46 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 12, 1886. 



GEORGIA GAME INTERESTS. 



THE organization of the Gun Club has created much 

 enthusiasm among our sportsmen, and the interests 

 in field sports will be greatly increased by the protection 

 of game. For the purpose of framing a recommendation 

 such as our legislators could have passed at the next ses- 

 sion, a large and enthusiastic meeting of the Gun Club 

 was held at the office of Salem Dutcher, Esq. D, Sancken 

 was called to the chair, and John M. Weigle, Esq., acted 

 as secretary. Letters were read from the following gen- 

 tlemen, giTing valuable suggestions: John E. Wheeler, 

 Lieut. George Hood, A. A. Stm-gis, of McDuffie; P. S. 

 Jones, of Bm-ke; S. P. Jones, of Burke; George W, Jones, 

 of Burke; Captain F. E. Eve, of Columbia: R. H. Berrien, 

 captain of the Millen Gim Club; Hon. M. P. Reese, of 

 Washington; Hon. Martin V. Calvin, of Richmond; and 

 several others. Hon, John S. Davidson and Jos. R. 

 Lamar were present and gave material aid by their sug- 

 gestions. The following suggestions from Lieut. Hood 

 will be embodied in the bill when presented to the Legis- 

 lature: "I would suggest to our legislators the framing 

 of a bill punishing by fine of not less than $50, or in de- 

 fault of payment confinement in jail or public works, as 

 the judge may see fit in his discretion; make it the duty 

 of all police, constables and sheriffs to make reports of 

 violations of the game laws. I would further offer to the 

 informant half of all fines collected when he convicts." 

 Mr. Salem Dutcher fi-ora the committee then read the f ol- 

 lovsdng, which was adopted : * 'Your committee appointed 

 *to consider and report on the best means for the pre- 

 servation of the game in this (Richmond) county,' beg 

 leave respectfully ro report as follows: Tlae object of 

 game laws is not to deprive any one of the right to hunt, 

 whether for pleasure or profit, but simply to restrict the 

 pursuit to proper seasons and proper means, and thereby 

 preserve the game from extinction. We have kept this 

 object steadily in view, and propose nothing which is not 

 to the general advantage of the whole public. 



"We find that four game laws have been passed for 

 Richmond county, one in 1850 and one in 1858, as to deer; 

 a thu'din 1859 as to partridges, doves, snipe, wild turkeys, 

 wild ducks and all other wild game bu'ds; and a fourth in 

 1874, as to partridges and deer. The act of 1859, we may 

 here remark, is the earliest act on the statute book of 

 Georgia for the preservation of game birds, and Richmond 

 may- therefore be jiistly regarded as the pioneer in this 

 field. Our local acts, however, while containing some 

 valuable provinces which we have retained in our recom- 

 mendations, are not as a whole, adequate to their pm-pose. 



'*We fm-ther find that game laws have been passed in 

 as many as forty-five other counties of this State, namely 

 in Baker, Baldwin, Bartow, Bibb, Bryan, Burke, Calhoun, 

 Camden, CarroU, Chatham, Clarke, Cobb, DeKalb, 

 Dougherty, Effingham, Fannin, Fulton, Gilmer, Glynn, 

 Greene, Houston, Jefferson, Jones, Laurens, Lincoln, 

 Lowndes, Macon, Marion, Mcintosh, Morgan, Murray, 

 Muscogee, Putnam, Rabun, Randolph, Screven, Talbot, 

 Taylor, Thomas, Washington, Wilkes, Wilkiason, Whit- 

 field and Worth. Most of these enactments are of recent 

 date, and some of them are drawn with great skill, evinc- 

 ing equal knowledge of woodcraft and of law. From them 

 we have derived many valuable suggestions. We have 

 also availed ourselves "of the kind assistance of a number 

 of gentlemen experienced in field sports, and have con- 

 sulted with much profit the magnificent works on 

 ornithology of Bonaparte and Wilson, courteously placed 

 at the service of the committee by Dr. Harrison. From 

 these and other sources we have been enabled to mature a 

 plan for the preservation of the game in this county, and 

 do recommend that steps be taken for the enactment of 

 the same into a local law. The plan is this: 



