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FOREST AND STREAM. 



fJuLT 22, 1886. 



cut him down as he dodges among tree trunks, or flashes 

 through the haze of hrush, or flies at full speed across the 

 open. Big as he is, and he is not as hig as his fluffy coat 

 makes him look, nor as big as a deer, -which sometimes 

 escapes unhit, it is no disgrace to miss him under these con- 

 ditions. To see the dogs working out of an old trail, un- 

 raveling foot by foot the tangled web of the foxes' morning 

 mousing is an interesting sight, and seeing which for the 

 hundredth time one can but marvel at the fine sense 

 that tells the hound which way the cold scent tends. The 

 hunter following at leisure or now seated on the top rail of 

 a fence, shares the growing excitement of the dogs as the 

 subtle exhalation rises warmer to their nostrils and their 

 mellow baying becomes more continuous and eager. Then 

 when the fox is started and a hundred phantom voices from 

 cliff and woodside join in the melodious uproar, the hunter's 

 heart chokes him with its wild upward leaps as he pushes 

 for the nearest runway. Then he waits, all ears and eyes, 

 for the sound of Reynard's light footsteps scarcely stirring 

 the fallen leaves, or his ruddy apparition suddenly growing 

 out of the brown and gray of the autumn woods, or dun 

 herbage of the frosted fields. If the wily rogue slips by un- 

 seen or out of range, what a heart-sinking ensues; and if a 

 shot is made and missed, what humiliation of spirit. But if 

 the pellets or bullet hit the flying mark and the fox falls, 

 dyeiBg the earth redder than his tawny coat, who that loves 

 the music of hounds and the freedom of the woods can ask 

 for a happier moment? And yet in that moment one may 

 ask himself by what right be has quenched such a vigorous 

 flame of wild life and be unable to quite answer his own 

 question. 



There seems to be in the best-tamed and law-abiding of 

 mankind a lurking love for outlaws. "Who has not a place 

 in his heart for bold "Robin Hood," and "Little John'' and 

 jolly "Friar Tuck," and does not wish them all alive again 

 and under the good green wood. As for me, though never 

 a turkey comes to Thank-giving again, nor fat goose to help 

 us keep Christmas. I pray that the days of the red -coated 

 outlaw of our New England woods ant) fields may be length- 

 enea far beyond mint," and that the sound of his wild voice 

 in the gloaming may not be to my children's children only 

 an old man's tale. Rowland E. Robinson. 

 Ferrisburgh, Vt^ 



ASSOCIATIONS OF MONTEREY. 



WRITING of Monterey, California, Judge John Dean 

 Caton, says: 



Formerly the antelope and deer were most abundant in the 

 vicinity of Monterey. The antelope have long since entirely 

 deserted this region, though the deer still remain in consid- 

 erable numbers. These are all of the California variety of 

 the mule deer (Cervus maerotis var. califar'nicus) which I 

 first discovered at Santa Birbara ten years ago, and described 

 in "The Antelope and Deer of America." Later investiga- 

 tions convince me thut it oceupies the entire coast range 

 south of San Francisco, while north of that great bay not 

 one occurs, but the around is almost, if not entirely, occu 

 pied by the Columbia or true black-tailed deer {Cervus col- 

 umbmnus). 



As 1 look upon these mountain ranges and fertile plains I 

 cannot help thinking of the time when, as Dr. Canfield tells 

 us, the whole country, from the mountain to the sea, was 

 literally covered with antelope, and when the deer were so 

 plentiful that it was hardly sport to shoot them. This place 

 has too a peculiar interest to me from the fact that it was 

 here first discovered and recorded that our antelope is a 

 genus by itself, differing from all other known quadrupeds 

 in having a hollow yet a deciduous horn, thus being an in- 

 termediate link between the hollow-horned and the solid- 

 horned ruminant. This great discovery was here made by 

 Dr. Canfield, who was the first, so far as is recorded, to 

 domesticate this strange animal, and was thus enabled to 

 make more careful observations of it than was possible of 

 the wild animal. I feel like taking off my hat when con- 

 scious that I am treading the ground where he trod. The 

 Doctor has long since passed away, but the memory of the 

 great discoverer will long be cherished by the naturalist. 



