4 66 



• RATTLESNAKE FANGS. 



Edmfr Forest and Stream: 



I'^aVe" intended for some time past to reply to some 

 correspondents who have asked information on some 

 matffcrs of natural history which I have made a study of 

 and especially to defend the handsome, brave and valor- 

 ousTambow 'trout 'from 'an undeserved aspersion that be 

 eats'the little speckled trout, and thus constitutes himself 

 a general nuisance to the breeder of this highly esteemed 

 fish? ' — " 



EWst' let me set your correspondent, who averred that 

 the fang of the rattlesnake was double, at his ease for 

 what he avers is true. I send you a drawing made this 

 past summer of the fang on one side of the jaw of a rattler 

 that I caught and dissected for the satisfaction of sup- 

 porting my frequent conclusion that the cyclopaedias are 

 not of much account on scientific subjects, The Brittan- 

 ica says the fang is single and is set in the center of the 

 mqpth on the upper part of it, the palate, I should say it 

 waSi&vBdt it, is no such thing; there are two distinct 

 fangs, one solid and one hollow. The solid fang is firmly 

 fixed^tbra loose bone, held in the jaw by a muscle which 

 pefmits'the fang to lie back until- it is erected. The two 

 fangsare a true copy of some taken from a snake which 1 

 caugtii and. held by the throat in a pair of blacksmith 

 tongs while I examined his mouth carefully. Then I 

 killed the beast by decapitating his head from his body, 

 as was once said by a noted historian, to be sure the 

 operation was complete, and then the mouth opened and 

 shu* 'and the fangs were exserted and drawn in again, 

 just as the sting of a wasp is. One of the fangs is hollow. 

 It is the Shorter one, and it seems as if when the creature 

 strikes it first makes the wound and then by the second 

 fang, which is a real hypodermic syringe, it ejects the 

 virus into the wound. 



The socket of the fang is a loose bone held by a muscle, 

 and'this is retractile, thus raising the fang and forcing it 

 out of its sheath, which is a loose sac over the jaw, having 

 an ^opening through which the fangs are forced when the 

 jaws*are spread. When at rest and with the mouth only 

 partly- open the f angs'are closed in the sheath. It is doubt- 

 less the case that when the rattler strikes the spreading 

 of the j aws presses on the poison sac attached to the roots 

 of the.'-smaller fang and inclosed in the hollow space at a- 

 in the drawing. - In the specimen described, on pressing 

 this sap a minute drop of liquid appeared on the point of 

 the fang. The sac in this specimen was the siza of a small 

 pea. j 



This snake, after it was beheaded and while I held it by 

 the jneck to draw off the skin, had vitality enough to strike 

 back on to my arm with considerable strength. This it 

 did twenty times at least during the taking off of the skin. 

 The snake was a yellow diamond back and I stepped over 

 it while it lay coiled under the hay as my men were 

 raking it off a meadow on the low bank of one of my 

 ponds'. Doubtless this was the same snake I saw in the 

 water a few days before taking some of my young ducks, 

 drawing them down by the feet and swimming to the bank 

 with'them. I was too late to catch it then, and bad just 

 stepped over the hay when it started its rattle. I teased 

 the snake for some time, trying to get it to jump, as some 

 assert, - 'that it will, but it made no attempt, but simply 

 da#ed its bead to the stick with which I was stirring up 

 thet&'east. - Neither did it spit venom, even while I held it 

 in fee tongs, during my closer investigation of it. I never < 

 saw-one jump or spit and I have come across a score of 

 thefii at least. I doubt very much that they do either. 



