Mat 88, 1891.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



S71 



THE PORCUPINE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Will our friend "Lotor," who writes in your issue of 

 May 14, explain what he says in regard to the much per- 

 secuted porcupine? He speaks of it as the "quiet, inof- 

 fensive little creature that curls itself into a ball at the 

 first approach of an enemy.'' I have seen thousands of 

 them in our pine woods — not so very little, but inoffen- 

 sive, unless you object to their appetite for pack straps, 

 shoes and salt pork. But whoever saw one curl itself 

 into a ball when molested. 



If you bother a porcupine he will make a few awkward 

 attemps at a gallop toward the nearest tree, raising the 

 quill on his back somewhat as a dog "bristles bis crest" 

 when excited After reaching his tree he will make 

 short work of putting himself out of reach of all weapons 

 of shorter range than firearms. 



The tradition about his rolling himself into a ball, 

 although not so bad as the quill shooting story, is, I 

 think, entirply wrong when attributed to the American 

 porcupine. I think this belief comes from the books, 

 where the habits of the English hedgehog are described. 

 This I understand to be a much smaller animal than 

 ours, feeding on insects and perhap=i fruit. 



Our porcupine has for a steady diet the bark of trees, 

 usually maple, but aroimd old logging camps he finds 

 such delicacies as old boot packs, jDork bai'rels and cook 

 house slush; in fact, anything containing salt or fat in 

 any form. He is an adroit thief, and if you give him a 

 chance will steal a pack strap or a shoe from under the 

 walls of your tent while you are dreaming on your bed of 

 balsam or hemlock boughs. 



In conclusion let me say that I have never seen a fair 

 picture of our "porky hog" as he is often called. I sup- 

 pose that in making up the wood cuts for an encyclopedia 

 or dictionarjT^ it is cheaper to copy some European picture 

 than to make one that we will recognize as belonging to 

 the animal which the book purports to describe. 



Backwoodsman. 



HINT TO COLLECTORS. 



THE experienced collector, who is passing through a 

 region of whose birds and beasts little is known, 

 never neglects to examine the stomachs of hawks and 

 owls in the hope of finding in them shrews, mice or squir- 

 rels which may be new sjjecies or may have been pre- 

 viously unknown as occurring in this particular locality. 

 And what is true of mammals is also true of insects. 

 Birds devour myriads of these creatures, and those which 

 have hard horny coverings are not at once digested. As 

 to the truth of a story on this point which is jjiinted in a 

 Cincinnati paper, we express no opinion, but it is certain 

 that it might have been true. It is as follows: 



"A well known local entomologist shot a male king- 

 bird in this vicinity a few days ago, and on picking it up 

 was surprised to find a strange-looking beetle crawling 

 out of its mouth. This gave the gentleman an idea, and 

 on skinning the bird, preparatory to mounting, he took 

 particular pains not to injure the gizzard. On opening 

 this he found exactly what he thought he would— a mate 

 for the beetle. 'The fact that I found one beetle hereto- 

 fore supposed to be a stranger to this locality led me to 

 think that perhaps the bird had caught both the male and 

 female, and I was right. This curious incident shows how 

 little is known even of the fauna of our own neighborhood. 

 Here I have been studying beetles for twenty years past, 

 and have bandied in that time more than 2,000 species, yet 

 in this strange manner, at a time when I least expected it, 

 a new species falls directly into my hands. This also 

 shows the variety of food eaten by the kingbird, one of 

 whose favorite morsels is the common honey-bee. These 

 it devours to such an extent that it has become a nuisance 

 to bee-keepers, who know it as the bee-bird or eagle- 

 fighter.'" 



A Tame PRArRiE Wouf.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Last autumn, at the hay camp of Henry Powell, on the 

 St. Mary's River, in northwestern Montana, I saw a 

 young, but nearly full-grown, female coyote {Canis 

 latrans), which was perfectly tame and played about the 

 camp with the dogs, It would come when called, lick 

 the hand that caressed it, and when pleased would wag 

 its tail like a dog. At the same time it was a little timid, 

 would not go to a stranger and would nip at any one that 

 took hold of it except the children, Of them it had no fear. 

 Five of these pups were dug out of a hole about 8ft. deep 

 the last of May, 1890. They were then very small, about 

 3 or 4in. long and could barely waddle or crawl. At this 

 time they were too young to drink. They had no long 

 hair on the tail, had short ears and blunt, snub noses. 

 They were covered with a coat of short mouse blue hair. 