"First— We recommend that the hunting, killing, snar- 

 ing, or taking in any way, of deer in Richmond county 

 be totaUy prohibited until October 1, 1888, fke-hunting or 

 taking or killing of deer other than by hound or gun, re- 

 main still prohibited, but that except between January 1 

 and October 1 of each year, it be lawful to kill or take 

 them by hound or gun, but not otherwise; no fawn to be 

 at any time killed or taken. Not many years ago this 

 noble game was not infrequent in Richmond couni-7 a"d 

 of late has shown an inclination to return. 



"Second— We recommend that the killing or taking in 

 anyway of the summer duck, or, as it is sometimes called, 

 the wood duck, be prohibited between April 1 and August 

 15 in each year'. Tliis bird, which Buffon styles 'Le beau 

 canard huppe, the handsome crest-crowned duck,' and 

 Wilson calls 'most beautiful of all om- ducks,' is indeed 

 worthy the praise of these learned ornithologists. The 

 very mention of its colors, 'orange-red, bronze-green, 

 violet, pure white, deep black glossed with green, drab, 

 brown flecked with white,' gives some idea of its splen- 

 dor. Surmounting all these gay hues is a stately looking 

 crest of long pendant plumes, green and violet, striped 

 with snowy white. This beautiful bird is indigenous to 

 this county; it loves to build its nest in hollow trees near 

 the water, and from the ample cover afforded by our 

 swamps, would be abundant, as it once was, were it not 

 incessantly pursued. Even the ducklings, or 'floppers,' 

 as they are called before able to fly, are hunted, some- 

 times being even trailed with hounds. 



"Thu-d— We recommend that the close time for doves 

 be from April 1 to August 15 m each year. The massa- 

 cre of these birds, beginning in June or July, is exter- 

 minating them. At this period the young birds are 

 scarcely able to fly, and the old ones are engaged m rear- 

 ing a second brood. When f uU-pinioned the dove has 

 extraordinary velocity, and lie who can bring one dowii 

 when in full flight may well claim to be a marksnaan. It 

 is a somewhat current impression that the dove is not a 

 game bird, but this is only from the fact that it is not 

 found in Europe, or to any great extent North. Its nor- 

 mal habitat is the latitude of Georgia and the Carohnas, 

 whence its scientific name, Columha earohnensis. Our 

 Richmond county act of 1859 and the acts for several 

 other counties expressly put it down as a game bird. 



"Fourth— We recommend that the close time for wild 

 turkey be from April 1 to October 15 in each year. This 

 noble inhabitant of the woods is par excellence the game 

 bird of America. The turkey is strictly indigenous to the 

 ■ North American continent, and was never known to the 

 old world before the discovery of the new. The great Dr. 

 Benjamin Frankhn— who, by the way, was agent tor 

 Georgia at the British Court some years before the revo- 

 lution, and after whom Fi-anklin county is named— had a 

 very high opinion of the turkey, and even favored his 

 adoption as the national bird mstead of the bald eagle, 

 JFor my own part,' says he, *I wish the bald eagle had not 



been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a 

 bird of bad moral character; he does not get his living 

 honestly; you may have seen him perched on some dead 

 tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the 

 labor of the fishing-hawk and, when that diligent bird 

 has at length taken a fish and is bearing it to its nest for 

 the support of his mate and the young ones, the bald eagle 

 pursues him and takes it from him. With all this injus- 

 tice he is never in good case, but, Hke those among men 

 who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor 

 and often very lousy. Besides, he is a rank coward; the 

 little king bird, not bigger than a sparrow, attacks him 

 boldly, and drives him out of the district. The turkey is, 

 in comparison, a much more respectable bird, and withal 

 a time original native of America. Eagles have been 

 foimd in all coimtries, but the turkey was peculiar to 

 ours. He is, besides, (though a little vain and silly, 'ti'* 

 true, but not the worse eml5lem for that) a bird of cour- 

 age, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the 

 British guards who should presume to invade his farm- 

 yard with a red coat on.' A bird thus highly vouched 

 for, your committee respectfully submit, is entitled to 

 some annual period of immunity from trouble for himself 

 and family. 