Bkookvtlle (Ind.) Society op Natural Histokt. — 

 Bulletin No. 2 of the Brookville Society contains a List of 

 the Fishes observed in the Vicinity of Brookville, by Barton 

 W. Evermann; a List of the Birds observed in Franklin 

 County, Indiana, by Amos W. Butler ; a Preliminary List of 

 Reptiles and Batrachians of Franklin County, by Edward 

 Hughes; The Flora of Franklin County— En dogens, by O. M. 

 Meyncke, and Fossil Corals of Franklin County, by David 

 R. Moore. Most of these lists are quite fully annotated and 

 are of great interest. Of fishes, 35 species are noted; of 

 birds, 235; of reptiles and batrachians, 40, and about 100 

 species of endogenous plants. About 25 species of fossil 

 corals are enumerated from the Silurian and from the 

 Devonian drift. Franklin county is a region especially inter- 

 esting to the ornithologist, for it includes in its fauna many 

 species of the birds of both the North and the South, whose 

 ranges here appear to overlap. The good work to be done 

 by local natural history societies, whose members^ devote 

 themselves to thoroughly investigating their own limited ter- 

 ritory, can hardly be overestimated, and we wish that there 

 were an energetic association of this kind in every county in 

 the United States. 



A Large Lobster.— Searching along the Wintkrop shore, 

 a few days ago, for whatever was to be found contraband in 

 the lobster trade, Deputy Fish Commissioner, F. R. Shat- 

 tuck, came upon what might be termed a stunner in the 

 possession of Belcher brothers, who had just brought in from 

 their traps something wonderful in crustacean life. It 

 proved to be an example of the size a lobster can attain if 

 left unmolested a long time. Unlike the average large 

 lobster, it was symmetrical, so much so as to cause remark 

 in that regard. It weighed llf pounds; length over all, 29^ 

 inches; large claw, 11 inches; small claw lOf inches. The 

 question of the age of this sample of what lobsters might 

 attain is an interesting one. Commissioner Shattuck, who 

 is making the lobster a study, suggests that he may be twenty- 

 five years old. The shell has been mounted, and will be on 

 exhibition in Appleton & Litchfield's window for a few 

 days. — Boston Tran script. 



Early Occurrence of the Great "White Egbet at 

 Washington, D. O— An adult white egret (Ardea egretta) 

 was seen by Mr. Otto Lugger, July 15, in a marsh near the 

 mouth of the railroad tannel, about a mile from the Wash- 

 ington Navy Yard. This record is remarkable for its earli- 

 ness. The northward migration of the white egrets after 

 the breeding season is too well-known to require comment 

 here.— C. Hart Merriam. 



Birds op Kansas.— Col. N. S. Goss has recently brought 

 out a revised edition of his catalogue of the birds of Kansas. 

 The catalogue of 1883 embraced 320 species and races, of 

 which 161 were known to breed within the State. The 

 present revised list includes 335 species, of which 175 are 

 known to breed within the State. The catalogue contains 

 much interesting matter and has evidently been compiled 

 with great care. To his list of species of Kansas birds, Col. 

 Goss has added the report of the A. O. U. Committee, ap- 

 pointed to investigate "the eligibility or ineligibility of the 

 European house sparrow," and also an appeal for protection 

 for our birds. This appeal consists mainly of extracts from 

 Bulletin No. 1, of the American Ornithologists' Union Com- 

 mittee on the Protection of North American Birds, and in- 

 cludes a notice of the Audubon Society and its purposes, 

 an article on bird laws, and an appeal to the women of the 

 country on behalf of the birds. 



