474 



FOREST AND 1 STREAM. 



I Nov. 30, 1895. 



on the sboals to spawn. Our local fishermen claim that 

 this is the only time that these fish can be caught, which 

 is the Jehu-est kind of folly, for the whitefish can be 

 taken in Lake Champlain as in other large lakes during 

 the summer months by going into the deepest water for 

 them. 



It would be a thousand times better to grant licenses 

 during the months of May, June, July and August to set 

 gill-nets in the waters of the lake that are over 100ft. in 

 depth, than to allow seining in the autumn. 



Another season a few experiments with the gill-net 

 would prove the truth of the statements, that these fish 

 will be found nearly alone in the deepest waters of the 

 lake, as in the great northern lakes. Stanstead. 



Virginia Fish and Game. 



West Point, Va., Nov. 21.— The three large rivers cen- 

 tering here are teeming with fish, and there never was 

 better sport available in this section at this season of the 

 year than is now being enjoyed. Yesterday Judge Thos. 

 J. Christian, a true disciple of Izaak Walton, caught 

 eighty-five fine perch and rock with hook and line, and 

 in two hours this morning landed twenty-five fine perch, 

 many of these fish weighing Hlbs. He says that he 

 catches these fish up to Jan. 1. 



Ducks are very plentiful. Mr. Henry Binghan, one of 

 our local sportsmen, went up the Pamunkey Eiver after 

 dinner yesterday and returned before supper, having 

 bagged seven mallards. 



Geo. R. Quincy (of Terminal Hotel). 



tgwhcnltuw. 



Maine Spawning Season. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The spawning season of the trout and landlocked salmon 

 in Maine has just closed. Owing to the extreme low water 

 it has been a very poor season, there not being water enough 

 in the streams for them to reach their usual spawning 

 grounds, more especially the landlocked salmon, which re- 

 quire larger streams than the trout. Up to ten days ago we 

 had about given it up as a failure in procuring any stock of 

 salmon eggs of any amount, as the usual time for them to 

 come on their spawning grounds was past and the fish usu- 

 ally gone from the beds. At Auburn Lake, Nov. 7, the 

 salmon made their appearance in four different places at the 

 same time — at the outlet, North Auburn, mouth of Town- 

 send Brook, and at the water pipe where the city takes its 

 water, the current probably attracting them. We were ex- 

 pecting them only at the inlet at North Auburn, where really 

 the smallest number came. Only at this place were we pre- 

 pared to take them; but by working day and night we 

 secured the run at the outlet, from which we took 150 salmon, 

 and about fifty more at North Auburn, from which we took 

 250,000 eggs. 



This lake we commenced to stock six years ago with sal- 

 mon about 3in. long, having been fed four or five months. 

 These are the first eggs we have ever taken there. The 

 weight of the fish taken at the outlet was from 3)4 to 8>£lbs., 

 averaging over 41bs. I weighed them myself, and know I 

 am correct I am also sure I saw much larger salmon at 

 the water pipe, I think of 10 or 121bs. They came on their 

 beds, spawned, and were gone in two or three days. 



The results of restocking not only this lake but many 

 others in Maine with salmon has been much bejond my 

 most sanguine expectations— not only in numbers, but the 

 large growth they attain in so short a time. In addition to the 

 eggs taken at Auburn we have 300,000 at Sebago a*id 100,000 

 at Weld, also at Auburn 900,000 trout eggs, also 200,000 at 

 Weld and Sebago. 



The trout in Auburn Lake also run large, 1 to 61bs., aver- 

 aging about 2}^lbs. There is no fly fishing except in 

 September, of which month the last week is the best. The 

 salmon will then take the fly. I took two, Sept. 30, with fly, 

 of 6 to 81bs. each. In fact, they rise better than the trout. 

 More salmon were taken in September than trout. The most 

 fish are caught in May and June, trolling in the lake in July 

 and August by still-fishing in deep water. The lake is very 

 deep, fed almost entirely by springs, with but few small 

 streams flowing in. A large "one flowing out, 3>^ miles long, 

 2% miles wide, holding its width nearly the whole length, is 

 ten minutes' ride on electric cars from the Elm House, 

 Auburn. 



From our State hatchery at Auburn we have stocked forty 

 different ponds and lakes with salmon, being fed fish about 

 3in. long. Heney O. Stanley. 



\wnt and «§in\ §raki[tiam 



New Hampshire Law Enforced. 



Nashua, N. H,, Nov. 23.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Protection of fish and game in this State is now making rapid 

 strides. The number of prosecutions in the past few months, 

 a few of which I reported a short time since, seems to have 

 set people to thinking; and the respect for law, so strong in 

 all our better citizens, is slowly but surely asserting itself 

 with particular reference to the once sneered at game laws. 

