488 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 9, 1894. 



contented to stay, was the great valleys of the Yellow- 

 stone and the upper Missouri. Here the sweet nutritious 

 buffalo grass, deprived of which he was never happy, 

 grew in greatest abundance; down every mountain side 

 of that favored land tumbled crystal streams of most re- 

 freshing coolness, where he could quench his thirst and 

 stand immersed for hours in the heat of the day, for 

 although able to endure with impunity a climate of 

 arctic rigor, he suffered greatly from heat and insects. 

 Here was bis elysium, the land of his birth; and it was 

 only when the deeply drifted snows of winter deprived 

 him of his sustenance that he reluctantly turned his face 

 toward the retreating sun; and as many another wanderer 

 who, having once cut loose from the charmed circle of 

 home, finds no tie to bind his wayward feet, so the buffalo 

 drifted southward, even to the laud of the Aztec. 



But he did not stay there. He never forgot that he was 

 but a visitor in a strange land; and when the great white 

 winding sheet of winter rolled away before the soft 

 breezes of early spring, and the tender grass springing 

 into renewed life began to tint the long swells of the 

 prairie, then did he gather together his countless cohorts 

 and sweep northward in a mighty host to the sources of 

 those great rivers that flow both eastward and westward 

 to the sea. t _ , 



These migrations were at that time as clearly denned 

 and as well understood as are those of the wild geese; and 

 the old frontiersmen always knew about where the herd 

 was at any particular time, although large sections of the 

 range were then overrun by hostile Indians who never 

 hesitated to exterminate any party not sufficiently formi- 

 dable to make the success of an attack problematical. 



I can readily understand that after the restless march 

 of civilization had thrown its 'railways across their path- 

 way and the skin-hunter had made their lives but a con- 

 stant series- of alarms, the buffalo's habits may have 

 become somewhat modified. The preservation of life is 

 the strongest instinct with all animated creation, and 

 every other impulse or habit, when put to the test, will 

 become subservient to that; so it is very probable that 

 there existed for a time quite large herds on each side of 

 those trans-continental thoroughfares which had given 

 up about everything except the instinct of self-preserva- 

 tion. It is true there were small bands that remained 

 permanently in the Colorado parks, but they were re- 

 garded — nodoubt erroneously — by the mountaineers as a 

 distinct race, and were the only ones that received the 

 proper name of bison, and were said to be much smaller 

 than the plain buffalo. Then there was still another 

 class called the "timber buffalo" that was said to be not 

 only larger but much more formidable than either of the 

 others, whose habitat was in the great forests on both 

 sides of the line in the vicinity of Fort Benton; but 

 neither of these were sufficiently numerous to cut any 

 figure in this discussion. Forked Deer. 



MILD AND TOUCHY RATTLERS. 



The last two rattlers had been mild-mannered; one of 

 them had witnessed my approach in such a dozy state 

 that although I stepped within a foot or two of the head 

 of one without perceiving him, until I had passed and my 

 boy further in the rear had called my attention to him 

 and to my narrow escape from stepping directly on him, 

 yet he continued to lay perfectly still, coiled with his 

 head resting on the coil, without the faintest flutter of 

 his rattles, until he finally started to slowly crawl away. 

 Then a well directed blow from a stick closed his career. 

 Not long afterward the second one lay close by the trail 

 in the same quiet state and did not move at all; and when 

 hit over the head with a stick did not even uncoil. So I 

 was hardly prepared, when strolling among the scrub 

 looking for timber brought ashore by the gale not far 

 back from the beach, to hear a sudden warning w-h-i-r-r, 

 which, once heard, can never be mistaken; and I came 

 to a very sudden standstill until I could locate the direc- 

 tion of the sound, which is sometimes more difficult than 

 might be thought. A moment later I saw the snake with 

 head and tail erect, not more than 5 ft. away, coiled and 

 half hidden under a bunch of palmetto scrub, his body 

 moving with sinuous motion, and his whole attitude one 

 of defiance. I suppose that my walking about in his 

 neighborhood had thoroughly waked him up, and he did 

 not propose to permit my nearer approach without giving 

 mo fair warning of what I might expect if I came any 

 closer. He rattled none too soon, for another step, as I 

 was walking directly toward him, would have brought 

 me within reach of his straightened coil. As I had no 

 stick long enough to make it .safe to approach him, I 

 threw a cocoanut and some pieces of wood at him just to 

 keep him excited and on his guard until I should come 

 back, for they usually watch for some time something 

 that has disturbed them; but when I returned he had dis- 

 appeared. 