Writing of my ponds recalls that one correspondent 

 madeiaii inquiry borne time ago about otters. Unfortu- 

 nately I have several of them in my ponds, and doubtless 

 they lake many fish. I have seen scores of them on the 

 shores of Lake Superior, where I spent some years and 

 fishedia good deal. The otter slides are or rather were 

 quite frequent there, and -I have seen them like boys slid- 

 ing, down the steep banks into the water one after the 

 other-, diving into the stream and - running: up the bank 

 and" taking turns one after the other. These slides are 

 favorite places for the trappers to set their traps under 

 water, where the playful animals get their feet caught as 

 they run along the bottom to climb the bank again. They 

 will eat a great many fish; I have seen one take a rainbow 

 trout of. fully 2lbs. weight and swim with it to the shore 

 within 20ft. of my boat. My men have informed me that 

 they have seen them quite often take fish and carry them 

 ashore. They eat crawfish, frogs, newts and ducks when 

 they are short of fish, 



Now about the_ iridei eating trout. I have always 

 opened and dressed my fish, and never saw a trace of fish 

 in one of the stomachs of this species; neither in the 

 stomachs of the fontinalls. The commonest food is 

 clearly the diatoms which are gathered on the water 

 plants and the dead trees and drift in the ponds. I have 

 found' the shell of crawfish in them, and occasionally the 

 remains of a, newt. 1 I once saw a large iridei take a big 

 frog-pit was a pretty picture. It was on a beautiful even- 

 ing in the autumn when the foliage was in its glory. The 

 water was quite still and the reflections on it were as if 

 another world appeared to open below between the banks, 

 more glorious and far more distinct than the upper world 

 above the water. I floated slowly and silently down the 

 current, when something moved on a forked limb stick- 

 ing out of the water near one bans. I was looking fixedly 

 to see what it was; when the boat was only a few feetfrOm 

 the branch a large frog leaped into the water or tried to. 

 But it never reached the water, a big rainbow darted clean 

 out of th'e.surface and took that frog on' the fly, making a 

 big splash when he, with his prey, fell back Into the pond. 

 The. bright crimson streak of the fish's side and his open 

 mouth; as he made a sharp curve and fell into the water' 

 again -were quite conspicuous. The ruffled water soon 

 became still and the erewhile glassy surface returned, and 

 the Other world below belonged to the fish. It is curious 

 to observe how very distinctly every leaf and twig may be 

 seenMn*. these reflections, while on the shore they seem 

 confused>and not nearly so clear. I have oftrn observed 

 this,t : H. Stewart.- 



HlSHbAND. K.-c. « . 



The Fourchette Buffalo. 



B&i£&t&3.;' Mbnt.i'---lS[ov.-: '^—Editor Forest and Stream- 

 I harv%'eports frbm tlie "Big Dry'^ (of ifi^Mlssoiiri River}' 

 that our.fittle^band'of-.bTrffaTo-have been killed 1 li'-l y the 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



Cree Indians, who are refugees from the British North- 

 west. We had great hopes from this little band of buffalo, 

 as they were gradually increasing on their native heath. 

 Last summer the cowboys reported branding four calves, 

 two the year before, so we hoped ere many years to have 

 a real live herd. But alas! these prowling Indians have 

 killed them all off. We are powerless unless we go to 

 work and kill the Indians, in which case the Indian De- 

 partment would want to kill us. These (Cree) Indians 

 are a remnant of the Riel rebellion Indians, roaming 

 about our State, killing all the game at all times of the 

 year. Our Governor says we can't do anything, as the 

 Indians are not our wards. So says the Canadian Govern- 

 ment also. It occurs to me that our Indian Department 

 should see about these Indians at once, or a killing will 

 be the result. John D. Losekamp. 



THROUGH YELLOWHEAD PASS. 



I was one of a party prospecting for mica through the 

 Yellowhead Pass, Canada, by pack trail for five months 

 last summer. An account of the hunting met with in' 

 that unfrequented place would probably not be amiss. 



From the time of crossing the Pembina River one 

 enters upon the chief moose and elk country now left in 

 northwestern Canada, especially between the headwaters 

 of the Brazeau -and McLeod rivers. Bear are frequent 

 along the trail. Passing through the White Mud, we 

 enter upon the foothills where caribou and deer are found, 

 and rapidly approach the Jasper House, the eastern 

 entrance to the pass, an old Hudson Bay post, now occu- 

 pied by a free trader. The mountains around the Jasper 

 House abound in sheep and goats, The Roche Miette, 

 Jack's Rock, Stoney River and the mountains opposite 

 Fiddle Depot on the north side of the Athabasca River are 

 the best for sheep and goats. The usual method of hunt- 

 ing is to wait until they come down to the salt licks and 

 then get above them; owing to the formation of the rock 

 the animals are forced to come up within a few rods of 

 the hunter and present good chances for a shot. One of 

 our party who was with me, above one of the licks, killed 

 a goat with an ounce of BB. from a shotgun. Near the 

 Henry House there is also another good place for sheep, 

 but that is as far as they are found west. On a back 

 trail near the Mi-at-in River caribou are plentiful. 



Our party crossed the divide on the old Government 

 railroad survey pack trail, and a place called Buck or 

 Cowdung Lake is particularly good for bear, caribou, 

 goat, porcupine and other small game, fur-bearing ani- 

 mals such as marten, beaver and lynx also being plenti- 

 ■ ful. Near the Yellowhead Cache is a place worthily 

 named the Swift Current, where bears are so plentiful 

 that the Rocky Mountain Iroquois snare them without 

 trouble, grizzlies being the only bear that will not be 

 readily caught. The mountain Indians never shoot at a 

 grizzly unless they are above it, and if it charges they 

 always wait and give him the final shot at close quarters. 

