Feb. 3, 1898.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



93 



found a veiy remarkable variety, if not new species of 

 bear. 



Now, I would like to know of "N. A. T." and Gen. 

 G-. O. Shields, and H. B. Husey, and "Podgers," and any 

 and all otliers who can answer for the region named, if 

 they over heard of the Guadahipe white bear! 



The Maine Jack Rabbit Scheme. 



One word more— and about the jack rabbit. I see that 

 it is proposed to try to introduce the jack rabbit in Maine. 

 This strikes me as both absurd and undesirable. 



Aside from the question whether the jack could live 

 tinder such clinnged cnnditions, of what value would he 

 be in Maine, i/rovided lie could live there? Is lie of any 

 Value to any one where he is? I do not deny that he may- 

 serve in an emergency for food, but when supplied with 

 ordinary food I never thought of cooking one, and I have 

 the_ impression that our own beautiful Northern hare, 

 which is so al)unda.nt hi Maine already, is vastly superior 

 to the jack rabbit as the basis of a stew. If I am wrong 

 about this wiU some one say so and set mo right. As I 

 write I have only to raise my e.yes to see mounted on the 

 WaU of my den tv-o heads of jack rabbits which I shot 

 near I^as Graces, N. M. They arc very intei-esting to me 

 with their wonderful ears, ''the most preposterous ears 

 ever mounted on any animal," as Mark Twain says, but 

 why do we want them in ]\Iaine? 



Jan. 28. — I have just received a letter from Mr. k. T. 

 Mitchell, of Shirley, ]\Io,. who was my guide in the most 

 enjoyable camping trip made last December to Big Indian 

 Pond, in the vicinity of Shuiey. I wrote you last week 

 sometliing about the unpression on the part of many 

 Maine guides that lynxes and wolves, once prevalent in 

 Maine, and miw for a. long time almost unknown to the 

 State, are coming in again. Mr. Mitchell -^vrites me that 

 since I was with him he has done his best to trap some 

 lynxes, yet, notwithstanding, they seem to be plenty in 

 his vicinity, gangs of ten having been seen together, he 

 has failed to trap one yet. 



He says: "They choose to catch, their own living as 

 yet, but I shall succeed in trapping them before the winter 

 is out. I thought when you went away I would trap one 

 and send him to yon, but have had rather poor luck so 

 far. I am learning some things of the nature of the 

 animal. October and February are the two months to 

 catch them. By the way, as" I was going to look after 

 one of my traps the other day I saw one crouched mider 

 some brush. I shot it, but made so many holes in his 

 hide that I thouglit he woiild not do to set up. 



"I had quite a ti-avel last week, following a track that 

 I thought at first was tliat of a bear, but concluded that it 

 was the ti-ack of a panther. I followed him about 30 

 miles, but did not come up with him. I am now con- 

 vinced tliat we have such animals here, though veiy 

 scarce." 



The above points seems to me to be very interesting. I 

 was told that last winter a gang of live lynxes \vere seen 

 together, and this year it seems that one of double the 

 number has been seen. I had never heard before, in con- 

 nection with this animal, of its habit of gathering and 

 continuing in such gangs. As to the panther, many people 

 were entirely skeptical as to its being found within the 

 limits of Maine, yet every few years I have heard stories 

 similar to the foregoing, and from men whose veracifrs^ 

 and good sense I could not doubt. My old guide BiUing-s 

 — ^best of companions and most skiUful in wood-lore — told 

 me that once only had he seen panthers in Maine. That 

 was about a lake in the Allegash' region, Avhere, from a 

 safe distance, he saw two of these great cats gamboling 

 upon the snow which covered the ice of a, large pond. As 

 he expressed it, he "concluded he had lost no panthers," 

 and after watching them, wisely retired, leaving them 

 imdisturbed. That the panther was once well known in 

 Mauie is evident from the Indian word "lunxus," which 

 is, as most commonly interpreted, "Indian devil." This 

 is traditional aU through the State. C. H. Ames. 