 For several days they were fed by Mr. Powell's son Char- 

 ley, who would milk the cows into their mouths, After- 

 wai'd they were put with a bitch that had pups and she 

 permitted them to suckle. Some of these puppies were 

 destroyed because they killed the hens, but this one had 

 no bad habits. She often wandered off a long way on the 

 prairie and sometimes was chased by the men when they 

 were out hunting wolves with greyhounds. The dogs have 

 often started her supposing her to be a wild coyote. She 

 would run a little way, and then lie down, and as the 

 dogs came up roll over on her back, with her paws in the 

 air. When the dogs reached her they would smell of her 

 and recognizing their camp companion did not attempt 

 to injure her. She is an interesting pet. — George Bird 

 GrRlNNELL (New York, May 20.) 



Philadelphia Zoological Society,— The Nineteenth 

 Annual Report of this Society was read at the annual 

 meeting last mouth, and contains much that is interest- 

 ing. The total number of visitors for 1890-91 shows by 

 comparison with the previous year a decrease of 3,719, 

 while the receipts for the same period have decreased 

 $4,280.24, Sunday receipts are more than three times as 

 large as those of Saturday— the next largest day— 

 $fS,721.39 against f 3,74452. The number of animals in 

 the collection at the end of February, 1891, was 1,020, of 

 which 303 were mammals, 454 birds, 205 reptiles, 58 am- 

 phibians. The accessions during the year were 176 mam- 

 mals, 210 birds, 671 reptiles and 120 amphibians. Among 

 the more interesting mammals received during the year 

 are two spider monkeys from South and Central Americaj 



a pair of nylghau and three reindeer, two of which 

 have since died. Among the birds may be mentioned a 

 flammulated owl {Scops jlammeole) from Arizona, sent in 

 by Mr. Herbert Brown, and a specimen of the curious 

 boat-billed heron {Cancroma cochlearia) from South 

 America. Among the many interesting reptiles is a new 

 snake from Fior.da, described by the superintendent, Mr. 

 Brown, in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy 

 for 1890 under the name Stilosoma extenuata. The re- 

 port notes also the addition of a pair of lions about fifteen 

 months old, bred in captivity "in Europe, and a pair of 

 wolverines from Minnesota. These last are extremely 

 rare in collections and are of unusual interest. Among 

 the animals which were bred in the garden, the advent of 

 which has been noted from time to time in Forest and 

 Stream, may be mentioned lions, puma, prairie wolves, 

 leopards, camels, llama, biscn, Indian buffalo, American 

 elk, deer of several species and kangaroos. The Phila- 

 delphia Zoological Gardens are far ahead of anything of 

 the kind in this country, and their management appears 

 to be everything that could be desired. 



kme md 0ntf. 



The full texts of the game laws of all the States, Terri- 

 tories and British Provinces are given in the Book ot the 

 Game Laws. 



A PHANTOM GOBBLER. 



AT a period in the past, before our Legislature made an 

 effective game law, and before public sentiment 

 was sufiiciently enlightened to demand its execution, had 

 there been one, it was thought to be the proper thing to 

 have a Thanksgiving dinner of roast turkey as early as 

 the month of March, without waiting for a proclamation 

 from the powers that be. In those days in the spring of 

 the year the bluffs and heavily timbered bottoms near the 

 mouth of the Illinois River were vocal with the calls of 

 wild turkeys during the mating season, and the hunter 

 who could listen to that music and not feel his fingers 

 tingle, and his pulses quicken with excitement, was con- 

 sidered outside the craft and voted "no good no how." 



It was the unwritten creed of the country that if a man 

 met a flock of turkeys in the timber, and they attacked 

 him, he was fully justified imder the primal law of na- 

 ture, "self-preservation," in shooting them in self defense, 

 and as this prerogative had a popidar and widespread ap- 

 plication, hosts of turkeys more or lefs failed to show up 

 at roll call in November following, which otherwise 

 might have increased tenfold during the siimmer months, 

 enlarging the chance for sport in the same proportion 

 when the leaves began to fail, The custom was repre- 

 hensible to a degree and much to be condemned, but it 

 was hard to make a "Sucker" with a gun think so, espe- 

 cially if he was "out o' meat," 