"Fifth — We recommend that the close time for wood- 

 cook be from January 1 to August 1 in each year. This 

 famous bird, the epicure's daintiest dish, and one of the 

 sportsman's highest prizes, would soon become plentiful 

 hi this county if protected. 



"Sixth — We recommend that the close time for par- 

 tridge or quail be from April 1 to November 1. As every- 

 body knows and, in every sense of the word, loves plump, 

 little whistHng Bob White, we need say nothing to en- 

 force this particular suggestion. 



"Seventh — Snipe, plover, teal, English duck, and other 

 game birds not above mentioned, being migratory, only 

 appearing among us when full grown and en route to 

 other fields, must be hunted as they appear or not at all. 

 We, therefore, make no recommendation as to them, 

 except that trapping, netting, or snaring be prohibited, 



"Eighth — ^We recommend that it be made illegal at 

 any time to net, ti'ap or snare game birds; or to put out 

 nets, traps, or snares for them; or to poison, or put out 

 poison for, partridges or doves; or to injiu-e, destroy, or 

 distm'b the nest of any game bird, or to rob the same of 

 its eggs; also, that it be made an offense to buy, sell, o» 

 offer to sell any game bird during its close season, posses- 

 sion of such bii-d at such time to be proof of having taken 

 the same illegally. Most, if not all, of these provisions 

 have already been enacted for other counties, and we 

 deem them well worthy of adoption in this. In this con- 

 nection we make the further recommendation that it be 

 made legal for any person finding the same set, inconti- 

 nently to destroy any trap, net, snare or other like de- 

 vice for taking game. It is already 'hunter's law' that 

 such devices are to be kicked to pieces, but it may be best 

 to make the same statute law as well. 



"Ninth — ^We recommend that any infraction of the 

 above stated provisions as to deer or wild turkey be pun- 

 ished by a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $200, or 

 imprisonment not to exceed three months, or by both fine 

 and imprisonment within said limits in the discretion of 

 the com-t: other infractions to be punished by a fine of 

 not less than $10 nor more than f 100, or imprisonment 

 not to exceed two months, or by both fine and imprison- 

 ment as above. In many of the game laws we have men- 

 tioned the penalties are much more severe than those we 

 here suggest, but we believe a moderate com-se the best, 

 and have therefore recommended a system graded as 

 above. We have further to report that we have consid- 

 ered the subject of how best to enforce the local act we 

 recommend, but reserve the same for a subsequent 

 report, desiring here only to say that a proper system of 

 rewards for information of infractions of the game laws, 

 such as are in vogue in other States, is a part of the 

 scheme." 



A resolution was adopted inviting the anglers to meet 

 the Gun Club at the office of Salem Dutcher on the 15th 

 tnst., to make laws for the protection of fish as weUas the 

 game. Augusta. 

 A^auSTA, Ga,, Aug. 7. 



GAME PRESERVING IN BRITAIN. 



II. — THE GAME OF THE FIELDS. 



THE game of the fields of a British preserve is, strictly 

 speaking, of decidedly hmited variety, embracing, 

 as it does, but two descriptions of ground game and but 

 one of feathered game— to wit, hares, rabbits, and par- 

 tridges. Small, however, as is the variety of quarry our 

 fields provide, it nevertheless makes up for such short- 

 comings by the excellence of the sport afforded, as well 

 as by the number and ubiquitous nature of the several 

 birds and animals. Besides "ground game," as we call 

 hares and rabbits and partridges, quails and land rails 

 may also be included in the category; but inasmuch as 

 neither of these birds is rigidly preserved, andtheu- inclu- 

 sion in the list of game birds is rather indirect than direct, 

 they may be regarded as of secondary importance. 



In the British Isles we have but one species of wUd rab- 

 bit, Leptis mniculus, but owong to various influences 

 many varieties of more or less pronounced nature may be 

 met with in various parts of the country. The British 

 rabbit is the same wild rabbit met with all over the world. 

