Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Terms, $4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copt. I 

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NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 6, 1898. 



J VOL. XLV.-No. 1 



I No. 818 Broadway New York. 



For Prospectus and Advertising Rates see Page vii. 



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FAN-TAIL DEER AND PINE-NUT BEAR. 



For a good many years hunters have been hearing of 

 ittle deer killed in the Rocky Mountains, which were 

 variously called fan-tails, flag-tails and gazelle deer. For 

 quite as long a time naturalists have known of deer called 

 leucurus, macrurus, mexicanus and couesi, the zoolog- 

 ical standing of which was uncertain. The characters 

 on which these different sorts of deer, English and Latin, 

 seem to have been based are more or less intangible. 

 Size seems to be one of the chief distinctions, but there 

 are others, such as length of tail, the way in which the 

 tail is carried, the small and supposed differently shaped 

 antlers. The subject was brought prominently before 

 the notice of our readers by the letter in last week's 

 Forest and Stream from Capt. H. F. Kendall, which is of 

 great interest. It seems to imply that there is a zone or 

 region in the section where his observations were carried 

 on in which the "flag- tail" deer occurs and only the flag- 

 tail. This, however, does not appear to be true of all 

 other regions where this deer is reported. We are told 

 that fan-tail and gazelle deer exist in the northern Rocky 

 Mountains and in localities where Virginia deer of ordi- 

 nary size are commonly found. There seems to be little 

 doubt that in southern North America, say in parts of 

 Mexico, Arizona and Texas, the white-tail deer average 

 smaller than in other regions, and there appears to be 

 there a valid species — not a Virginia deer (Dorcelephus 

 couesi). The largest white-tail deer we have ever seen 

 was killed on the plains of Nebraska, at the head of the 

 Dismal River. Yet, in the belief of the hunter, latitude 

 does not seem to have much bearing on this question, 

 since we hear of gazelle and fan-tail deer in Montana. 



Size alone is a character of little or no value in deter- 

 mining species. It may have a certain force in confirm- 

 ing other specific characters if such characters exist, but 

 in itself it is a small matter. We quote from an article 

 published some years ago: "There are big deer and little 

 deer just as there are tall men and short men, and until 

 some characters more tangible and constant than size can 

 be given it is scarcely worth while to dignify small speci- 

 mens of the Virginia deer with varietal names. In the 

 year 1874, during the first expedition of the late Gen. Cus- 

 ter in the Black Hills of Dakota, deer were found there in 

 great numbers and most of them were of this species 

 (Virginia deer). It was a common thing to kill on the 

 same day adult bucks which one man could without diffi- 

 culty lift and put on a horse, and others two or three 

 times as large which required the united strength of two 

 men to put in the same position." 



This particular matter turns on the meaning given to the 

 English terms used to designate these little deer. If the 

 name fan-tail deer is supposed to have the same value as 

 the Virginia deer, mule deer, or Columbian black-tail 

 deer, its use is not justified by any proof of its existence 

 hitherto adduced. In other words, it has not been shown 

 that the fan-tail stands apart from all other deer, that the 



offspring of two fan-tail deer will be fan-tails and not 



ordinary Virginia deer. The pairing of male and female 

 mule deer will produce mule deer always; not white-tails 

 nor elk nor Columbian black-tails. This is a rough illus- 

 tration only, but we cannot here go into the question of 

 what constitutes a species. 



We cannot think that the existence of this little deer as 

 a distinct species or variety in the North is proved until a 

 series of specimens shall have had examination and been 

 pronounced on by a competent naturalist. 



If the existence of the fan-tail deer is doubtful, much 

 more so is that of the pine-nut bear. This beast, which 

 is said to inhabit the Rocky Mountains and to live very 

 high up, near timber line, is written about by Mr. Hough, 

 and many singular details of its ways have been related 

 by him. Until very recently specimens were absent, but 

 some months ago Mr. A. Gottschalk, of Bozeman, Mont. , 

 wrote us that he had the skulls of two pine-nut bears. 

 At our request he sent them to us. They were duly 

 received and examined at our request by Mr. Arthur Erwin 

 Brown, of the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens, a gentle- 

 man who has devoted considerable attention to the bears, 

 and whose confirmatory opinion we desired to obtain. 

 One of these skulls is quite small and is clearly that of a 

 wolverine, an animal that belongs to the family Mustelidce, 

 and not in any sense to the bears. The other is a bear 

 skull, very small, quite aged, and unfortunately very 

 badly broken at the base, as if the person who killed it had 

 chopped the head off with an axe, having chopped away 

 the angle of the lower jaw on one side and all the base 

 of the skull. The specimen was interesting on account 

 of the very great wear to which the teeth had been sub- 

 jected, and also because, though old, it was practically 

 without sagittal crest, such as is usually found in aged 

 bears. Mr. Brown advised us that this skull is of the 

 pure americanus type. He calls attention to the fact that 

 the bear had had difficulty in getting along; that its food 

 had been of such a character as unduly to wear down the 

 teeth, and that the bad food had probably reacted on the 

 general system, because the bones of the maxillaries were 

 more or less diseased and spongy. Mr. Brown, however, 

 is perfectly clear that the bear is a black bear, and that 

 the skull is slightly abnormal. We are, therefore, still with- 

 out the fan-tail deer and the pine-nut bear for which we 

 have long been seeking, and which we had hoped the 

 energy of Messrs. Hough and Hofer would long before 

 this have provided us. 



"ACCOMPANIED BY OWNER." 

 In a constantly increasing number of States the princi- 

 ple is gaining recognition that one effective means of 

 conserving the game and game fish stock is to prevent 

 shipment to market and to the homes of "game hogs." 