 It seems to me that a large share of the apathy regarding 

 their enforcement has been due to the irregular, not to say 

 half-hearted, way in which they have usually been enforced. 



The vigorous measures taken of late have caused hearty 

 approbation in all sections and the very fact of successful 

 • prosecutions leads to the offering of evic lence in other cases. 

 A large number of the recent prosecutions were based on 

 evidence furnished the officers of the Hillsborough County 

 Game and Protective Association by upright citizens, who 

 show their disinterested motives in declining to accept the 

 $25 reward offered by the Association for any evidence leading 

 to a conviction. 



I had a short conversation with Commissioner Wentworth 

 to-day, who passed through here en route for the arrest of an 

 offender in the eastern part of the State. He had just re- 

 turned from Newport, where he had been notified that dyna- 

 mite had been used on July 4 last in a pond in Croydon. 

 From the slight clue furnished him he was able to work up 

 evidence sufficient to convict the following persons of using 

 dynamite. They were fined S5 and costs each, amounting to 

 §87 altogether: Geo. W. Brown, Geo. Brown, John McAllis- 

 ter, Geo. Lafountain, Murt Miller, Robert Miller. The first 

 three named are in the employ of Austin Corbin at his lar°-e 

 game preserve in Croydon— a fine set of men surely to be 

 employed in the preservation of game or fish. 



Commissioner Wentworth took the men on two complaints 

 —one for use of dynamite, the other for taking fish other 

 than by the use of a single hook and line. 



The fine on either of these complaints should have been 

 §15 and costs or §30 aud costs for the two. The evidence was 

 conclusive on both points, but the trial was before a justice 

 of the peace at Newport, and for some unknown reason he 

 seemed content to let the offenders off with a verv light fine 

 considering.the character of the offense. 



One method adopted by the Hillsborough County Game 

 and Protective Association seems worthy of being in more 

 general use. They issue posters printed on cloth giving a 

 brief synopsis of the close seasons for fish and game, also 

 penalties for violations of all game laws (on game common 

 to this county). The posters also state that $25 will be paid 

 for any evidence leading to a conviction. These posters are 

 distributed among members of the Association, and by them 

 nailed in country stores and hotels, also on barns and trees, 

 and near all streams, ponds and game covers. They are, to 

 some extent, an education for the" many who never saw a 

 copy of the laws. 



The bird season is fast drawing to a close, and in spite of 

 rosy predictions has hardly been up to the average. Par- 

 tridges reported so plenty before the season opened failed to 

 materialize when the law was off, and a good bag of wood- 

 cock is almost unheard of. If the suow will stay off this 

 December the best of the partridge shooting will yet come; 

 the birds are now strong on the wing and full feathered, and 

 it takes straight powder and straighter shooting to kill 

 them. ________ — . ^' 



1 That reminds me. 11 



HINTS ON SKUNK FARMING. 



Note to Editor: I intended to be more explicit, and to append a 

 little poetry to tbis theme to give it a sincere and sentimental tone, 

 but wandered into narrative and verbosity too soon; probably this 

 is worth printing only as being valuable natural history.— Ransacker. 



Shasta Mountains, California.— .EcKfor Forest and 

 Stream: I observed some time ago that space in your 

 journal was given to the natural history of skunks. It 

 appears you had been investigating and expounding for 

 the benefit of persons who wanted to know about skunks 

 and skunk farms, or, as I may say, skunkeries. It just 

 occurs to me that I can help you forward, if not further. 



Skunk farming being a modern industry — or one that 

 has been neglected a long time— is either in its infancy or 

 totters in its dotage on the verge of oblivion and desue- 

 tude. Therefore but little is known of it by city folk and 

 the upper strata of society at large. 



It is probable, however, that about the time you have 

 gleaned what information your readers in various parts 

 of the world, including me, have to furnish, you will be 

 reassured there is nothing new and fresh under the sun. 

 By the time we have fixed up and presented to the public 

 a manual upon skunk culture some misfit genius will arise 

 and proclaim that we are tr, ing to revive an antique and 

 obsolete industry that never did pay. It will be said that 

 skunks were incubated and promulgated in the early 

 ages, that they were among the flocks tended by Abraham 

 and his nephew Lot, that they were fostered in Greece 

 and Eome, and that some one has dug up an unmistak- 

 able aroma in the ruins of Herculaneum or Pompeii; 

 while some Chinaman will assert that Confucius had an 

 aggregation of skunks that modern ambition can not pos- 

 sibly parallel or even imitate. Such Silurian observations 

 tend to discourage spirit and enterprise everywhere. 

