we do." It is surprising what an amount of 

 capital some writers make of this one small word. Like the 

 "nevermore" of the "Kavcn," il is their refrain — their sole 

 stock and trade, doubtless, "caught from some unhappy 

 'master,' " and repeated parrot-like whenever occasion seemed 

 to require. An old adage says, "every bullet has its billet." 

 I think that this erratic projectile, with which so many 

 charge their abuse-firing artillery, too often bears the name 

 and image of its user; and like a boomerang, returns to the 

 place whence it started. One of the component purls of the 

 character of man is, what is popularly called "human 

 nature," therefore we may expect to see the perfect spoils- 

 man soon after the appearance of the perfect man. "There 

 is some soul of goodness in things evil, would men observ- 

 ing! y distil it out," and il does not neeessaiily follow that 

 the man whom I stigmatized as a pot-hunter, would steal a 

 brick house or commit any crime, any more readily than 1 

 would. A case came under my notice where an eigbteen- 

 year-old boy fractured a limb while "cruising" alone in the 

 woods. A stranger carried him two miles to hi u camp and 

 nursed him as tenderly as his own mother would have done 

 had she been there. Yet this man would cut the throat of 

 a crusted deer with a savage delight, that could not be 

 excelled by the most untutored Indian. Is it only for the 

 dollars and cents that the game brings that the most despised 

 market hunter goes to the woods? He is drawn by the 

 same instinct that impels the sportsman, and i care uot 

 whether you call it "true sportsniun's ardor," or the "bump 