A TOAD'S SUPPER. 



Editor Forest and Streatn: 



Did yon ever see a toad catch and eat his supper? That 

 has been my good fortime; and it was a revelation. I 

 was sitting one evening in my back yard, contentedly 

 smoking and looking with some pride at a, smaU garden 

 patch, where I had spent many hours on various vines 

 and plants that Avere now rewarding me by a vigorous 

 growth. That garden was the home or resort of aaany 

 toads, and we had become well acquainted with each 

 other, although I thought them rather a stupid lot. It 

 was comical, however, when I accidentally distnrbed one 

 among the leaves or hauled him out of the soft earth, 

 where he was resting, to see the little fellow puff himself 

 out to the point of bursting and roU up the whites of his 

 eyes at me with an expression of sleepy reproach. I 

 think they soon became accustomed to my presence, and 

 would only take one or two hops from mider my feet 

 and then watch me with stupid gravity. 



I had about finished my pipe, when I observed one of 

 nly toads coming toward' me along the path that led to 

 the garden. He was as usual quite deliberate in his 

 movements. A hop, a long wait and then another hop. 

 As he came near my seat he eyed me solemnly for a 

 while, then hopped between my feet and disappeared 

 under the chair. On turning arotmd a few minutes later 

 I saw him on the graveled walk leading to the front of 

 the house. Without any object I rose and sti-olled after 

 him. The sun had disappeared, but it was hght enough 

 to see even a small object at quite a distance. The toad 

 paid no attention to me as I came up with him. Sud- 

 denly he made a leap towaxd the edge of the path and 

 vanished from sight. I knew he had not reached the 

 grass border, and I was puzzled at his strange disappear- 

 ance. I took a step forward and stooped over the spot 

 where he had landed. The mystery was solved, although 

 I could scarce lielieve what I plainly saw. The toad was 

 there, but the fat, chunky body seemed literalh'- pasted to 

 the Avalk and was scarcely discernible from it. " It looked 

 as if he might have been run over by a cartwheel, so 

 perfectly flatten(?d was tlie body. As I looked, there was 

 a Ughtning cliange. Like a flash my toad threw him self 

 at the grass border, I thought I saw a darting tont;ne. and 

 then he leisurely hopped back to the walk— the same 

 rotimd, stupid-looking fellow I knew so v\ ell. I opened 

 my eyes very wide and followed him closely. Again and 

 again was that marvelous flattening process repeated, as 

 he caught sight of objects to me utterly invisible; again 

 and again he launched himself like an. arrow into the air 



or a-t a tuft of grass, a,nd I do not believe that he once 

 missed his prey. In this manner we traversed the whole 

 length of the walk, when the toad turned and retraced 

 his steps, or rather hops. It was now quite dark and I 

 bade him good night. I had found out my friend of the 

 garden. Instead of being a loggy, slow-moving animal, 

 he was as cunning as a cat and twace as active. I a,m 

 afraid he is something of a hypocrite in his daily hfe, but 

 who is not more or less one? Every smnmer my garden 

 is filled with toads. I treat them with profoimd respect. 

 I hope my old acquaintance is among them, and I think 

 he is. I have often noticed one sleelr-looking fellow hop- 

 ping after me as I move about, and it seems to me there 

 is a twinkle in his eye I see in none of the others. Prob- 

 ably he is aware that he cannot lunnbug me again with 

 his pretended clumsy ways. We understand each other. 



Feed L. Ballard. 



Sprinofield, Mass., Jan. 16. 



A REMARKABLE DEER. 



Among the mammals made known to us in the course of 

 the last 20 years perhaps none is more remarkable than a, 

 deer which l\as a tail like a bison from the park of the 

 Emperor of China {Elaphurus davidianus). This species 

 has been named by naturalsits for the Rev. R. P. David 

 the missionary aud celebrated traveler, who has made 

 known to us so many new animals from the Celestial 

 empire. 