What the Ceow eats is a matter of financial interest 

 about here. The favorite diet in early summer in other and 

 warmer localities is not t© be found to satisfy his thievish 

 propensities, but a substitute for corn here is the potatoe 

 fields, and the crow's propensity to search for the object of 

 man's soil is rewarded by a generous repast when unmolested. 

 Yesterday I surprised a family of six within thirty yards of 

 my house, not after potatoe destroying insects, a£ I was in- 

 clined to believe, but digging the row and cutting off the 

 young tubers and eating them. This family has had sym- 

 pathy enough growing in range of my 10-bore daily to feel 

 its power to average misplaced confidence. — Ned Norton. 



The Marten, We Presume.— Will some of the Canadian 

 readers of Forest and Stream be kind enough to tell me 

 what animal it was that the early French explores called the 

 sable? Was it the fisher, M pennaidii, Erxl., or the marten, 

 M. ammoa «.«.?— John G. Henderson. 



The Next Man'to Die is just as likely to be yourself as any of your 

 neighbors, and unexpected death is continually happening. Take a 

 combined life and accident policy in the Travelers, of Hartford. Conn. 

 — Adv. 



Address all communications to tlie Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



THE TRAJECTORY TEST. 



'TVHE full report of the Forest and Stream's trajectory test of hunt- 

 ing rifles has been issued in pamphlet form, with the illustra- 

 tions and the tabular summary, making in all 96 pages. For sale at 

 this office, or sent post-paid. Price 50 cents. 



MONTANA WOLVES AND PANTHERS. 



MONTANA is simply overrun with destructive wild 

 animals at present." During the year 1884, soon after 

 the last buffalo disappeared across the Canadian border, and 

 when the great herds of domestic cattle succeeded to the 

 stamping grounds of the native bison, there was a remark- 

 able increase in the number of gray wolves on the Montana 

 rangf-s. To be accurate, this species of wolf, together with 

 bis cousin, the prairie coyote, always did hang around the 

 buffalo herds, ever watchful to pounce upon some super- 

 annuated bull driven from the band by the younger ones, 

 or to snap up some weak calf or unwise animal that chanced 

 to stray too far from the main body. With the disappear- 

 ance of the buffaloes from Montana, these scavengers of the 

 prairie also disappeared, because, being left without sufficient 

 food supply, they of course followed the wild herds as they 

 retired to more remote pastures. In 1884 the great buffalo 

 herds in the Canadian norlbwest became pretty well deci- 

 mated, and so the wolves returned to their old haunts. Not 

 being so particular as to object to beefsteak when buffalo 

 hump was not to be had, they played sad havoc with the 

 cattle herds that year. Cattlemen did not begin to pay much 

 attention to the matter until last year, when it was* found 

 that it knocked considerable from their profits to support 

 such immense swarms of these pests. Cattle, and especially 

 young and weak calves, dropped during the winter time, have 

 been the food upon which they subsisted. 



In 1884 the Territory offered a bounty for the scalps of 

 destructive wild animals brought in to be punched. The 

 bounty is fifty cents on a coyote, one dollar on a wolf, eight 

 dollars on mountain lions or panthers, and the same on bears. 

 This law cost the Territorial Treasurer $12,740.50 that year, 

 besides which nearly every county offered as much, if not 

 more for the scalps of wild animals than did the Territory. 

 Many cowboys entered into the scheme of poisoning wolves, 

 which besides affording them plenty of sport and winter 

 amusement, also yielded a handsome largess for the ear 

 punching, after which the skins Were sold. In this way a 

 number of the cowboys more than doubled their summer's 

 pay which they received for rounding up and herding cattle. 

 Some of the counties also offered strychnine to all who 

 would use it, and even some of the cattlemen volunteered to 

 subscribe a beef or two. This latter alternative, however, 

 was not necessary, as there are always sufficient dead ani- 

 mals lying aroundto be used for bait and eren the wolves 

 and coyotes themselves manufactured plenty of material for 

 their own destruction in the animals they killed for food. 