The colored people's saying, "Never hunt a rattler," is 

 sound advice; that is, when you hear the whirr of the 

 rattle don't look for him if you don't see him, but back 

 right away from your standing place, for he is in your 

 very immediate proximity. Not long ago the little 

 2-year-old daughter of a neighbor was "noticed by her 

 mother walking toward something moving toward a 

 corner of the house; and to the mother's horror the mov- 

 ing object proved to be a rattler in the act of crawling 

 under the house; yet although the child was close upon it, 

 it did not turn to attack but kept on crawling away until 

 dispatched. 



A man was bringing up some stuff for me on a wheel- 

 barrow from the river; and on his return his barrow 

 wheel passed over a big ono near the tail as he lay 

 stretched across the trail, most likely in the torpor follow- 

 ing a hearty meal of rabbit, for he made no sign of bein°- 

 disturbed. ° 



A friend was in his field of pineapples, and stooping to 

 clear away the dead leaves from about a scrub palmetto, 

 felt something cold and crawling beneath his hand; and 

 was startled to see the head of a rattler, suddenly dis- 

 turbed, appear ready for battle. It is needle.«s to say there 

 was a quick retreat to a safer distance. He imagines he 

 can feel those cold scales yet when he thinks of it. A 

 man not far from him leaning over the fence on tip toe 

 to see something on the other side, felt something crawl- 

 ing from under his feet; and found he had been standing 

 on a rattler, who was trying to crawl away without 

 making any attempt to strike. 



I take it that the fascination about these reptiles lies 

 largely in our consciousness of their deadliness, for looking 

 at one coiled and apparently asleep, you are yet entirely 



conscious of the fact that death, grim, certain and terrible, 

 lies within those coils; yet it is greatly to his credit that 

 this terrible weapon, this original hypodermic needle, 

 carrying the very summons of death, is only used m self- 

 defense, or when he deems at least himself in danger of 

 attack. I used to doubt the stories told of their spitting 

 or throwing their venom when too far distant to strike, 

 but I have learned of several well attested cases of the 

 venom being thrown some distance. 



A large and valuable horse bplonging to Mr. Murry, of 

 Oak Hill, was bitten last winter and died in a few hours. 

 He stepped on or close to a snake while his rider was 

 hunting deer. 



Atlantic, Fla. 



THE SUICIDE OF A SERPENT. 



Are venomous serpents susceptible to their own poison? 

 In other words, what would be the result if one of them 

 should happen to bite himself— would it kill him? Indeed, 

 it would. 



I remember seeing that very thing happen once, when 

 I was in the northern part of Wyoming, north of the 

 Rattlesnake range of mountains. We had been making 

 a survey for a wagon road from Eawlins, a town on the 

 Union Pacific Railroad, northward to Fort McKinney, 

 and had finished the work and were returning, and had 

 reached the place I have described. The region seemed 

 to be wholly given over to the occupancy of prairie dogs, 

 burrowing owls and rattlesnakes. I never saw so many 

 snakes anywhere except in the swamps of Louisiana dur- 

 ing an overflow. You could see them crawling about in 

 all directions, and they wpre constantly springing their 

 rattles in the grass under foot, and frightening our 

 horses, for you know a horse fears these creatures quite 

 as much as a man does. In riding along I happened to 

 see a particularly large rattler, sunning himself on a spot 

 of bare ground, and tried to ride up near enough to strike 

 him with my quirt. But my horse was afraid, and I could 

 not make him approach the Bnake. I did not blame him 

 very much either, for the old Crotalus threw himself into 

 a coil, raised his head, sounded his rattle and prepared to 

 assume the offensive as soon as he saw us. Finding that 

 I could not reach him with my short quirt, I rode over to 

 one of the wagons, and got from the driver his long four- 

 in-hand whip, and with this I returned to the snake. I 

 I found him about where I had left him, and when he 

 saw me he tried to run away. They are sluggish creatures, 

 however, and can not go very fast. 



I bad a fancy to tease him a little, and I swung the 

 whip so that the end of the lash in falling would tap him 



THE SUICIDE OP A RATTLESNAKE. 



