March 30, 1898.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



271 



plain mark of that same. It is also cleai- that he was a 

 philosopher and much given to meditation. That bare 

 spot on the skull was probably caused by the working of 

 his brain on the subject of woods ethics. ' The cliafed spot 

 on the rump, too, sliows liis habits were sedentary." At 

 lengtli his eye caught a mass of matted and befouled hair 

 still further down on bruin's transom, and he continued; 

 "How easy it is to reach a wrong conclusion! The cloth- 

 ing of a philosopher might very well be a Uttle thin in 

 spots, but no gentleman and scholar would willingly allo■^^^ 

 his breeches to get in that state. He is plainly a criminal 

 =a member of some ursine chain gang. His meditations 

 were forced; his fange So restricted that ofttlmes he 

 could not find a clean spot on which to sit down. I 

 wouldn't be surprised, though, if inquiry should elicit the 

 fact thalrsomebody's tame bear had crossed the dark val- 

 ley, and the place that once knew him knows him now 

 not quite so well." 



The glory — such as it is, stUl belongs to the two hunters; 

 so does the skin. * * * 



THE FIVE-^TOED KANGAROO RATS. 



CiSflf AiN of the leaping members of the remarkable 

 femily of pocket mice vi^ere made the subject of a paper 

 m Mr. Vernon Bailey at . a recesht meeting of the Bio- 

 Wicai (Society of Washington, ^hd tegidii incldded in 

 Mr. Eiailey's notes is the sdiithweste.rn part of the tfnited 

 States, and the species xinder liis observation wefe Ord's 

 kangaroo rat {Perodipus ordi) and the Perodipus agitis of 

 California. 



These are small animals, the first having a body only 

 about 3in. long and the latter somewhat larger. In both 

 tke tail is longer than the body and the hind legs are 

 admirably adapted for leaping, so that their capture 

 above ground, except by trapping, is well nigh impos- 

 sible. 



The kangaroo rats are famous for the burrows which 

 they construct and in which they conceal themselves dur- 

 ing the day. Ord's rat digs a principal burrow about 13ft. 

 long, 2in. in diameter and nearly round. A central 

 chamber, used for storing food, is located about 1ft. 

 below the surface, and in the particular one examined by 

 Mr. Bailey five holes communicated with this granary. 

 The nest was placed near one end of the burrow; it was 

 a ball of fine grass, fibers and roots, intermingled with 

 hulls of seeds, wheat, etc. 



The amount of dirt moved by this little rat is surpris- 

 ing, amounting to at least a handful. Some portions of 

 the hole are A'ery near the surface and if one tries to cap- 

 ture the animal by digging it will break through at some 

 point and escape. 



The burrow of the larger rat above mentioned Was 

 described by Mr. Bailey from notes of Mr. Stevens. It is 

 lUtt. long between the entrances in the one esamicLed and 

 a number of irregular lateral branches communicated 

 with it. Several granaries formed a part of the habita- 

 tion, and these contained Upward of 400 acorns of the 

 Quercua lobata. The hest, composed of kills of pdVetty 

 graBs, was found to be 4in. in diameter and fiin: long. 

 One of the entrances was located dndef, a, perennial plant 

 and the hole was nearly perpendicular in the laSt six 

 inches of its com-se. The yoimg in the nest numbered 

 three. 



The most singular external feature of these rats is the 

 hair-lined pouch under the mouth on each side. In the 

 Perodipus agilis each pouch will hold a single acorn. 



ELK IN HARNESS. 



GftANi? TiEW, Tenn.— I noticed in the number of Feb. 

 23j tlie picture of the moose in harness, which brought to 

 mmd some experience I once had with elk in harness. 

 Ify brother had a pair of buck elks two yeai-s and a half 

 old at that time, the eldest of a half do^en does andf awns 

 which he kept in a park. Those two bucks we separated 

 from the others, and we drove tliem through a lane into 

 the barnyard, thenoe Into the horse stable, where they 

 were kept a few days and subjected to the halter. After 

 that a harness, which had been prepared for the purpase, 

 was fitted on, and they were taken out and hitched Up to 

 a light one-horse sleigh. All this was accomplished with- 

 out much resistance on the part of the elk. But it re- 

 quired much Coaxing and some whipping to make the 

 first stM't. We succeeded, however, in driving a mile or 

 two, but they did not take kindly to the bit and could not 

 be guided much by the lines; consequently we made zig- 

 zag com-aes and frequently brought up against a fence 

 or^ some other obstruction. They were harnessed and 

 driven perhaps ten times during the winter with about 

 the same result. They did not seem to learn anything by 

 Using, and we came to the conclusion that elk were not 

 made to work in harness, and it seemed by their actiens 

 that the elk were of that mind, so early in the spring they 

 were driven back into the park. 