 Such an industrious warfare has been carried on for two 

 years against the coyotes and wolves, that one would sup- 

 pose the rascally thieves would begin to show a diminution 

 in numbers, but such is not the case. 



In 1885 they were on the ranges in greater swarms than 

 ever and the damage they did counted heavily against the 

 profits for the year. On the chestnut range in Northwestern 

 Montana the stockmen came to the front with a handsome 

 offer to wolf killers, which will make it a paying business 

 for anybody to engage in that occupation alone. It will give 

 the woli'er plenty of poison and not less than $5 for each 

 skin, after which he is at liberty to sell the hide for what he 

 can get. 



Mr. Wallace Taylor, of Choteau county, in a recent letter, 

 reported a bad state of affairs in his section of the country, 

 occasioned by the wolves devouring cattle and sheep. He 

 says, "The animals are rapidly increasing and getting bolder 

 every day. They even attack bulls and large cows, and in 

 many instances get away with them. The stockmen are 

 doing everything in their power to exterminate them by the 

 liberal use of poison and the increase of bounty; but thus far 

 the animals have not diminished, and the stockmen fear they 

 will actually be obliged to leave that part of the Territory 



and secure other quarters." Mr. Taylor is a reliable gentle- 

 man, who is not given to exaggeration, so we may receive 

 with the utmost confidence what he says. Mr. Chas. Smith, 

 inspector of the cattle district in and around Helena, in his 

 last report speaks particularly of the great loss of lambs by 

 depredating wolves. "The animals are rapidly increasing," 

 he says, "and getting bolder and more ferocious each day. 

 The sheepmen are becoming frightened over the rapid disap- 

 pearance of their flocks and are using every means to exter- 

 minate the pests." At the late convention of cattlemen, held 

 at Miles City, the question of destroying wolves was one of 

 the principal topics discussed. The discussion developed the 

 fact that the number of calves destroyed by wolves is simply 

 astounding, and a campaign in earnest was organized against 

 these nuisances. One stockman stated that he could show 

 carcasses of fifteen or twenty calves which had been killed 

 by wolves near his ranch. Another stockman had found 

 four in one day near his ranch that the wolves had slain, 

 and all agreed that there had been a large increase of wolves 

 in the country this year. One hundred' and fifty dollars was 

 in a few minutes paid into the hands of the chairman of the 

 committee to purchase poison to- be given to those 

 who wished to kill wolves. In addition to the above, 

 the chairman of the wolf committee informed all that it 

 was expected of each stockman to keep on hand a large sup- 

 ply of poison, and have his employees put it out judiciously 

 and persistently. Mr. Van Buren, a member present, an- 

 nounced his intention of putting out a supply of poison 150 

 miles in length, and many* of the stockmen present offered to 

 furnish him meat to use for bait. This species of wolf, the 

 animal referred to, is not the ordinary black wolf of the 

 States, but is a great big animal nearly the size of a young 

 calf, gaunt and hungry looking even when well fed, and has 

 plenty of pluck and grit. This gray wolf is a good traveler, 

 and may be found to-day in one bounty and tomorrow many 

 miles from there. On the other hand the coyote is a sneak- 

 ing, cowardly creature, seldom showing fight and living in 

 the same locality month after month until killed or driven 

 off. The States wolf above mentioned has never been found 

 in Montana to my knowledge, but several parties on the 

 Shonkin range in Choteau county assert that they saw a 

 genuine black wolf a few days ago, although no one suc- 

 ceeded in getting a shot at him. He is certainly not a native 

 of Montana, and where he came from it is hard to say. Per- 

 haps he is a straggler who drifted down from some one of 

 the Canadian Provinces. As before remarked, some of the 

 cowboys have gone regularly into the business of wolf kill- 

 ing. J. W. Prcctor, of Billings, arrived a day or two ago 

 from the Musselshell, where he spread a string of poisoned 

 meat thirty miles long, for the delectation of tbegray wolves 

 and coyotes out there. Unfortunately a heavy snow storm 

 covered up the bait, but nevertheless a great many "var- 

 mints" were bagged ; certainly sufficient to pay all expenses 

 and leave a handsome margin besides. 