 Hence persons engaged in the melodious and pastoral 

 business of skunk raising should not be criticised if they 

 are somewhat reluctant to publish everything they know. 



As for me, however, I am always willing to distribute 

 such knowledge as I possess when it can be utilized or en- 

 joyed by other worthy folks, and I send it abroad abso- 

 lutely free, unabridged and stringless to all who shall 

 see these presents, greeting. 



The ethical knowledge of skunks in my possession has 

 been acquired by experience and the personal contempla- 

 tion of them upon their native heath, and it is both reli- 

 able and comprehensive. In fact, I feel that I can con- 

 tribute all the information about skunks that anyone 

 should desire or your columns can stagger under. If I 

 omit any essential particular and you will call at my 

 ranch I will supply the deficit and stir up a skunk or two 

 for your inspection. 



Most people have — or they ought to have — a general 

 impression as regards skunks. Those who are interested 

 in skunks or who desire to experiment or otherwise tam- 

 per with them should know them at a glance, and have at 

 least a dictionary understanding of their characteristics — 

 several of which are unique and peculiar. 



Now, if you desire to start a skunk ranch, go about it 

 as you would go about any other enterprise, only more 

 cautiously. Don't gather up a lot of skunks hastily or 

 promiscuously. Select choice ones to begin with, just as 

 you would in starting with any other fowl. It costs no 

 more to rear good skunks than it does to bring up a varie- 

 gated lot of plebeians. 



In skunks, as in every other style of bird and insect, 

 there are aristocrats and commoners, nobility and rabble, 

 and it is cheaper and more satisfactory to deal with high 

 grade skunks than to endeavor to educate the miscellany 

 up to an ideal standard. 



Having selected good skunks, decide upon how many 

 you want. This is an important consideration. You 

 may just as well start with a large number as a few. It 

 is just about as much trouble to have a few on hand as it 

 is to have more, and you can arrange for a gross about as 

 easily as you can for a dozen, while time is saved from 

 the start. 



You can buy skunks at any reputable skunkery that 

 has them for sale, go into the woods and catch them or 

 send some ambitious boy out with a city dog; country 

 dogs as a rule are not good at hunting up skunkB. 



As has been observed by other skunkologists the quad- 

 ruped is eccentric and nervous, but this is not saying that 

 he is easily intimidated. Skunks are not readily fright- 

 ened away even by city dogs or little Lords Fauntleroy. 

 When flushed they do not whir off like wild turkeys or 

 eagles, but simply ruffle up their plumage and assume the 

 dignified airs of the peacock and some of their own. 

 They sometimes ehassez forward and back with a sort of 

 double-shuffle, Sir-Eoger-de-Coverly movement, while 

 they beat time with their plumed tails. 



Sometimes skunks are easily acquired in the suburbs, 

 where all you have to do is catch them and put them in a 

 cage. They will frequently come to a ranch without any 

 special inducement and stay a while under the front 

 porch. They usually come from the woods in the gloam- 

 ing, and when all is quiet you may hear them as their 

 twitter floats in on the summer air. Indeed their pecu- 

 liar melody may be so loud, or, as I may say, insidious, 

 you may hear it whether the evening is particularly quiet 

 cr not. 



When the McDonegals moved into their new house, 



which j'ins our clearing, they proved a little too high- 

 toned for the vicinity, although they were good enough 

 people in other respects. They brought city airs with 

 them and tried to revolutionize the entire township. They 

 had "lunch" at dinner time arid dinner at supper time, 

 and they milked the cow with gloves on. 



Well, just before dinner one night, Mrs. McDonegal 

 went into the crematory, where they stored milk and but- 

 ter ine, and when she got in she yelled that there was an 

 owl or some other wild baste after the milk. Mr. McDone- 

 gal and all four of the young McDonegals went to the 

 rescue and found there was no owl, but a guinea pig. 

 They got a broom and a basket, and after closing the door 

 of the crematory they tried to sweep the pretty creature 

 into the basket, and the whole family surrounded it. Ah 

 me I for a few minutes they had one of the liveliest times 

 since Finnegan's wake, and they didn't know they had a 

 full-fledged and talented skunk until the lamp went out 

 in the fog, and no one could find the door. When they 

 finally did get out they let the skuuk get away, when they 

 might just as well have kept him while they were about 

 it. They moved back to town before the potatoes began 

 to hatch. 



A few years ago skunks were not considered valuable, 

 and over on Juniper Creek the farmers just killed them 

 and threw 'em over the fence. 



One night they had a big dance over at Robinson's, and 

 Sam Walker's girl went to the dance with another feller. 