I)ming the month of August, after they were four years 

 old, they became ill-natured and ugly, and one had 

 become so furious that we had to look around for some 

 Way to confine him. If be broke through the fence we 

 considered him very dangerous and no man dare go into 

 the park when the elk was in sight. I beheve that I 

 never saw an animal more aggressive or that was more 

 f 1x11 of fight. He would go for any one who stood outside 

 of the fence as far as the fence would let him, and he 

 would stand punching with handspikes and prodding 

 with pitchforks until his face would be a gore of blood, 

 and never iiincli nor back an inch, when, if he had broken 

 through the fence, the punchers and prodders would 

 have wished themselves anywhere else but there. 



The way I secured that elk from further trouble was 

 this: Taking 25ft. of cable rope and climbing on to the 

 fence, thence into the top of a white beech that was full 

 of limbs and stood close inside of the fence, I tied one 

 end of the rope to a strong Hmb, having made a strong 

 noose at the other end, and then worked my way down 

 on to the lower Umbs, some 8 or Oft. from the ground. 

 By that time the elk had got there, even before I was 

 ready. 



Just then I would as soon have walked into the grasp 

 (Of a grizzly bear as to have dropped from that limb, 

 jalthough outside of the rutting season he was no more 

 dangerous than a Devon steer. He soon gave me as good 

 a chaoice as I wanted, and I was lucky enough to drop the 



nooSe over botii horns. Then I had him safely tied up, 

 where he Was fed with hay and oats for three weeks, after 

 which he was let loose, bemg then as quiet as the others, 

 which numbered at that time fifteen— does, fawns and 

 young bucks. 



Some time in the month of December following we 

 drove those two old bucks down through the lane to the 

 barn and had them altered, and drove them back into the 

 park again. In the spring they shed their horns at the 

 usual time, and the next set were grown to the full size, 

 but the velvet dried down to the horn and never peeled, 

 and they never shed them. 



The trumpet-like call or lowing of the buck elk, which 

 is heard only in the running season, is unique and can 

 hardly be Irnitated. Antler. 



Pennsylvania Ottei«g. 



Auburn, Susquehanna County, Pa., March 23.^Editor 

 Forest and Stream: Your correspondent, "Onyjutta," 

 writes of the killing of an otter on the Juniata, and won- 

 ders whether it came from up or down the Susquehanna. 

 That an occasional otter is killed in the "north counties" 

 I can testify. 



Last December some boys named Grozitki were on 

 Jones Creek, a small stream in Windom township, 

 Wyoming county, emptying into Nigger Pond on the 

 headwaters of the Little Mehoopany Creek, whose waters 

 reach the Susqdehanna at Mehoopany. Their dog drove 

 some animal into a log heap, and they succeeded in kill- 

 ing it. It proved to be a fine specimen of otter. 



Another was trapped last fall by a man named Shaw 

 neaf tile odtlet of Oxliow Pond, This pond is in Lemon 



EI.K IN HAHSES§. 

 Amateilr iSlioto by A. H. PlllUlpS. 



township, Wyommg county, some four miles northeast 

 of ixinkhannOck; and its Waters flow to the Susquehanna. 

 The other sdcceeded in loosening the trap and carried it 

 off; biit wds aftelrward found still in the trap by a man 

 named I^illings. I^iinng.s fetdrne'd the trap to Shaw. 

 Shaw claimed the otter, bdt offered to diA4de=give or 

 take $5. Billings would do nothing, and Shaw sned for 

 the value of the otter, and the case is now in codrt. Ac- 

 cording to the laws of courtesy among trappers, to whom 

 did the amimal belong? And how will the court decide? 



BoN Ami. 



[The otter belongs to the owner of the trap, unless he 

 had given over its pmrsuit.] 



