92 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 2, 1893. 



ON THE PAMPAS OF ENTRE RIOS.— IV. 



In a former letter I mentioned that ducks were plenti- 

 ful in Eutre Rios, but said very little aboiit shooting them. 

 They congregated in large flocks in any small pond that 

 was out on the open pampas, but in the arroyos were only 

 found in pairs. We used to construct a blind near the 

 ponds by digging a hole about 4ft. deep, and planting 

 high pampas grass aroimd the edge, draMdng it together 

 at the top. We would ride out to the ponds, and get into 

 the blinds, sending our horse away with the guacho, who 

 would move off half a mile or so. " The ducks would soon 

 fly back to the pond, and with both barrels I could gener- 

 ally get three or four. After they had been shot at they 

 would not come back to that pond for a long time, especi- 

 ally if there were other i^onds near. 



1 made my reputation as a good shot soon after I went 

 on the estancia, and took care not to lose it by taking 

 chances afterward. I was crossing an arroyo near 

 the house, and saw two ducks swimming in a small hole. 

 I told the gaucho with me that I would get my gun and 

 return and kill both of the ducks. I did get my gun and 

 when near the arroyo, dismounted, hobbled my horse, 

 and crawled to the edge of the bank. The ducks were 

 still tliere, but arose on seeing me, and flew rapidly up 

 the arroyo. 1 let go one barrel at them, and to my utter 

 astonishment both fell dead. This was called a great feat 

 by the men who talked 

 of it over their mate. 



There is one veiy in- 

 teresting bird that we 

 sometimes saw when 

 we visited the large 

 ptmds, or la,kes, which 

 was called the chakar. 

 This bird is as large as 

 a goose, but has much 

 longer legs and a tuft 

 of featliei-s on the top 

 of its head. Its f eathei-s 

 are , gray in color, but 

 its legs and a large spot 

 around each eye are 

 bright red. They build 

 then- nests on mounds 

 which they raise from 

 the bottom in water 2 

 to 3ft. dee-x), by deposit- 

 ing clods and dirt 

 which they bring from 

 the shore. They take 

 their name from the 

 XjecuUar cry they utter 

 when on the wing. 

 They will start up 

 when disturbed, and 

 at eveiy flap of their 

 immense wings will 

 cry chaJcar, chakar, 

 the male bird in a deep 

 bass and tlie female in 

 a much higher tone. 

 They are great soarers 

 and will go upward 

 and upward into the 

 sky, their cry growing 

 fainter and fainter tm- 

 til they disappear from 

 sight. I never killed 

 but one of these birds, 

 as they were quite rare 

 with us, but I heard 

 that further south they 

 -were very plentif ill. I 

 ate the one I killed and 

 found it very good eat- 

 ing, tasting like wild 

 goose. 



One of the most in 

 teresting animals we 

 had in Entre Rios was 

 the vizcacha, a small 

 gray rodent that is 

 common all OA^er the 



Ai'gentme Confederacy. Tliey live in colonies of twenty 

 to forty, and burrow a great many holes that lead down 

 to connecting galleries which lead into the main chamber 

 where they live. Some of the entrances to their burrows 

 are immense, being 4 to 5ft. in diameter and several feet 

 deep, but most of their lioles are not over 8 to lOin. in 

 diameter. The moiinds of earth they throw up are raised 

 considerably aboA'^e the pampas, Avhich keeps the AA-ater 

 out of their holes Avhen it rains heaA'ily. The male viz- 

 cacha is larger than the female, and appears to haA^e more 

 curiosity, or more bravery, as they do not dart into their 

 holes on the approach of danger as quickly as the female. 

 They do not come out of their burrows until near sun- 

 down, at AAdiich time they congregate on their mounds 

 and bark and frisk about. They feed at night on grass 

 and seeds, and on bright moonUght nights travel con- 

 siderable distances from their homes visiting the build- 

 ings and carrying ofl" anything not too heavy for them in 

 the way of straps, Avhips, knives and bones, which articles 

 they pile up on their mounds, but do not seem to make 

 any further use of them. When any small article such as 

 described above was lost, we ahvays Avent out to the viz- 

 cachas' momids and himted for them, generally finding 

 them there. On dark nights if any one wanted to know 

 whether there were any vizcachas about all it was neces- 

 sary to do AA-as to make' some loud noise, such as cracking 

 a bull whip, or firing a gun, and immediately in resjjonse 

 ■would be heard hundreds of little barks and cries which 

 would seem to come from every direction, and which 

 would be repeated several times. The gauchos are very 

 much prejudiced against eating the flesh of a vizcacha, but 

 I often ate them and found them very good. I used to 

 shoot thern , but imless they Avere droi^ped dead in their 

 tracks they invariably managed to get into their burrows. 