I remember a couple of novices with more ambition 

 than skill who had made several ineffectual attemj)ts to 

 bag some of the patriarchs of the flock, and were bewail- 

 ing their hard luck to an old veteran, who was then a 

 prosperous merchant; but the passion was still strong 

 within him, and he seldom failed to have an outing with 

 the boys of a week or two in the spring and fall, when he 

 was certain to carry off the honors, much to the chagrin 

 of some of the more youthful and windy aspirants. He 

 was native to the locality and to the manor born and 

 bred, when droves of deer roamed over the unsettled 

 prairies and the howling of the wolves made night hid- 

 eous about his father's cabin, and as for turkeys, the 

 woods were full of them. He had seen service and plenty 

 of it, and if there was one kind of game more than an- 

 other that he loved to hunt, it was wild turkeys. It was 

 his delight to put his skill against their cunning; and the 

 turkey was a sharp one that outwitted him, for he had 

 the faculty of doing the right thing at the right time, 

 and was seldom at a loss in an emergency. It was agreed, 

 if we boys would meet him at simrise the next morning 

 at a designated spot in one of the narrow valhys leading 

 out from the river, that he would give us some pointers 

 in turkey hunting and post us up in the tricks necessary 

 to success; and we were promptly on hand at the appointed 

 time eager for the initiation to begin. 



Going up the valley, which grew narrower as we 

 advanced, to where the inclosing ridges threw out 

 several spurs across it, interlocking each other, we came 

 to an open glade, at the head of which was a paAvpaw 

 thicket, which we entered to look for sign, and here we 

 found plenty of it, the ground being literally scratched 

 over; but the old veteran said the sign was not fresh, and 

 had been made the day previous, but the turkeys were 

 somewhere in the neighborhood, unless they had been 

 alarmed the day before. 



Getting out into an opening he took his turkey bone 

 and gave a shrill "Tceoiok, keowk, keoick," that awoke the 

 slumbering echoes in the surroundmg hills. That seduc- 

 tive call would make the average hen turkey green with 

 envy, and had lured many a fine gobbler to his death 

 and the dinner pot, and was still in the business. Re- 

 ceiving no answer the call was repeated, and away over 

 a dividing ridge to the west, nearly a half a mile distant, 

 came a faint answer from a gobbler; and by waiting a 

 few minutes in silence we were able to locate him with 

 tolerable accuracy. 



The ridge between us and the gobbler was fully 200ft. 

 high and little less than a fourth of a mile to its top 

 from where we were standing. Between two spurs 

 making out from the ridge ran a deep ravine, partly 

 filled with leaves, brush and vines, the accumulation and 

 growth of years, and up this ravine we toiled our way 

 with as much speed as the circumstances permitted, stop- 

 ping now and then to give a call or two and to wait for 

 an answer so as to be certain to keep the gobbler coming 

 toward us. The scheme was not to call too often nor to 

 hurry him, but to get to the top of the ridge before he 

 did, otherwise he would either see or hear us and we 

 would get no shots and our trip would be in vain. 



After considerable hard climbing we took a position on 

 a rocky shelf that ran across the head of the ravine up 

 which we had clambered. This brought our heads on a 

 level vsdth the main ridge that was between us and the 

 gobbler. About forty steps directly in front of us and 

 on top of the ridge, without a bush or twig between it and 

 ourselves, was a large, spreading white oak, a giant 

 among its fellows and the probable ancestor of a numer- 

 ous family of saplings that surround it, 



We were pretty well blown with our effort, and waited 

 a few minutes to get our wind and steady our nerves: but 

 we were ahead of the gobbler at all events, and that was 

 several points in our favor. We could hear him going 

 through his gymnastics on the other side of the ridge, 

 and we were chuckling to oiwselves how we would fool 

 him when he came in sight. He was coming to a sur- 

 prise party, and he didn't know it. Another low call 

 from the old veteran was answered by a fierce gobble 

 close at hand. "Get ready, boys," was whispered, and 

 the hammers were raised without a click and every gun 

 brought to the shoulder. 



"Look out now, he's coming out from behind that big 

 white oak," and sure enough a moment later he came 

 from behind the tree with a Fourth of July strut and as 

 full of vanity as a dude. He had evidently made his 

 toilet with extreme care that morning, and had started 

 out to make a conquest. His wattles looked Mke a neck- 

 lace of burnished coral, and every feather glistened in 

 the morning sun; but we were laying for that gobbler 

 with a masked battery loaded with powder and shot and 

 things, and instead of meeting a lady love he met the 

 discharge of three guns loaded with BB shot. 



Then what? Now jes' don't "you uns" say a word— 

 don't stir me up. Did we corral that turkey? Did we 

 hang him on a trophy pole and dance a war dance? Did 

 we "tote" him home in triumph and pick his bones over 

 a bottle of Catawba? Nary tote, nary tui-key, not a 

 feather. 



Why didn't you give him the other barrels? 

 Ah, yes, why didn't we. Would you shell the woods 

 and not a turkey in sight? 