Drawing by Capt. I). C. Kingman. 



gently on the nose. As soon as he felt it, he snapped back 

 like a watch spring into a. coil, sounded his war note, and 

 turned his head quickly from side to side to discover his 

 enemy, his forked tongue darting incessantly from his 

 mouth. I was some 20 or 30ft. away, keeping perfectly 

 quiet, and he did not appear to notice me at all. I fancy 

 their range of vision must be very short. After a few 

 minutes, he lowered his ugly head to the ground and 

 prepared to glide away in another direction. I let him 

 get fairly started, and then tapped him as before, and 

 again he coiled to strike. This was repeated a number of 

 times. The snake always started away in a new direction, 

 only to meet that uncomfortable and exasperating little 

 tap. After each stroke he would prepare to fight and 

 would look in vain for his assailant; and with each en- 

 counter his anger seemed to increase. 



At last, having tried unsuccessfully every avenue of 

 escape, he became beside himself with rage. His rattle 

 buzzed incessantly. He raised his head nearly half his 

 length above the ground, and swayed from side to side. 

 His eyes glittered like jewels, and his forked tongue 

 flashed from his mouth like miniature lightning. His 

 head became broad and flat, and his whole body seemed 

 to swell with venom. Suddenly, in an access of fury, he 

 turned his head, and with the full force of a swinging 

 blow of his neck, like the down stroke of a sabre, he drove 

 hi3 fangs into his own body. He kept his hold and did 

 not withdraw his fangs. His body writhed and twisted 

 for an instant, and his muscles contracted violently once 

 or twice. Then his head sank down, the fire faded from 

 his eyes, bis coils relaxed, and he was dead. 



I was astonished. I did not think it was possible that 

 the poison could be so instantly effective in a creature of 

 such sluggish circulation. 



There can be no mistake about it, he meant to kill him- 

 self, and he did it, too. Of the last I have the most satis- 

 factory proof, for I picked him up and examined him 

 carefully from one end to the other. There was not a 

 inark (save the bite) or a bruise on him The light strokes 

 that he had received from the whip were not enough to 

 hurt him, still less to kill him, yet he was dead; for I put 

 him in my saddlebag and carried him to camp, and then 

 skinned him, and I am sure he could not play possum 

 through all that. 



Yes, he bit himself with malice aforethought, knowing 

 perfectly well what the effect would be; and his act can 

 only be regarded as the suicide of a serpent. 



Capt. Dan C. Kingman. U. S. A, 



The English Sparrow Eats Grubs. 



Ithaca, N. Y.— The English sparrow has a mission here 

 despite the verdict of its detractors. A farmer tells me 

 that in>reaking up a piece of j3od ground this spring he 



noticed innumerable English sparrows carrying large 

 white grubs, so common to sod land, away to their nest- 

 ing quarters, presumably to feed their young. The sturdy 

 fellows would often take two large grubs at a trip, and 

 the number of worms removed by the sparrows during 

 the plowing of the field would have been sufficient, my 

 friend assures me, to have destroyed an entire planting of 

 corn. M. Chill. 



Lynxes and Their Names. 



Apparently there exists considerable confusion regard- 

 ing the various forms of the genus Lynx of North America. 

 The prevailing impression that a wildcat is something 

 quite different from a lynx is a mistake and has given 

 rise to a great deal of needless controversy. Commer- 

 cially speaking Lynx canadensis is the lynx, though 

 scientifically all forms of the genus Lynx are lynxes. In 

 New York State the common wildcat {Lynx rufus) is 

 found in the same tprritory with Lynx canadensis, the 

 latter there known as lynx, the former as wildcat. In 

 the coast mountains of California we find the ranchmen 

 generally separate the adult cat from the younger indi- 

 viduals, calling the former (which usually possess decided 

 ear tufts and lengthened hair about the cheeks) lynx, 

 while the less developed individuals are known as wild- 

 cats. In this opinion they are as firm as the Rock of 

 Gibraltar. In the Rocky Mountains, from Arizona at 

 least north to Montana, perhaps still further north, 

 ranges the plateaux cat (Lynx baileyi). In this form the 

 fur is soft and quite long, approaching in character Lynx 

 canadensis. It stands about midway in general appear- 

 ance between Lynx rufus and Lynx canadensis, and is 

 frequently spoken of commercially as lynx. 