In its comf ormation tliis deer is very different from the 

 otliers of the family Cervidoe. The head is somcAvhat 

 short, the hips very heavy, and the feet very deeply split. 

 The tail, which is much longer than in any "other kind of 

 deer terminates in a bunch of long hair, being thus like 

 the tail of a bison. But perhaps the most remarkable 

 character of this strange animal is the horns, which seem 

 to be placed on its head backward. All known deer have 

 these frontal prolongations so disposed that the antlers 

 have their points directed forward, but in the present 

 species this is not true, for the points of antlers are 

 directed toward the animal's hips. If these antlers should 

 be put in the hands of the taxidermist, he would be almost 

 sure to direct these points forward, thus exactly reversing 

 the natural position. 



This animal is timid, excitable a.nd fierce. A mere 

 nothing suffices to excite it. It moves about but little in 

 the day time, but seems much more active at night. 



Until within recent years this animal Avas unknoAvn to 

 natiu-allsts. The first ones brought to France Avere ob- 

 tained from officers of the household of the Emperor of 

 China by M. De BeUounet, the Minister of France to Pekin, 

 but before this pair reached the Jardin d Acclimatation at 

 Paris, the Zoological Gardens of Berlin had already re- 

 ceiA^ed some. 



We do not know whence this deer comes nor of what 

 region it is native. We only knoAv tliat for centuries the 

 species has lived in freedom in the parks of the Emperor 

 of Cliina, as the faUoAv deer lives in our Em-opean parks. 



This animal is a dAveller in the forests and feaxs neither 

 cold nor storm. It has a rough coat, doubled in winter 

 by a Avarm fur, AA'hich it sheds in spring. Its color is a 

 dirty Avhite, or a pale fawn. EA-ery year in the spring, 

 the females in the Jardin d' Acclimatation each gives birth 

 to one yormg one whose growth is altogether remarkable, 

 for, m the autumnthe young, then about six months old, 

 are almost as taU and heavy as the AAnltd,.— Abstracted 

 from Le CMnil. 



THE NEW MEXICO COLLECTION. 



Eddy, Ncav Mexico, Jan. 16.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 The alleged "old frontiersman" has been stuffing your 

 correspondent, "T. A. T." There is. of course, no such 

 thing in existence as a "cactus deer." I heard a good deal 

 of this silly talk about this cactus deer, while it was on 

 exhibition, here, and, of course, saw and examined it. It 

 is simply a mule deer, killed Avhile the horns Avere in the 

 velvet, and they are not at all different, in shape, from 

 any other mule deer's horns, in the same stage of growth, 

 lam surprised that a man who claims to know so much as 

 Mr. Taylor should have allowed himself to be "joshed" in 

 this waj. 



The elk in this collection, Avhich Mr. Taylor says 

 Aveighed 7001bs., never attained more than one-half of 

 that weight. He stands less than 15 hands high, and his 

 horns are not more than half as large as others that are 

 found in various collections. They are not "prodigious," 

 by any means. Mr. Taylor states their probable Aveight 

 at 100 lbs. They would not weigh more than 50, at the 

 outside. 



Mr. Taylor states that the Mexican or movmtain lion, as 

 knoAvn in Texas, is a much more formidable beast than 

 the mountain lion or cougar found in New Mexico and 

 elsewhere, and that it is "more to be dreaded than any 

 other animal that walks on American soil." 



This statement is absm-d to any one who is weU mf ormed 

 on natural history. It is well knoAvn that the mountain 

 hon or cougar, Avherever found, is, generally speaking, a 

 coward; that he usually sneaks aAA'ay at the approach of 

 the hunter, and there are f cav, if any, well authenticated 

 cases on record Avhere this animal has been known to fight. 