 During heavy rains Ave would dig ditches to lead the 

 water into their holes to drown them out, for they are a 

 great nuisance around a place, and eat up a ^-eat deal of 

 grass. Small owls live with the vizcachas, dagging out a 

 side gaUery^in one of the holes, other intruders also maJke 



use of the burrows, but all seem to live peaceably 

 together. 



About the most destructive insect in Entre Rios is the 

 black ant, which shows an instinct amounting almost to 

 intelligence. They have then- relay of workers, one set 

 carrying the leaves and grass to "the mouth of the nest 

 and another set carrying it down and stoAving it away. 

 They also keep an army of fighters, who swarm out, if 

 the nest is disturbed, and soon make short Avork of any 

 unfortunate beetle or other tntnider Avho invades their 

 nest. The paths to their nests are very plainly defined, 

 being entirely bare of grass for quite' a distance, then 

 entering a tunnel through the grass, and finally a hole hi 

 the ground, which would extend six or eight feet before 

 entering the nest. It was almost impossible to raise any- 

 thtag in a garden where they Avere numei'ous, as they 

 would eat off the young shoots as fast as they came up. 



We had a ponderous machine, wliich was brought from 

 England, for destroying them in their nests. It consisted 

 of a furnace, in which was built a fire fed with dry red 

 peppers, tobacco stems and sulphur, the smoke from 

 Avhich was forced into the nest by a small pair of black- 

 smith's belloAvs. I have xwmped this smoke into an ants' 

 nest until I was tired and have seen it come out of the 

 crevices of the earth yards away from where I started it 

 in, Avhich showed it had penetrated into the innermost re- 

 cesses of the nest, but in a few days this same nest Avould 

 seem to be as thickly populated as ever. The begt way to 

 destroy them after locating the nest is to remove "the 

 earth from above and around it without disturbing it any 

 more than possible, then poiu- thirty to forty gallons of 



DEER WITH BISON'S TAIL. 



boiling water into the nest, breaking and wwking it iip 

 with the hot water into a stiff mass, Avhich mass must be 

 shoveled out, made into a mound and plastered on the 

 outside with soft mud. I planted in a small garden I had 

 cultivated several hundred seed of the Paradise tree, all 

 of which had come up and Avere doing well. One morn- 

 ing I looked toAvard niy grove of little pets and was sur- 

 prised to see they had disappeared in the night. I foimd 

 the black ants had invaded my garden and stripped the 

 miniature trees of all their leaA-es and Avere there in hun- 

 dreds carrying them off. At one time they iuA^aded my 

 house. If they get a good foothold in a house it is almost 

 impossible to liA^e in it. They infest CA^ery thing, getting 

 into all eatables, into the beds,, the clothing, and crawling 

 over the peraon, biting quite severely. They attacked a 

 bag of coarse arrowroot that I liad and I fotmd they 

 w^ould soon rob me of all of it, so I himg it by a strap 

 from the ceiling and thought for a time that I had cir- 

 cumvented them, but in a few days I noticed them carrj!-- 

 ing it off as freely as e.A'er. They had found their way to 

 the bag by the strap and to some smaU holes in the bot- 

 tom, which (if they were not there before) they cut Avith 

 their mandibles and from \A'hich holes seA^eral "were pull- 

 ing the grains and an aimy of them on the floor Avere 

 carrying it away. Edwaed A. Robinso>\ 



West "Virginia in Line. 



Wheeling, W. Va., Jan. 27.— Fifty sportsmen met at 

 the McClure House Jan. 20 and efficient steps are being- 

 taken to secure good game and fish laws. A game and 

 fish warden is asked for, salary |1,000 per year and 10 

 cents mileage on going and retui-ningirom making arrests 

 of offenders, etc. A fund of $350 is being raised to send 

 two influential men to Charleston to secure the passage 

 of these much-needed bills. The quail and pheasant hw 

 is amended, making the close season from Dec. 30 to Oct. 

 20, also making it unlawful for them to be shipped out of 

 the State. I am delighted to say that the W. V. S. S. 

 Association is booming. J. A. Pekn. i 



SOME WOODS NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Boston, Jan. 21. — ^I haven't had time to write you of 

 my Maine woods trip of December last, but will say that 

 it was my seventeenth trip to the wildemess, and well 

 nigh the most satisfactory one I CA^er made, and with the 

 experience of it so fresh in my mind I am tempted to 

 think that A\'ith a good Avinter camp in a good location 

 the Avinter is the time for camping. If you do not believe 

 it wait till I can tell you about it. Just noAv 1 can only 

 beg leave to say a AA'^ord or two on a feAv points suggested 

 by recent issues of Forest and Stream, and Avhich must 

 be taken while they ai-e before the brethren. 