It is surprising how the wildcats vary in pelage, and 

 so far as I have been able to make out this is not deter- 

 mined by age or sex and not nearly so much by locality 

 as many suppose. Of course the fur is thicker, longer 

 and softer from the more northern individuals, but of 

 color we have a great variety right here in the Santa 

 Cruz Mountains. Judging from appearances the domes- 

 tic cat of these mountains frequently crosses with Lynx 

 rufus maculatns. Still it is not to be supposed that our . 

 domestic cat is a descendant from the so-called North 

 American wildcat, the ancestor of pussy being in all 

 probability the European wildcat, which is very similar 

 in general form, not excepting the long tail. 



George B. Badger. 



pin the central Rocky Mountains L. ruf us or L. baileyi 

 is commonly called bob cat, and L. canadensis, lynx.] 



Birds in the Storm. 



Ithaca, N. Y. — One of the features of the storm which 

 has held sway throughout this region for the past week 

 was a terrific wind that prevailed last Sunday, the 20th. 

 It wrought disaster to the song birds, especially to the 

 young birds still in the nest and unable to fly. Reports 

 have come to me during the week of eggs destroyed and 

 young birds killed and drowned in such alarming num- 

 bers as to make the misfortune of our feathered friends 

 one of serious import. A friend of mine found an up- 

 turned robin's nest late in the afternoon of the 20th, partly 

 submerged in the water.. Three young robins were found 

 under the nest, and by craning their slim, downy necks 

 to the utmost, had managed to keep their heads above 

 water. The nest was carefully removed to higher ground 

 and the chilled, water-soaked birds, partly wrapped in a 

 dry cloth, were deposited therein. The next morning the 

 mother bird, with an air of matronly dignity, sat cover- 

 ing the nest and its precious occupants. I have no doubt 

 that very many acts of kindness in behalf of the birds 

 were performed on that eventful Sunday afternoon. 



M. C. Hill. 



Woodcock Killed by Telegraph Wires. 



Cupio, Ky., May 28.— Through this little valley the 

 Postal Telegraph line runs. About two months ago a 

 neighbor of mine brought me a bird and asked me what 

 it was. It was a woodcock. He explained that he had 

 seen it fly against the wires and kill itself. Last Friday 

 evening I was walking down the same bine and found 

 another killed in the same way. It seems these birds are 

 all killed about sundown. I do not see or hear of other 

 birds being killed in this way. 



I am told there will be a large amount of fish put in 

 Kentucky waters this year. We have a good supply of 

 quail here, but in the hunting season they go to the hills 

 that are covered with timber and bushes, and it is a difficult 

 matter to bring them to bag. R. B. 



Woodcbucks in Trees. 



Haines Falls, N. Y., May 30.— I note article from W. 

 W. P., Springfield, Yt., in yours of June 2, entitled "A 

 Woodchuck up a Tree." I was born and spent my boy- 

 hood here in tbe Catskill Mountains, and with my "wood- 

 chuck dog" have caught many a woodchuck "up a tree," 

 but those so caught were found only in timber and were 

 perfectly black in color. I have examined them care- 

 fully and find no structural difference from the gray 

 ones, except that usually they are smaller, and I have 

 seen them in no other locality. While out trout fishing 

 yesterday my beagles treed one in a sapling about twenty 

 feet high ana not over two inches in diameter, and having 

 no branches for fifteen feet from the ground. I have 

 never seen the gray one climb a tree. John W. Rusk. 



A Large Eagle. 



Newport, Vt., May 25. — "Hal" Wells, of this place, 

 recently caught an eagle in a steel fox trap which meas- 

 uren 7ft. Sin. from tip to tip of wings. It was a female 

 of what iB known as a "bald eagle," and although some 

 rather rough handling was necessary to get it into a cage 

 it was uninjured. Davis & Robitelle have had it on exhibi- 

 tion in their window, where it has attracted no little atten- 

 tion. Rob. 



"Old Sam" on "Forest and Stream." 



Fobkst and Stream is in the top notch of its clan. In cleanness, 

 clearness of conception, force and fearlessness of expression, earnest 

 devotion to its mission, breadth of ideas, freedom from crankism, 

 purity and diversity of correspondence, and in scientific investigation 

 and ceaseless enterprise it covers the entire ground. The pulse beat 

 of its pages is steady as the pendulum stroke of time, and to many 

 an active and retired sportsman it is the mirror of events that form 

 the brightest, most exciting and happiest hours of his life. May its 

 light never cease to shine, Samuel R. Smith. 



