Feb. 14, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



46 



i aud l. 

 it use is 

 oooh-poc 



■old fch 



Male Woodland Caribou. 



Female Woodland Caribou. 



"ANTELOPE AND DEER OF AMERICA." 



~VT O study is more delightful than that of the habits of our 

 -L i large game, and yet the lack of knowledge about these 

 animals, even amonir the most intelligent of sportsmen, is re- 

 markable. Although the sources of information at their 

 hands are considerable, there are but few men who are at all 

 well acquainted with the habits of these large species. This 

 is the more deplorable because this large game is so rapidly 

 passing out of existence, that it will soon be only a memory, 

 except to the most ardent of hunters, and because, owing to 

 the rapid settling up of the country, the conditions of the 

 life, and so the habits of these animals are continually chang- 

 ing. It is true that in many sections of the. United States 

 the Virginia deer clings to its haunts with surprising tenacity, 

 but it is equally true that mosjfc of our other large game ani- 

 mals are becoming extinct with a rapidity that is most sad- 

 dening to those who tor years have taken pleasure in 

 living with them in regions where they were at home, 

 and in observing their habits. How swiftly and surely 

 this extermination is taking place is realized by but few 

 people. 



To many men the memories of the days, weeks and 

 months spent iu the forests, on the prairies, or among the 

 mountains, in the companionship of God's wdd creatures, are 

 the most satisfying and pleasing of their lives, and these 

 recollect ions comeback more vividly in the after years and 

 give rise to more delight than do the thoughts of their tri- 

 umphs of pen, of orato^, or of statesmanship. And yet 

 there are hundreds of men who, in one way or another, have 

 hunted large game, have spent months in its pursuit in a 



Male c o.umoian bitxKtail Dee . 



country where it was perhaps abundant, and who know but 

 little about it. They have had guides who were hunters, 

 and they have depended wholly en them. These guides 

 have taken them about over the country, have found the 

 game, have brought them up within shooting distance, and 

 have told them when and where to shoot. The employers — 

 the "gentlemen," as they arc called in some regions— simply 

 held the gun and pulled the trigger. 



Men who thus depend entirely on others, travel with their 

 eyes shut They have no idea of finding their way about with- 

 out a guide. Take them over the first hills behind camp, 

 and turn them around once or twice, and they are lost. 

 They take no note of the habits of game, and even after a 

 long experience in hunting, do not know where to look for 

 it. They cannot tell a deer's track from an antelope's or a 

 sheep's. Their powers of observation have not been trained; 

 they do not see what goes on about them. 



Happily all men are not so. There are others who, from 

 a week's hunt, will bring back a note book full of interesting 

 facts and incidents concerning the game which they have 

 been in search of. "Within a day or two they will have 

 learned so much of the country that they can hunt through it 

 alone. They observe the salient features of the landscape, and 

 mountains, streams and trees become to them so many plainly 

 marked gnideboards, by which their steps are directed through 

 a country hitherto perfectly unknown. With men such 

 as these, it is a pleasure to converse after their return from a 

 hunt, for their conversation fairly bristles with facts. On the 

 other hand, one hears constantly from people of the former 

 class, who have had abundant opportunities for observation, 



statements which are so wide of the (ruth, and which betray 

 such groping ignorauce of the commonest facts in the nat- 

 ural history of all wild animals, that we are constantly sur- 

 prised at the want of information concerning them. And 

 yet there is no hunter — no one, we should perhaps say, who 

 imagines himself a hunter — who would not be glad to know 

 all about this game if he knew how and where such knowl- 

 edge was to be obtained. Although it is very true that about 

 some species of our large game the literature is scanty, 

 fragmentary and widely dispersed, there are others about 

 which a great deal has been written, and the most familiar 



Young Woodland Caribou. 



group, that which includes our deer, has been quite fully 

 treated by a most competent authority. 



When Judge J. D. Caton's valuable work on "The Ante- 

 lope and Deer of America" first appeared, we called attention 

 to it as the most important work on the subject which had 

 yet appeared, and this pre-eminent position it still occupies. 

 The wide dissemination of this most excellent volume would 

 do much to diminish the prevailing ignorance on this subject. 

 The opportunities which Judge Caton has enjoyed for observ- 

 ing the habits of the antelope and most of the species of North 

 American deer, have been remarkably good, and to this study 

 he has devoted years. His work is not the unconsidered pro 

 duction of an individual seeking fame, but the caieful and 

 painstaking work of a conscientious naturalist. And yet it, 

 is written with the enthusiasm of a man who is devoted to 

 his subject, and who has omitted no detail, however Slight, 

 which might throw light upon the habits of ohysical charac- 

 teristics of the animals which he was studying. 