Wild Animals in Maine. 



First as to the Canada lynx. This animal used to be 

 f oimd eveiyAvhere in the Maine wilderness. Every himter 

 had frequent experience with it. Then there came a time 

 of scarcity. This began about the time A\'hen I began to 

 make an annual trip to the Maine woods. Consequently 

 I have never seen a lynx in all my camping and tramping. 

 But the tide is turning and the lynxes are coming in 

 again . 



My guide of last December, Mr. Mitchell, of Shirley 

 MiUs, tells me that last year a family of fiA^e AA-ere seen in 

 his neighborhood, and aU Avere caught before spring, two 

 of them falling to his own lot. This year we several times 

 saAv their tracks, and it was Mr. Mitchell's intention to 

 trap for them. He says they are the easiest to be trapped 

 of aU animals, and he felt perfectly sure of capturing the 

 ones which made the tracks referred to. It Avas worth a 



good deal to me to see 

 even the tracks of a 

 lynx. It is a peculiax 

 track and I should now 



know it at a glance if 



" ever encountered 



ati'ain. 



Mr. Mitchell is of the 

 firm opinion that the 

 present abundance of 

 ! deer is the reason of 



; the retmn of the lynx 



1 to Maine, and that the 



wolf is also to come 

 i »: I ' ■ k , and for the sam e 

 ; reason, and that both 



I the lynx and wolf wiU 



I have to be vigorously 



\ trap])ed and poisoned 



J ( ir tiioy AviU again bring 



; tlic doer supply to its 



\ lowest terms. He is 



; certain lliat it Avas a 



, : \sOucli hoAA'led 



.■iiouTiil liis camp oue 

 11 i li t 1 as t winter, 

 I tliougli he admits that 



tlaere are as yet but 

 few in the State, This 

 belief of Mitchell's is 

 yliared by many guides 

 in ]\Iaiue. 



The ebb and flow, so 

 to speak, of certain 

 species of animals in 

 the Maine woods ia 

 very interesting. 

 IMajiy, many years ago 

 tlie (.'ariljou were plen- 

 tiful, then practically 

 disappeared from the 

 country, so that in the 

 boyhood of J men yet in 

 actiA'e fife none were 

 seen or thought of. 

 Then began an influx 

 of caribou. At first 

 tliey were not hrmted 

 and were — at least in 

 some sections — hardly 

 considered of value for 

 food. Finally they be- 

 came knoAvn and val- 

 ued as at present, but 

 I believe that the cari- 

 bou are now diminish- 

 ing in the State. 

 I would be glad to get the opinion of Maine guides and 

 hunters on this point. 



EA'ery one knows that deer Avere neA'er so abimdant as 

 now. Once they were scaxce. That was when the wolf 

 abounded. I have heard Uncle "Vet" Abbey, of Brown- 

 vOle — now dead — tell when the last Avolf Avas killed in 

 that town. It was many years ago. I haA^e heard 

 another man teU of gangs of Avolves over on MilUnocket 

 Lake, Avhere I think not a Avolf has been seen for many a 

 year. 



The pme marten and sable seem to alternate Avith the 

 red squirrel as to periods of abundance. Only the fox 

 seems to be everywhere and always abundant, and never 

 more so than now. The fox and the partridge seem 

 secure from extermination and tliere is a certain comfort 

 in the thought. 



The Guadalupe White Bear. 



I am much interested in several recent communications 

 from the town of Eddy in NeAv Mexico and the region of 

 the Pecos River generally, and especially in accounts of 

 game from the Guadalupe Mountains. I have been on 

 the Pecos near its mouth and near its source, but never 

 with time to hunt or explore, though it wasa most tempt- 

 ing region. 



One story about the Guadalupe range . especially inter- 

 ested me, for it was told me by a prominent citizen of Ncav 

 Mexico, a gentleman of undoubted character and of ex- 

 ceptional experience in aU that region . It was to the effect 

 that a remarkable variety of bear was to be found in the 

 Guadalupe Mountains, which was so nearly white as to 

 fahiy deserve the name of a white bear-. This was so ex- 

 traordinary a statement that, hearing in mind he yams 

 that are told to a "tenderfoot," I questioned my inform- 

 ant very closely and more than once about the matter, 

 and drew from him a mass of testimony Avh_ch certainly 

 seemed serious if not convincing. He said he had seen 

 enough skins of this peculiar color— aU from the Guadalupe 

 Mountains— to establish the fact there was there to be 