In Yellowstone county the boys have struck quite a 

 bonanza. In addition to the territorial bounty the county 

 offers one dollar on a coyote, and two dollars on a wolf. This 

 just doubles the territorial bounty on each animal killed or 

 brought in. 



A young fellow named Martin, with not much on his 

 hands except idle time, practiced a week at the business in 

 Yellowstone county, and the result was nine wolf skins and 

 twenty-six coyote skins. To sum up he got $13 and $26 for 

 the coyotes' ears, and $9 and $18 for those of the wolves; 

 after which he sold the hides for an average of about $1.50 

 each to a fur dealer in Billings. Total profit. $118.50, and 

 lots of fun; cost about $5 for strychnine and time. Bait 

 was had in one dead animal picked up on the range. 



So much for coyotes and prairie wolves. There is another 

 dangerous animal in Montana, which is almost as destructive 

 as the above two species, but which is a great deal more 

 dangerous, and as much to be feared by human beings as by 

 animals. I refer to what is commonly called in this country 

 the mountain lion. These beasts should be styled more cor- 

 rectly, pumas, catamounts, or American panthers. In this 

 northwestern country they grow to an enormous size, and 

 are just as fierce and bold, if not more so, than the same 

 species found in Africa and other countries. Scores of ad- 

 ventures could be related by Montanians who have met and 

 conquered these monsters, but a few of them will suffice to 

 let the readers of the Forest and Stream understand the 

 style of neighbors we have in this yet new and undeveloped 

 country. 



A ranchman living on the Yellowstone River, while com- 

 ing to Miles City during the late Christmas holidays, espied 

 a herd of antelope near Sunday Creek and raised his rifle 

 and fired at them. The bullet wounded an antelope, and 

 the noise of the explosion started the herd on a dead run, 

 the maimed animal also endeavoring to get away. The 

 hunter started to secure his game, and had made but a few 

 steps in that direction when he discovered that the wounded 

 antelope was claimed in another direction. Two mammoth 

 mountain lions had exhibited themselves, secured the ante- 

 lope, and were marching away with it. To own the truth 

 the hunter, or rather ranchman, was a little frightened, and 

 preferred to let the thieves have the game rather than risk a 

 fight with the two of them. Another gentleman living on 

 the south side of the Yellowstones, related his experience 

 with mountain lions, which are quite numerous on his range, 

 about forty miles south of this fort. He says they will drag 

 down a heifer or young steer and take off a quarter almost 

 as neatly as a butcher would with his knife, which they 

 drag away and devour. When they are hungry again tbey 

 attack another beef, and never return to a carcass they have 

 left. 



He recently came upon a bunch of five lions while out 

 with a party of friends. He struck their trail just over the 

 divide, between Powder River and Cottonwood Creek. After 

 following it in the snow for some time he found where they 

 had chased a deer, and from there they branched off in sev- 

 eral directions, he taking the trail of the largest one, which 

 led him down into one of the gulches. After mounting a 

 large rock he looked over and discovered the beast he was 

 after about thirty feet from where he was standing. Im- 

 mediately upon seeing him the lion took a jump over a 

 coulee about twenty feet deep and thirty feet wide, landing 

 safely upon the other side, from whence he looked back in a 

 very contemptuous manner at our friend. The latter raised 

 his rifle and fired and at the report two other lions came in 

 sight and walked toward a cave which was a short distance 

 away. Taking them one at a time he gave them twelve 

 rounds, at the end of which they had reached the cave and 

 disappeared inside. He was then joined by the rest of the 

 party, and upon arriving at the cave they found that the 

 largest lion had rolled down, the others succeeding by numer- 

 ous rolls and jumps in following the leader. Finding the 

 outlet some eighty feet from the mouth they filled both en 