The Woodcock Have Come to Town. 



New York, March 28. — Editor Forest and Stream: On 

 Sunday last, little Laura Page, a daughter of my neighbor 

 W. D. Page, the well-known lawyer, discovered near her 

 father's house, 157th street and Eleventh avenue, a live 

 woodcock crouching on the ground. She announced her 

 discovery to her uncle who caught the bird and found 

 that it had injured itself by flying against something, as 

 it bled from the bfll, and when it breathed a little bloody 

 froth could be seen at the nostrils. At the same time it 

 seemed fairly strong and struggled vigorously to escape 

 from the hands. 



After examination it was placed on the ground be- 

 neath some bushes well out of the way of wandering oats 

 and dogs. Once or twice during the day it walked away, 

 but not to any great distance, and was found and put 

 back. The next morning it had disappeared, but it had 

 evidently walked about during the night and probably re- 

 covered sufficiently to fly away. It seems rather late for 

 the woodcock to be migrating, but that perhaps may be 

 accounted for by the severity of the past winter. 



Subscriber. 



New York, March 27. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 On Satm-day morning last one of my clerks brought into 

 my office, 20 Broad street, a large plump woodcock, hav- 

 ing picked the bird up from the sidewalk at the door. 

 The bird was alive when found. It appeared to have 

 broken its neck and was nearly bald , showing where it had 

 struck agauist one of the numerous wires abounding in 

 this region. Harry Mcintosh, of Squires', kindly set it 

 up for me. W. Alex. Bass, -Jr. 



A New-Subscriber OfiPer. 



A bona fide new subscriber sending us $5 will receive for that sum 

 the Forest ai^-d Stream one year (price f4) and a set of Zimmerman's 

 famous '•Ducldng Scenes" (advertised on another page, price S5) — a 

 $9 value for $5. 



This ofifer is to new substiribers only. It does not apply to renewals. 



For S3 a bona fide new subscriber for six months will receive the 

 Forest a^to Stream during that time and a copy of Dr. Van Fleet's 

 handsome work, "Bird Portraits for the Young" (the price of which 

 I P). ' 



It "FiUs In." 



I cax't get along without the paper someway. Now that my work 

 keeps me out of the fields and woods, it "fills in" wonderfully. 



A. F. B. 



GUADALUPE DEER. 



Taylor County, Texas, Feb. 12.— I note Mr. C. 

 H. Ames' inquiry whether I know anything of white 

 bear in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico and 

 Texas. I do not. The only bears known to me in those 

 mountains are the black bear and cinnamon bear, which 

 abounded a few years ago and are no doubt tolerably plen- 

 tiful yet. But is it impossible a bear of these sorts should 

 sometimes turn gray? Who shall say nay? However, I 

 suspect that Mr. Ames's friend had seen some bighorns in 

 the distance which he mistook for bears. It is remarkable 

 what singular appearances may be observed in the glitter- 

 ing and rare atmosphere of those elevated regions. I have 

 seen a raven walking on a railroad track in that region, 

 which at a distance of a few hundred yards looked to be 

 ten feet high at least; insomuch that I marveled what the 

 thing could be till I drew my glasses upon it. His size in- 

 creased with distance and diminished with approach. 

 And though as black as anything can be, he glittered with 

 alternate white and black, or a commingling of both, as 

 he turned his plumage in various ways to the sim. 

 Thus it would not seem to me very strange if one in the 

 Guadalupe Mountains should mistake a mountain sheep 

 on the declivities, or any kind of sheep, for a white bear. 



As to Mr. Briggs's "cactus deer," I have no doubt Judge 

 Caton is right in explaining the abnormal protuberances 

 on the deer's head as the result of castration. After mail- 

 ing my letter from Eddy I met the gentleman who killed 

 that identical deer, and he told me that the animal had 

 been castrated. He added that he had seen several so- 

 called cactus deer, and in every instance found that the 

 animal had been deprived in that regard in some way 

 unknown to him, or had never been supplied by natiu-e. 

 I took this gentleman's name and address, and am sorry 

 to have lost the memorandum. It is a strange effect of 

 that sort of disablement, and just the contrary of what 

 we observe in yomig bulls, whose horns always are 

 greatly enlarged as a result of losing their virile pellets. 