 Everyone is conversant with its general contour. Its 

 pleasing aspect, its nimbleness, its ubiquity, its easy 

 adaptability to varied conditions of life, its fecundity, its 

 extensive and accommodating appetite are as well known 

 in Austraha as in Britain, in America as in Syria. It is 

 found from end to end of Britain. In pai'ts we preserve 

 it; we breed it in warrens, and foster it as we would a 

 tender plant; in others we, as farming tenants, term it 

 vermin, and never cease our exterminating war agamst 

 it, while, going fm-ther afield, we as preseiwers term it 

 ground game, but cannot stand its overwhelming plenti- 

 tude, and shoot and net and trap it to provide an income 

 against the expenditm-e incident to a heavy head of feath- 

 ered game. I have not the space at my disposal to 

 admit of my teUing you of the rabbit's haunts, of the 

 character and nature of the locahties they favor and ot 

 those they do not. They are ubiquitous, and Britain 

 varies largely in natiu-al aspect. _ » ^, • 



Rabbits; as a rule, live in small colomes. In the spring 

 tune a buck and two or three does which may have win- 

 tered together will provide the nucleus of the colony. 

 Fecund beyond measure they rapidly multiply, and then: 

 offspring coming after them do likewise, uatU the colony 



outgrows itself and the yoimg rabbits combine to found ^ 

 subsidiary ones, which exist fSl autumn comes and they \ 

 disperse for the winter months, stiU retaining, however, 

 the social item in their arrangements for winter i' 



Theu* haunts during the several seasons of the year will 

 vary largely. From March to May you would find them 

 for the most part dwelMng in their burrows. These bur- 

 rows rfhy be in hedge-rows, hedge-banks, or in the 

 pound. Anyhow, they wiU not be far from the rabbits' 

 'eeding ground, for at tliis time of year they seem to bear 

 this point in mind when choosing a site for their ramified 

 habitations. Some wUl lie out in the thick and cosy un- 

 dergrowth of the plantations, and some will find wai-m 

 and sheltered berths in the thick growth of the hedges 

 and rough corners of the preserve. Being unmolested 

 they will in summer pass the time enjoyably enough in 

 the open air, basking in the sun or seekiiig shelter from 

 the mid-day heat beneath a rustling canopy of bracken or 

 ensconced in the agreeable maze of a bramble bush; 

 sometimes, too, beneath the broken wood at the root of a 

 tree, sometimes lying in their run through the hayfleld, 

 sometimes 'mid the sweet luxuriance of the cornfield, but 

 in any case well within reach of the protecting bmTow — 

 a welcome shelter from inclemencies of weather or re- 

 ti-eat from foes, human or animal, When autumn comes 

 round with its varying weather, rabbits will likewise 

 vary their haunts, favoring tliose of spring or summer, 

 according to circumstances. Winter time finds the coneys 

 — such do we legally term them — ensconsced in snug, 

 wai*m burrows, situate wherever cold and wet least pene- 

 trate. 



As I said before, we have but one variety of wild rab- 

 bit, but it varies in size and color, according to locality. 

 Sometimes when they deteriorate in numbers and in size, 

 as they will upon a preserve, and sometimes when un- 

 trammeled, crossings with varieties of fancy rabbits are 

 resorted to. The silver-gray rabbit, and a "large variety 

 colored like the wild one but named the Belgian hare, pro- 

 duce the best effects upon the wild stock. Occasionally 

 rabbits sport, and an occasional black or mouse-colored 

 specimen is secm-ed, I have shot many such myself. 

 These two "sports" occur with frequency in some districts , 

 and in others are equally rare. As far as preserving goes, 

 the rabbit needs but Uttle attention. The chief points we 

 guaxd a,gainst are overstocking, vermin, and poachers. 