Mr. Taylor further states that the collection in question 

 is the best in Ncav :Mexico, or probably anywhere out- 

 side of the museiuns. There are, in this collection, some 

 fine skins, but they are mounted in such a way as to make 

 a man of any intelhgence extremely tired. They are put 

 up square, Avith a leg under each corner, and the legs look 

 more like those of a homemade bedstead than of graceful 

 animals like deer, elk, antelope, etc. Mr. Riggs, far from 

 having associated Avith wild beasts all his hfe, probably 

 never saw one ahve in the woods. He is a good-natm-ed, 

 intelligent farmer, who came here, I think, from Missouri, 

 two or three years ago, and so far as I knoAv, has never 

 killed any large game. To my certain knoAvledge he 

 bought all these skins from hunters, who brought them in 

 from the momitains and plains. He had them mounted 

 by a man who might possibly be able to mount a horse, if 

 he had a step-ladder handy, but who does not know any 

 more about stuffing and setting up wild animals than I 

 knoAv about what electricity is made of. 



I have several times referred to this collection myself, 

 in former communications, and hoped that it would have 

 been gotten up in such a way as to be a credit to Ncav 

 Mexico, but regret to sav that it is not. G. O. Shields. 



Needs No Apologies. 



_Eau Clairb, Wis._— I never feel ashamed to read Forest and Stream 

 Avifclimy -wife or children. It needs no apologies, which cannot be said 

 of all our American "sporting papers." w. J. S. 



Musk Ox Specimens. 



New York, Jan. 21.— Editor Forest and Stream: It is 

 surprising that Mr. Webster, since he takes the trouble to 

 poiot ont in Forest and Stream of Jan. 26 that there are 

 only four mounted specimens of the musk ox in this 

 countiy (one a,t Harvard, three at Washington), other 

 than the splendid one Avhich he has lately moimted, does 

 not remember that there is a musk ox in his own town, 

 and not more than tAvo miles from his shop in Forty- 

 second street. This specunen, which was prepared by 

 Ward, of Rochester, has been on exhibition in the Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History for the past niue years. 

 Mr. Webster could have seen it there in, I think, Novem- 

 ber, 1891. 



It may be interesting in this connection to note that the 

 animal in the Museum stands 4ft. high at the shoulder 

 (not including the length of the long hair on the back). 

 As set up, it measures from nose to stern, in a straight 

 line 7ft. 3in., or measured along the back, 8ft. Sin. The 

 horn is only 9in, in diameter at base, but is 26in. long. 

 While perhaps not "the largest in this country or 

 Europe," it is probably about as large as the one figured 

 in Forest and Stream, and is a splendid specimen. 



Tappan Adney, 



The "Ocean Sheldrake" a Goosander. 



In a note appended to Mr. Fraser's letter in last week's 

 Forest and Stream it was suggested that the rare duck 

 which he called "tweezer" or "ocean sheldrake" might 

 be Mergus serrator, which is also called "salt-Avater shel- 

 drake," "sea bec-scie," "sea robin," etc. To settle the 

 question, however, Mr. Eraser kindly sent the specimen 

 to this office. It proves to be a fine male goosander (Jlfer- 

 gtis americanus). This bird we have found much less 

 abundant in our shooting than the red-breasted merganser 

 (ilf. serrator). Of this latter sptecies Mr. Trumbull, Avhose 

 experience along the Atlantic coast has been A^ery Avide, 

 Avrites us: "I have shot it at SMimecock Bay and 

 Moriches (East Bay), and have personally found it pretty 

 thoroughly, though unevenly, distributed from Quebec to 

 Mobile, including the island of Grand Menan, where, as 

 in many other locahties, it is practically the only mer- 

 ganser. I have found it far more conimon on the sea 

 coast than the 'tAveezer,' 'weaser (or AA^eser) or 'fresh- 

 water sheldrake' {M. americanus)." 



'mqe md 0ttij. 



"Game Laws in Brief," United States and Canada, 

 illustrated, S5 cents. "Book of the Game Laws" (full 

 text), 50 cents. 