 I have seen numbers of grizzly hides burnt with powder, 

 showing how close they get. John Moberly and Isidore 

 are notable among the Iroquois for this, and I understand 

 this is done with a .44-40 Winchester carbine. These 

 men are particular about their ammunition, and will only 

 use Winchester or U. M. C, rejecting that made in 

 Canada; rightly, too, for it is unreliable in the extreme. 

 Near the Tete Jamie or Yellowhead Cache on the Fraser 

 River the grizzlies have their home, being rarely dis- 

 turbed by the few Indians who penetrate so far west. 



The salmon run arrived at the cache on Aug. 22. On 

 our return we met at the Roche Miette Mr. Loring, the 

 ! energetic field naturalist of the Biological Department, 

 Washington, with Dan Noyes as guide. He was collect- 

 ing specimens of birds and animals, also taking notes of 

 their various habits. When hunting for sheep above the 

 lick he came across a large black bear, which he killed 

 and prepared while we were there. I informed him of 

 the large grouse found in the recesses of the mountains, 

 it being as large or larger than a domestic hen, also of 

 the mountain siffler or whistler found about timber line, 

 of which he intends obtaining specimens. 



Unfortunately for this grand game preserve gold indi- 

 cations have been found, and if ever they are proven of 

 ' value they will cause numbers to come in prospecting and 

 mining, and drive the game out. 



Anyone iutending to visit this part hunting I strongly 

 advise to obtain an Indian lodge, it being easy trans- 

 ported and every way superior to any tent for comfort, 

 ! and also a portable canvas boat for crossing rivers; the 

 one used by our party was an Osgoode; while easily packed 

 " on a horse it proved entirely satisfactory under many 

 severe trials. G. P. 



In spite of the persistent efforts of explorers within the 

 past decade, there would seem still to be some new coun- 

 try left, if one is of a mind to go far enough. Mr. War- 

 burton Pike, Prof . Frank Russell and others have recently 

 told of the Far North of the Mackenzie River region. 

 Prof. R. Bell has just found a whole new big river in 

 Canada, running north into James Bay, in a country 

 where no one has suspected a big river of being concealed. 

 In such connection the recently completed work of J. Al- 

 den Loring, Field Naturalist of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, in the Jasper Pass region of the McLeod 

 River, Northwest Territories, is of interest. Prof. Lor- 

 ing's purpose in visiting the locality, he says in the Win- 

 nipeg Bulletin, was to make a biological survey of the 

 country and collect a series of animals that could not be 

 found elsewhere. In this he was very successful, taking 

 in all over 300 specimens and filling a journal with valu- 

 able information. Although most of the time was taken 

 up with this work, he managed to get in a few hunts and 

 shot two black and two cinnamon bears. The rest of the 

 party killed two cinnamon and two grizzly bears, four 

 sheep, two caribou and a moose, besides a lynx and quan- 

 tities of small game, such as grouse, ducks and rabbits. 

 \ There were seven in the party: George Gagnon, Walter 

 - Bisson, Samuel A. Dirr, Willie Shanno, Dan E. Noyes and 

 his son, who acted as guides. The trip occupied just two 

 months and a half, during which time they traveled over 

 800 miles, besides numerous hunting trips of fifteen or 

 twenty miles. The first part of the trip was very wet, but 

 the weather afterward was all that could be asked for. 

 Several snowstorms hindered the work considerably. The 

 scenery in the Jasper Pass is simply grand. On either 

 side the mountains rise for thousands of feet. At the head 

 of the Maligne River they found a canon fully 300ft. deep 

 and hot more than 15ft. wide, through which the water 

 rushes and boiis f or more than a mile. Near by are sev- 



[Noy. 30, 1895. 



eral hot sulphur springs, which will undoubtedly be of 

 much value when the country is opened up. Prof. Loring 

 has returned to Washington, D. C, to prepare his report 

 on the trip. 



An Otter in Ohio. 



Cleveland, O., Nov. 15.— Editor forest and 1 Stream: 

 While at Sandusky Bay this week I learned of the cap- 

 ture there last winter of an otter. It was taken in one 

 of the nets of a local fisherman, but had unfortunately 

 been dead so long before it was discovered that its fur 

 was not prime. 



I imagine it has been some years since an otter has 

 been taken in Ohio before this one, as I have seen no 

 record of one in a long time. F. M.^'Comstock. 



'mt{e §<i$ met 0nn. 



THE MAINE IMPORTED BIRDS. 



Lewiston, Maine, Nov. 5.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Perhaps a few words in regard to the game bird experi- 

 ment that has been made in this vicinity might not be 

 without interest. Nearly two years ago a meeting of 

 sportsmen was called in Lewiston, to agitate the question 

 of introducing game birds into tbe State, in particular 

 the capercailzie and black grouse. 