On all points which concern the mode of life of our more 

 familiar species of deer, Judge Caton is the highest living au- 

 thority. For many years he has kept in confinement large 

 numbers of elk and deer of various species, and has thus been 

 able to observe them closely at all seasons of the year, while 

 they were to all intents and purposes in a state of nature. 

 Having them thus constantly before his eyes, being keenly 

 alive to the importance of observing them, and of recording 

 his observations, he has accumulated, and given to the world 

 in a very attractive form, a vast mass of facts of the very 

 highest value. 



In all, Judge Caton has had over one hundred elk in con- 

 finement in his park at Ottawa. Illinois, and he has had no 

 less than fifty-fOur living individuals there at oue time. Of 

 other temperate zone species he has had the A^irginia, Aca- 

 pulco, mule, and Columbian blacktail deer, and the 

 pronghorn antelope. 



Nine species are treated of in his work; The antelope, 

 moose, barren ground and woodland caribou, elk, mule, 

 Columbian, Virginia and Acapulco deer. To each of these 

 separately considerable space is devoted. The synonomy, de- 

 scriptor , geographical range and habits are treated of in the 

 articles devoted to each species, and after all have been thus 

 discussed, we come to chapters on the Cervidw taken together! 

 The titles of these chapters are Comparisons, Groupings, 

 Habit and Domestication, Hybridity, Aliment, Congeners, 

 Diseases of the Deer, The Chase, The Skins, with an Appen- 

 dix treating of the glands and the tubes in the feet of the 

 Ceroids. Perhaps there is no better way of illustrating the 

 breadth of the field which the book covers, than by showing, 

 as above, what it contains. Its 4'J5 pages are full of i n for- 

 mation of just the kind that is desired by the hunter who is 

 something more than a mere killer of meat. 



One of the most interesting subjects connected with the 

 group, and one to which the author has given great atten- 

 tion, is the antlers of the deer, a topic about which few men 



have any intelligent knowledge. To this subject over sixty 

 pagefi are devoted. 



A very interesting point relative to these osseous out- 

 growths is the curious relation which exists between them, 

 and the reproductive organs of the deer. On this point 

 Judge Caton has made many interesting observations, the 

 great number of individuals at his command enabling him 

 to experiment very fully, and he has tho: oughly established 

 the fact of an intimate connection between these organs and 

 the antlers. 



Judge Caton's work is profusely illustrated, figures of all 

 the species described, aud of several exotic forms, being 

 given. Besides these there are a vast number of illustra- 

 tions of antlers, feet, glands, etc., from each of which some- 

 thing may be learned. One of the most instructive of all 

 the figures is that of the tails of the different species, and it 

 would be well worth the while of the very large number of 

 individuals, who, from the confusion arising from the mis- 

 leading name of one of the commonest species of our west- 

 em CcrritU?, are in doubt as to what the true blacktail deer 

 is, to study this very interesting woodcut. 



There are some points on which we do not altogether 

 agree with Judge Caton. Thus we cannot subscribe to his 

 system of nomenclature,, nor do we regard the woodland as 

 a species distinct from the ban-en ground caribou, nor, as 

 we have elsewhere written, do we believe that the vision 



Mule Deer. 



of several species of our deer is "defective." But on all 

 that is essential— on all matters of fact— we may unhesi- 

 tatingly accept Judge Caton's views as sour d and wholly 

 free from prejudice. 



Squirrels in Confinement.— Lockport. N. Y., Jan. 30. 

 —Probably the largest private collection of squirrels in con- 

 finement iu the State is kept by Mr. Charles Shaler, of this 

 city. I had the pleasure of paying them a visit to day, and 

 was surprised at, the number. "To the question put to Mr. 

 B., "How many are there of them?" he answered. 'Twill 

 give you $50 to count them correctly." I did not undertake 

 the task. Mr. S. finally said there were about forty of alt 

 kiuds— black, red and fox squirrels. I think there were 

 four of the latter. He has nine of the gray at present. Mr. 

 S. said he commenced keeping them about fifteen years agoj 

 and that they breed every year, commencing in February. 

 To the question, "Do they ever breed in the fall?" he said 

 that they had done so in one or two instances. Mr. S. claims 

 that the young do not see until thev are forty davs old. He 

 keeps them iu a room built out on the east side of his house, 

 inclosed with coarse wire netting. Here there is a labyrinth 

 of dead trees and branches for them to run among; also 

 wheels for them to turn. Attached to one of the latter he 

 has a miniature train of cars, which is kept in motion a 

 good share of the time; and I noticed that the festive little 

 red did a good share of the work, although this species is in 

 the minority in number as well as in size. Mr. S. promised 

 to let me know w hen there were some young squirrels, and 

 to convince me that they do not see until they are forty days 

 old. — J. L. D. 