 Where did he go? 



Well that is something no fellow could find out, at least 

 we never did, and we hunted for liim with both hands. 

 Six hands, in fact, with digits extended wide, in every 

 nook, ravine, brush heap and hollow log within a radius 

 of half a mile without finding a trace of him. 



Was it Old Nick, dressed up as a gobbler, to fool us, 

 or a phantom turkey come back from the happy hunting 

 grounds to draw om- fire? Did the earth open and swal- 

 low him or did he climb a tree? That was the conun- 

 drum and we gave up, and it is a mystery to this day. 

 We lost the tiu-key, that is certain, if a thing can be said 

 to be lost that we never had, but a hearty laugh over the 

 adventure recompensed us in some degree for our disap- 

 pointment, and besides the experience was worth some- 

 thing to the boys. 



It was agreed that that hunt shouldn't count, and we 

 consoled ourselves with the thought that an old spring 

 gobbler was dry meat at best, and that 



The fowl that lived and flew away, 

 Might come to bag some other day. 



Ei.sAH, m. 



Cajeeron. 



EPH. BROWN AND THE BEAR. 



AS old age creeps on and incapacitates us from active 

 business, we are apt to dwell upon events of the 

 past. Memory carries us back to the old log cabin, where 

 in childhood we gathered about the heai-thstone, around 

 which clustered the happy associations and scenes of 

 other days; and we drop the sordid cares and wearing 

 anxieties of the present and forget for a moment the 

 lapse of time, and how the years and years have gone by 

 and those scenes are gone, save to memory. And so 1 

 am in mood to relate some pioneer incidents which oc- 

 curred in my younger days. 



Ephraim Brown came with the settlers who first broke 

 into the heavy timbered forests not very far from the 

 Cattaraugus Creek, in western New York, a partial de- 

 scription of which region was given in a former article 

 published in Forest and Stream. Brown was an active 

 muscular man, never beaten in a foot race and the cham- 

 pion wrestler and chopper through all that section of 

 country. He was hardly past middle age at the time of 

 which I write, but by his friends and the people where 

 he was best known, he was always mentioned as "Old 

 Eph." 



Bears were plenty and occasionally raided the farmers' 

 pig-pens and sheep-folds, and, except by a few hunters, 

 were considered rather a nuisance than otherwise. Now 

 Eph had a near neighbor Shultz, who called on him 

 one day to examine his cornfield, when he said bears or 

 coons, or both, were pulling down the corn every night. 

 Brown looked over the field and soon discovered by the 

 tracks that a small bear (perhaps a yearling) was making 

 a nightly raid on the corn. He informed Shultz that it 

 was a bear, and offered for a small consideration that he 

 would that night or the next drive the bear into his smoke 

 house and shut the door. Now, the consideration might 

 have been five or ten gallons of whisky, as that article 

 was then and there considered a legal tender. All classes 

 drank whisky in those days; and the words total ab- 

 stinence were unknown in the jnoneer vocabulary— 

 albeit there were comparatively less drunkards in those 

 days than at the present day. "Shultz readily agreed to 

 Brown's proposal, though rather doubting his ability to 

 fulfill the contract. Shultz's surprise was something more 

 than ordinary when on the following morning he found 

 the bear cooped up in his log smoke-house with the door 

 shut, barred and bolted. 



No one had seen just how Brown had captured the 

 bear, but his explanation was about as follows: He cut 

 a blue beech ox gad about the length of an ordinary fish 

 pole, with a good switch end, and with this formidable 

 weapon he lay in ambush near where the bear would be 

 likely to pass in coming into the field. It was long after 

 the full moon had risen that he discovered the bear mak- 

 ing toward the field, and the bright moonlight enabled 

 him to see that it was the same small bear that he ex- 

 pected. By this time the bear had scented danger and 

 started back for the woods: and Brown started for the 

 bear, which he overtook just at the moment that it was 

 climbing the high rail fence. This gave Brown a chance 

 to give him a smart cut over the nose, which brought the 

 bear in a limp heap at his feet; but only for a moment, 

 when he turned and began to show fight, but one or two 

 clips in the face brought his nose down between his fore- 

 legs, at which, Brown said, he would whine like a 

 whipped cur. So he started bruin for the smokehouse, as 

 he said, by touching him on each flank, and if he went 

 too fast he would slow him up a little by a slight tap over 

 the nose with his long whip. In this way he succeeded 

 in working him up to the smokehouse, where the bear 

 was only too glad to get in out of reach of the cruel whip. 

 It is not to be supposed that an old, full-grown beaa." could 