 It is more like its effect in men, whose beards cease to 

 gi'ow or fail entirely. 



I threw out some remark in my last letter to FOREST 

 AND Stream regarding the Mexican or mountain lion, so 

 called in Texas. I did this with the view of eliciting dis- 

 cussion and solving what appears somewhat of a difficulty. 

 When I came to Texas some 35 years ago I heard a great 

 deal of this animal and sought eagerly all knowledge I 

 could get of him. I was in the Injun service of the State, 

 always on the remote frontier or far beyond it, among 

 hunters and frontiersmen entnely, and thus had great 

 advantage to pick up much lore on this and all such sub- 

 jects. The animal was represented as a teiTor who would 

 not scruple to fight back promptly and fiercely if at- 

 tacked. It was held that if you should startle one alone 

 you would be wise to give him a wide berth at once, 

 though armed as an arsenal. He was undoubtedly terribly 

 destructive to horses, whose flesh beseemed to prize above 

 all other food. I have mj'self seen his deadly work among 

 horses, and in one instance saw where a fuU-gi-own horse 

 had been dragged a considerable distance after being dis- 

 patched. The tracks of the formidable creatine were 

 plain, and it was not a paniher or cougar, who could by 

 no means do such work. 



No Texan in those days held that this animal and the 

 panther or cougar were the same; and none, I dare say, 

 living now who lived in those days would so hold. But 

 I found that there was difference among them as to what 

 the animal really was. Some said it was that spotted, 

 beautiftd, ferocious creature, whom we now call the 

 jaguar, or Felis onea, or Leopardus onca. Others said it 

 was a dark-brown or black creature, in shape like the 

 jaguar, but much larger and altogether more formidable 

 and terrible. I believe both sides were correct; and that 

 two great beasts, differing in size and color, but much 

 alike in quality, were not scarce in Texas in those days, 

 though not often seen, being nocturnal in their ways. I 

 have seen the jaguar, whom we still have with us, and if 

 I do not greatly err, I have seen that other great beast 

 more than once. What is he? The Mexicans call the 

 jaguar the tigre, and I have heai-d that the old-time Mexi- 

 cans called that other animal tigre melan, or something 

 of that sort; or in plain English the black tiger. 



I hope Big Foot Wallace and Geo. Henry McCulloch 

 may see this communication and tmm their light on the 

 subject. They should be acquainted with every sort of 

 animal that ever sat foot on Texas soil. 



My explanation of the dark beast is this: There is a 

 very bad animal of the jaguar relationship whose abode is 

 in the mountains of lower Mexico and Central America, 

 said to be more fierce than the tiger of the jungles of 

 Asia. That animal, following the motmtains, occasion- 

 ally came into Texas, and thus g«ve rise to the confusion. 

 I have no books of natural history about me here, hence 

 cannot give what may be his name. 



To-day, for the first time this year, I heard the love song 

 of the lark. My little boy says that he says, "Spring time 

 come, gentle Annie;" and he repeats it so as to resemble 

 much the lark's song. I dare say in a few hours he will 

 be seeking covert from a Texas norther, and wiU think 

 more of keeping warm than of love for his Annie. But it 

 is the first sign so far of the coming vernal sweets. I 

 count not the love season as well upon us until about the 

 1st of April, and sometimes we have cutting frosts after 

 that date. Though far in the southwest, we are 1,800ft. 

 above the sea. N. A, T. 



Canandaigua Bod and Gun Club. 



The scope of the Anglers' Association of Canandaigua, 

 N. Y., has been enlarged to include also shooting inter- 

 ests, and the name has been changed to indicate the new 

 scope of the organization. At a recent meeting under the 

 new amended rules these officers were chosen: F. W. 

 Chesebro, Shooting Master; Lewis H. Adams, Assistant 

 Shooting Master; J. S. Crawford, Chief Angler; H. Van 

 Yechten, Assistant Chief Angler; W. H, Fox and H. M. 

 Finley were elected to the executive committee and W. 

 H. Knapp to the auditing committee. The president and 

 secretary were authorized and directed to make applica- 

 tion for the admission of the Rod and Gun Club to the 

 New York State Association for the Protection of Fish 

 and Game. The attorney for the club, W. H. Knapp, 

 was directed to take steps to secure the club's incorpora- 

 tion. 