BOSTON AND MAINE. 



Live Game in Close Time, 

 Judge W. P. Whitehouse, of the Maine supreme judi- 

 cial court, has just rendered a decision at Calais, in 

 Washington countj^ of much importance to the people of 

 tlie State interested in the taking of game amimals alive. 

 The case is the one of State vs. Eben Coffern. Coffern 

 was convicted last November before the mtmicipal court 

 of catching and having in possession a young deer in 

 close time. The case was appealed to the Washington 

 county supreme court. The decision has been much dis- 

 cussed, but it effectually settles the law as to the right of' 

 incUviduals to catch and retain game animals alive in 

 close time. The decision says: 



It is admitted that the fsmn Avas caught by the defendant in the 

 month of July, 1892, and Icept in possession until Oct. 15, and then sold 

 to some person in Massachusetts. Sec, 13, of Chap. 30, R. S., declares 

 that "whoever has in his possession the cai-cass of any sucli animal, 

 or any part thereof, between the first days of January and October 

 shall be deemed to have hunted and killed the same contrary to law. 

 But he shall not be precluded from producing proof in defense." This 

 section was amended in 1891 (Chap, 9.5, Sec. 3) ro as to read, "whoever 

 has in his possession any such animal or part thereof, shall be deemed 

 to have hunted, caught or killed the same contrary to law." The sub- 

 stitution of the word "animal" for "carcass or hide" in the first 

 clause, and the introduction of the word "caught" in the second 

 clause, conclusively show an intention to make the statute applicable 

 not only to the possession of inanimate things, but to the capture of 

 hving and moving ones. This is also in harmony with the manifest 

 purpose of the law. It was obviously designed to'aflord protection to 

 the deer and prevent then- extinction by giving them freedom to roam 

 the forests, unvexed by man, during the appropriate season of each 

 year. K construed to permit their capture m close time when more 

 easily effected, and subsequent sale or appropriation in open time, the 

 law would signally fail of its beneficent pui'pose, and be practically 

 nuUtfied. In the case at bar there is no suggestion in defense that the 

 fawn was captured or temporai-ily held for any humane or lawful pur- 

 pose. That inquiry was precluded by the final disposition of the ani- 

 mal. The decision of the court below was correct, and the judgment 

 must be entered for the State. 



A Maine Trophy. 



Mr. Henry S. Fisher, with Harding, Whitman & Co., 

 78 Chauncy street, Boston, has received the mounted head 

 of his moose from the taxidermists. Readers of the 

 Forest and Stream avIU remember the accovmt of the 

 killing of this monster moose published in this paper 

 some weeks since. The head is a fine one, and many of 

 Mr. Fisher's friends, interested in sporting, have been in 

 to see it. It ornaments his office room, and is a grand 

 trophy. They are teUtng him that it is the very bull 

 moose that was hauled out of the woods by the cow 

 moose, first caught and harnessed by the guide, the storj'- 

 of which was in the Forest and Stream recently. 



Special. 



South Carolina Quail and Snow. 



McConnellsville, York County, S. C, Jan. 22.— Quail 

 are quite plentiful in this vicinity; we can flush from ten 

 to fifteen coveys in a hunt of four or five hours and not 

 go over two or three miles from where I am located. The 

 weather has been so cold the past ten days that field sports 

 are at a discount. Last Wednesday ushered in a snow- 

 storm which lasted two days. The snow is now 6in. deep 

 on a level Avith little prospect of a thaAv. E. M 



Wild liife in the T'ellowstone. 



The telegraph line repairer of the Yellowstone Park, 

 who got into the Hot Springs Jan. 21, reports having seen 

 sixty-three buffalo in the Hay den YaUey. On the way 

 back to the Springs he was treed about ten miles down 

 the road, near the Apollinaris spring, by an old mountain 

 lion and two cubs. Lions are not often seen in the Park. 