 The former leads to the outbreak of epidemics, vnth the 

 usual disastrous result. Vermin of all sorts prey upon 

 rabbits, notably the weasel tribe, cats, and such feathered 

 marauders as magpies, jays and crows in particular. In 

 rabbits the fox finds at once its favorite and its most gen- 

 eral provender, A game preserve well supplied with rab- 

 bits need never suffer from foxes' depredations among 

 the feathered game or the poultry at the house. Poaching 

 rabbits is in Britain almost as common as the quarry 

 itself. No description of game-stealing is practiced so 

 extensively or so successfully. Ferrets, a rabbit dog, , 

 and a dozen rabbit nets constitute the usual equipment, , 

 and very efficacious they are. Give me these and a . 

 couple of hours unmolested work in a well stocked covert 

 upon a damp day, and I wiU pick up from half a dozen to i 

 twelve rabbits easily, and there are countless men in 

 Britain far more clever at the business than I can hope 

 ever to be. Besides netting, snaring and trapping— in the ; 

 former case with a common running noose, m the latter 

 with the old-fashioned steel-gin— are the next most fa- 

 vored manners of poaching and, for all that, of capturing ; 

 rabbits at any time. 



Besides rabbits in the preserve and upon the farm, we 

 now largely practice wild-rabbit raising upon a large 

 scale in warrens. There are purely and simply rabbit i 

 farms of greater or less extent, and it is possible, under ' 

 favorable conditions of soil and suiTOundings, to raise up 

 to a lumdred rabbits per acre upon such farms. Some of i 

 these warrens are maintained purely for sporting pui'- 

 poses, others as commercial operations having as their : 

 aim the supply of cheap fresh meat to the masses. In 

 both respects they succeed admirably when run upon dis- 

 creet and proper "lines. The movement, as an important 

 one, dates its commencement but a few years back, and 



of successful working t_ 



scope to go into the matter fully here; indeed I can but 

 allude to it en passant. The business is worked much as 

 one would work a sheep or cattle-breeding farm, A nu- 

 cleus of healthy, hai-dy parent stock is acquired and 

 turned do-v\Ti, provision for their confinement within the 

 necessary Umits of the warren is made, and certain steps 

 taken to assist their quick breeding and acquisition of a 

 healthy, robust and early maturity. The rabbits are an- 

 nually kiUed off, in the autiimn and winter months, suf- 

 ficient young breeding stock being left to provide a next 

 season's supply, and at intervals, when required, new 

 blood is introduced to improve and assist in maintaining 

 a good average size of rabbit. In some warrens cross- 

 breed rabbits are produced, and for this pm-pose the two 

 breeds known "in the fancy" as the silver-gray and the 

 Belgian hare are universally admitted to be most suited 

 and most successfid. 



We now come to the hare, and of this animal we have 

 two, if not three, varieties in the British Isles. Chief 

 among them and far outnumbering the other two is the 

 common hare (Lepus timidus), which holds premier posi- 

 tion among British gi-ound game. The second variety we 

 call the Scotch, Alpine or mountain hare {Lepus varia- 

 hUis), and the remaining variety, if I may so term it, is 

 the Irish hare (Lepus hibernicus). 



I need enter into no description of the aspect of our 

 common hare— that is too well and universally known, 

 but I may more reasonably detail the diverging points of 

 the mountain hare. It is practically confined to the 

 northern province of Great Britain, bemg essentially a 

 Highland jinimal, frequenting- the wilder and least hos- 

 pitable of our moors and mountains. It is in size smaller 

 than timidus varying in color, inclining rather to gray 

 than bro-mi; the ears, moreover, are shorter and tipped 

 with black. Its most notable feature, however, is the 

 changing of its coat from the natural hue to white during 

 the winter. This seems to proclaim it of arctic origin, as 

 the other hares do not suffer any such transformation. 

 The change commences from the middle to the end of 

 September; fii-st the feet become blanched, then tlie legs, 

 and finally the white coloring seems to creep up and close 

 over the back of the animal, this portion of tlie hodj 

 maintaining its normal color latest. In the end the ani- 

 mal becomes a beautiful glossy wMte, the tips of the ears 

 alone retaining their summer blackness. The ti-ansfoi-ma- 