The meeting was held at the Hotel Rockingham and 

 Mr. Gay, the proprietor of the house, was the chief agitator 

 and the leading spirit of the enterprise. 



At the meeting, which proved a very interesting and well 

 attended one, an organization for a game protective 

 association was made, including among its members prom- 

 inent men from different sections of this State and outside. 

 There was no lack of speeches and enthusiasm, and many 

 letters were read from interested parties all over the 

 country who were unable to be present. 



Of this association Mr. Gay was the head and he re- 

 ceived ample promises of funds; in fact, as he stated, 

 "there was no lack of money," at that time, at least. The 

 committee appointed for the purpose at once set about 

 the procuring of birds of four varieties: capercailzie, black 

 game, sharp-tailed and pinnated grouse, the first two va- 

 rieties from the Scandinavian Peninsula and the la6t two 

 from the West. Land was leased in the immediate vicinity 

 of the Lake Auburn Fish Hatchery and work was begun 

 at once. The site selected was on the northerly side of a 

 hill covered with a thick growth of evergreen, and a clear 

 spring furnished an abundant supply of excellent water. 

 The top3 of the trees were cut off about sixteen feet from 

 the ground, posts were set and a framework built, and 

 wire netting stretched over the whole space of about one 

 hundred feet in length, by fifty in width, by sixteen in 

 height. 



Later in the winter the birds began to arrive; first the 

 pinnated and sharp-tailed grouse. These, when taken to 

 the pens, seemed to be hearty and strong birds, and, with 

 the exception of some injuries by flying against the net- 

 ting, seemed to take quite kindly to their hew life. The 

 cold did not trouble them in the least, and they gradually 

 became accustomed to their keeper, Mr. Waterman, and 

 also to the sight of strangers, who visited the grounds in 

 large numbers. 



The black grouse also arrived in good condition, and 

 were beautiful birds; but the capercailzie were a long time 

 on the way, and apparently were not properly cared for 

 on the passage by steamer; so that several were dead 

 when they arrived in New York. Then another blunder 

 was made by the transportation company in shipping 

 them as freight instead of expressing them through direct; 

 so that when finally the birds came to their owner'B hands 

 only two were alive — one male in a dying condition and 

 a female that lived for some months at the breeding pens. 

 In this way a part — and the most interesting one of the 

 experiment — was nipped in the bud; for although an 

 attempt was made to have the one capercailzie mate one of 

 the black game males, of course it was futile. 



As there were about a hundred of the pinnated and 

 sharp tailed grouse, a part were liberated on an island in 

 Merry Meeting Bay and others on Mt. Desert. The re- 

 mainder were kept at the pens with the idea of breeding 

 them in captivity. 



The first spring the birds nested and laid to some ex- 

 tent, and the eggs were set under bantam hens; but only 

 one or two live chicks, and not strong enough to be any 

 test, were the result. This last spring the results were a 

 little better, and something over half a dozen of fairly 

 strong chicks were kept for some time in the care of the 

 bantams; but they did not take kindly to their foster 

 mothers and died, one after another, all in a few weeks; 

 and the trial is still a very doubtful experiment. 



A few months since, the association being financially 

 embarrassed and its members discouraged, the property 

 was turned over to the State through the agency of the 

 Fish and Game Commissioners. Mr. Arthur Merrill, 

 superintendent of the Lake Auburn Fish Hatchery, now 

 has charge, and as the State has leased the works, the 

 chances will be better at least of paying the bills, although 

 the conditions are very shady for future results, for there 

 are now but a handful of birds. 



Of nearly 100 birds put into the pens at first only 

 thirteen are left — three black grouse, one male and two 

 females, and five each of the pinnated and sharp-tailed 

 grouse. These are now so tame that they will come to 

 their keeper and eat out of his hands, and are apparently 

 no more timid than domestic fowl. 



Mr. Merrill thinks that one serious mistake has been 

 made in feeding the birds entirely on grain and not allow- 

 ing them any green food. Under this treatment the birds 

 constantly died off, one after another, but of late they 

 have been fed partially with green stuff, cabbage leaves, 

 etc. , and since the change they have all seemed to thrive 

 much better. It is evident that there was something 

 wrong in the feeding, for the birds ate the twigs from the 

 evergreens (firs and cedars) in the pens, until the most of 

 the trees are dead. What few birds are left are in excel- 

 lent hands, and Mr. Merrill will do all in his power to 

 make a thorough trial of the material left in his care, and 

 if any one can make a successful experiment of it,- he 

 will do so. 



Mr. Waterman, the former keeper, had everything to 

 discourage him; his salary was not paid and- he was 

 obliged to purchased feed at his own expense.-' His-espert^ 

 ence was about on a par with nearly all who furnished or 