 The principle is embodied in many laws, where provision 

 is made either against any transportation at all or against 

 carrying game by others than the owners of it. Reference 

 to the Game Laws in Brief shows that the Maine statute 

 reads: 



Sec. 13. No person or corporation shall carry or transport from 

 place to place any moose, caribou or deer, or part therof, in 

 close time, nor in open time unless open to view, tagged and plainly 

 labeled with, the name of the owner thereof, and accompanied by him 



New York has a similar requirement that venison must 

 be accompanied by the owner: 



Sec. 46. Deer or venison killed in this State shall not be transported 

 to any point within or without the State from or through any of tl e 

 counties thereof, or possessed for that ;purpose, except as follows: 

 One carcass or a part thereof maybe transported from the county 

 where killed when accompanied by the owner. No individual shall 

 transport or accompany more than two deer in any one year under 

 the above provision. This section does not apply to the head and feet 

 or skin of deer severed from the body. 



And the same rule applies to woodcock, ruffed grouse, 

 quail, trout and landlocked salmon. 

 In Wisconsin: 



Sec. 27. It is unlawful for any person to ship, carry or transport or 

 receive for shipment or transportation to any point or place out of this 

 State, any fish taken in the inland waters of this State, exceping that 

 when accompanying and having in his personal charge the owner of 

 such fish may carry out of the State 201bs. or two such fish. To trans, 

 port any careass or carcasses of deer, buck, fawn or doe. except when 

 such carcass or carcasses are accompanied by the owner or owners 

 thereof, and each such owner so accompanying shall not be entitled 

 to more than two carcasses, as aforesaid, upon such trip. 



When the law says that* game must be "accompanied 

 by the owner," what does it mean? If the fish, or the 

 venison, or the quail is carried in the bagggae car of the 

 train on which its owner goes as a passenger, the custom 

 has been to regard this as complying with the law, and 



reasonably so. But if the game be handed over to an ex- 

 press company for transportation and delivery in the reg- 

 ular course of business, whether or not the owner hap- 

 pens to go on the same train with the express car, does 

 that come within the letter of the law? If within the let- 

 ter, is it within the spirit of the statute? Should the 

 courts hold that the American Express Co. might receive 

 game for transportation from Maine, as related by 

 "Special," we can see nothing to prevent an unrestricted 

 traffic in venison and trout, if only each consignment 

 shall be delivered to local express agents by the owner. 

 An action was once instituted against one of the express 

 companies for carrying venison from the Adirondacks, 

 but it never reached a stage where the point in question 

 was adjudicated. 



Sportsmen in the Adirondacks have been subjected to 

 the same treatment complained of by Boston men on the 

 Maine Central. Quite aside from the legal considerations 

 the system is open to criticism. It appears to have been 

 adopted in the line of the policy of some roads to squeeze 

 the last cent out of the sportsman-tourist and to make no 

 account of his convenience so long as that last cent can 

 be extracted. 



MOWING MACHINES AND FISH. 

 When the people of the Great South Bay on Long 

 Island were confronted with the problem of rescuing 

 their fish supply from the ravages of nets, their ingenuity 

 saw in the worn-out mowing maching an engine of use- 

 fulness. The machines were gathered up and were 

 floated out into the bay and dumped overboard, to serve 

 as discouragements of netting. For when a net gets well 

 tangled up with a mowing machine on the bottom, there 

 is no particular satisfaction or profit in trying to do any- 

 thing with it. Old anchors were added to the mowing 

 machines, crib-works were built, and a regular system of 

 submarine fortification was laid out. It stopped the 

 drawing of nets, and it preserved and restored the fish- 

 ing. 



There must be some thousands of mowing machines in 

 this country which have outlived their usefulness on 

 land and might now with profit be consigned to a watery 

 career of fish protection. 



Dump them overboard. 



SNAP SHOTS. 



One may not read without sympathetic appreciation 

 the note of tribute which a friend pays to the late E. M. 

 Brown, of Preston, Conn. In his welcomed contributions 

 to our columns Mr. Brown reflected those qualities of man 

 and angler upon which his fishing companion dwells. 

 He was a type of the busy men of the community, to 

 whom these brief outings in the field and on the stream 

 mean so much; and he was only one of thousands. It is 

 for these men, those of us who cannot afford to go off to 

 distant resorts, that the fishing resources of the home 

 waters should be defended and maintained. There never 

 was a more senseless position than that of the foolish 

 people who oppose fish protection as class legislation, 

 devised for the benefit of the rich alone. The truth is, as 

 exemplified in this case, that when the vandals wreck a 

 stream, they are striking at the right of the entire com- 

 munity. 



The new taxidermist license law of Maine provides 

 that "the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries and Game 

 may, iipon application, issue a license to such persons as 

 taxidermists, who, in their judgment, are skilled in that 

 art, of good reputation and friendly to the fish and game 

 laws of this State. Such licensee may at all times have 

 in his possession at his place of business fish and game, or 

 parts thereof, lawfully caught or killed in open time for 

 the sole purpose of preparing for, and mounting the same ; 

 and such fish and game, or parts thereof, may be trans- 

 ported to such licensee and retained by him for the pur- 

 poses aforesaid, under such rules, restrictions and limita- 

 tions as shall, from time to time, be made by said Com- 

 missioners and stated in such original license and additions 

 made thereto from time to time by said Commissioners. 

 Section 2. Such licenses may be revoked by said Commis- 

 sioners at any time after notice and an opportunity for a 

 ; hearing; and every licensee and carrier violating any of 

 the provisions of this act, or of the rules, restrictions or 

 limitations set out in said license and additions thereto, 

 sh^U, on complaint before any trial justice or municipal 

 or police court, be fined." 