 Sam went to the dance too; but somehow he didn't seem 

 to take much interest in the music or the crowd, and only 

 hung around outside. Along just before the supper 

 promenade some one upset a cracker box that had been 

 used for a bench, and a pair of thoroughbred, three-stripe 

 mountain skunks were under the box, The lights and 

 music and the big crowd had jarred upon their nervous 

 natures until they were crazy, and they had probably 

 wanted to get out for some time. They waltzed into the 

 middle of the floor and then the excitement commenced, 

 and it continued when a rush was made for the door, 

 which had been carelessly locked by some one — on the 

 outside. The skunks seemed to know that every one was 

 trying to get out the door, and they wanted to get out 

 too. They got into the crowd, and some one trod on the 

 poor things in the crush. As the newspapers say , the ex- 

 citement become intense; but it was really mild compared 

 with the intensity of the atmosphere in Robinson's Hall. 



No one came after the skunks or seemed to want them, 

 and they went under the house as soon as they got out. 

 The people all went home from the dance earlier than 

 usual, and for several days you could tell from the front 

 gates as you went by who had been to Robinson's. 



Sam Walker stepped over to the Simpkins place and 

 left his card with a note, which read: 



"Amanda — I wasn't there; will be glad to see you in 90 

 days. S. W." 



Bill Jobson, who took 'Mandy to the dance, met Sam 

 a few days later and, without much formality, shot one 

 of his legs off. 



But as I was saying, or as I intended to say, if you 

 intend to approach skunk culture, go about it judiciously. 

 A man without any brains to speak of can undertake 

 almost anything, but nowadays he can't make it pay unless 

 he goes to Congress. If you expect to get a good crop of 

 feathers from low-grade skunks, and pluck them twice a 

 year, without a careful selection of the best birds to start 

 with, and systematic care all the time, you had better 

 raise turkeys or ostriches. Ransacker. 



"Cow Devouring Partridge and Chickens." 



London Field, Oct. 19. 



In a two-acre field situated at the back of Mr. Broad- 

 .bent's garden, Eton, I observed the other day a cow be- 

 longing to that gentleman pursuing some animated 

 creature, which I found to be a wounded partridge. . 

 Curious to see what would happen, I retreated a few paces, 

 and presently saw the cow pick up the partridge in her 

 mouth and proceed to chew it, only leaving the legs, head, 

 and a few feathers. Much surprised by what I had seen, 

 I communicated the matter to Mr. Broadbent, who told 

 me that on various occasions remains of chickens had 

 been found in the cow's field, adjacent to the poultry 

 yard. He now thus accounts for the loss of several fowls, 

 and a strict watch will be put upon the animal. The milk 

 has in no way suffered from this unusual diet. If any of 

 your readers could inform me of any similar case I should 

 be much obliged. Henry Daman. 



High street, Eton, Bucks. 



London Field, Oct. 26. 



A letter was inserted under the above heading in the 

 Field of last week, giving an account of a cow eating a 

 partridge. As it was signed with the name of a gentle- 

 man well known at Eton, and as similar instances of de- 

 praved appetite in cattle have not unfrequently been 

 recorded, we had no suspicion that it was a forgery, and 

 it was accordingly inserted. We have since been in- 

 formed that there is no truth whatever in the statements 

 made, and we regret that we should have given currency 

 to the forgery. We cannot congratulate the writer of 

 this silly fraud on his success; he is doubtless aware that 

 any fool can be a liar, and, to quote one of Solomon's 

 proverbs, "It is as sport to a«fool to do mischief." Prob- 

 ably the writer imagined he was recording an impossi- 

 bility, not being aware that similar cases are on record as 

 well authenticated as that which is here annexed. — Er>. 



The letter under the above heading in your issue of the 

 19th inst. reminds me of a similar incident that occurred 

 near Lowestoft about four years ago. I was shooting 

 rabbits one summer evening, and hung two upon a tree 

 about 6ft. from the ground at the end of a plantation ad- 

 joining a field in which there were cattle. On returning 

 to fetch them about an hour later, I found several bul- 

 locks collected round them and two in the act of devour- 

 ing the remains of the rabbits, which in one case consisted 

 of only the hindquarters, and in the other rather more. I 

 allowed them to continue their meal until thoroughly con- 

 vinced of their carnivorous intentions, and had I not 

 driven them away they would undoubtedly have devoured 

 all that remained, as they were feeding voraciously when 

 I drove them off. I should have recorded the case in your 

 columns at the time, only it struck me as being such an 

 extraordinary occurrence that I thought probably no one 

 would believe it, and so refrained from doing bo. Had the 

 animal been an Indian bheestie's bullock I should not have 

 been surprised, as they are decidedly omnivorous; but I 

 was not aware before that English cattle also indulged in 

 that peculiar taste. Lieut.-Col. E. A. Butler. 



Brettenham Park, Ipswich. 



