6 
FOREST AND STREAM^ 
[July 4, 1896. 
AHERICAN GAME PARKS. 
The "Forest and Stream's" Third An- 
nual Report on Game in Preserves. 
Part One.— Fenced Parks. 
In the issue of Feb. 17, 1894, Forest and Stream pub- 
lished an article which we beheve to have been the first 
general survey ever attempted of fi:ame in American 
])arks. This was followed in May, 1895, by similar articles, 
and to-day we print the first instalment of our third an- 
nual report on game in preserves. 
The object of these reports, primarily, is to furnish 
data regarding the breeding of wild animals in confine- 
ment and under strange conditions, and to demonstrate 
what species are best suited for stocking certain locali- 
ties. 
Experiment has shown that elk and the common deer, 
and to a certain extent buflfalo, will thrive and multiply 
in confinement in almost any part of the United States. 
On the other hand, it seems equally certain that caribou 
cannot be kept in parks even where the locality ap- 
proaches the latitude of their native range, and that an- 
telope do not thrive east of the Mississippi, 
The statistics are less convincing regarding the adapt- 
ability of a changed environment of moose, beaver, black- 
tail deer, . mountain sheep, etc., but it seems likely that 
the two former animals furnish fit material for stocking 
where the locality is not too far South. 
Charles F. Dietrich, 
who has an estate of 1,600 acres at Millbrook, Dutchess 
coimty, N. Y., has a deer park that furnishes an interest- 
ing example of the possibilities of supporting a number 
of animals on a limited he has over fifty deer, all 
in flourishing condition, in an inclosure of less than forty 
acres. These deer are grained all the year round and fed 
in much the same way as domestic animals. Most of the 
herd are white-tails, raised from animals procured from 
widely separated localities, such as Virginia, Wisconsin 
and Indiana, and Mr. Dietrich attributes their healthiness 
in measure to this fact of mixing different strains. He 
bought his first deer for the park four years ago, and this 
year he counts on an increase of about twenty. 
Besides the American deer Mr. Dietrich has a number 
of German roe, which he imported a year or two since. 
The roe bred in confinement, but unfortunately the young 
all died. This year, however, he hopes to have better 
success. The original number importied was six, but one 
or more of the adult deer died also. Mr. Dietrich has 
also English pheasants, German partridges, and a number 
of coveys of native quail as well as ruffed grouse. Last 
year he tried for the first time the experiment of stocking 
with prairie chickens. In June he purchased twentv- 
four adult birds, which were released on his estate. He 
is unable yet to express an opinion as to their desirability 
for Eastern stocking, but knows that they have survived 
in their new environment, as he sees them from time to 
time about the place. 
Mr. Dietrich's park is inclosed with woven wire fencing 
8ft. high, made in two sections, the lower of which is 
heavier and stronger than the other. He has put out a 
number of German hares recently, and to keep the 
young of these within the park he has added an additional 
section of fine mesh netting around the lower edge of the 
original fencing. 
John M. Forbes. 
Mr. John M. Forbes, who owns Naushon Island, in 
Buzzard's Bay, is a sportsman who has always taken an 
interest in game preservation. Though little attention 
has been paid to stocking, there are a number of deer and 
a few quail on the island at present. 
C. W. Chapin. 
Mr. Chapin's game preserve at Lebanon Lake, near 
Pond Eddy, Sullivan county, N. Y. , was first fenced pre- 
vious to 1893. In November, 1895, an additional tract 
was inclosed. The two parks are surrounded by barbed 
wire fencing 8ft. high, about ten miles being used for 
each park. 
At present Mr. Chapin is said to have in the two pre- 
serves 135 elk, 100 deer, and a considerable number of 
Belgian hares, native hares, jack rabbits and squirrels, as 
well as wild turkeys and wild geese with their wings 
clipped. 
Cross Island Preserve. 
Cross Island, at the entrance of Machias Bay, on the 
coast of Maine, is well stocked with deer, which have 
been protected from indiscriminate hunting by special 
legislation since 1857. It is estimated that there are at 
present 600 of these animals on the island. 
The island is three and one-half miles long by two and 
one-half miles wide, and is heavily wooded. 
liitchfield Park. 
In August, 1893, Mr. Edward H. Litchfield purchased a 
tract of 9,000 acres of wild forest land near Tupper Lake 
in the Adirondacks, with the intention of creating, to 
quote hia own words, "a private preserve similar to those 
in Scotland and the Tyrol." 
The following September he had the park inclosed with 
a fence, of which the following description was furnished 
to Forest and Stream. 
"It was built under contract by the Page Woven Wire 
Fence Company, of Adrian, Mich. , and is proving emi- 
nently satisfactory for a game pre^ierve fence. 
"It is of galvanized coiled elastic steel wire, with twenty 
horizontal strands tied together by vertical strands every 
12in. The spaces between the horizontal wires are 3in. 
wide for the first foot, beginning at the bottom of the fence, 
and gradually widen toward the top. 
"It has no barbs and is strung from tree to tree, being 
fastened by staples. Posts are used only in the absence of 
trees. 
"All irregularities in the soil underneath are filled with 
green logs, stones or other suitable material. 
"The fence is about 8ft. high and is over eighteen miles 
in length. It is absolutely dog and deer tight. No dog 
can get through unless he digs a passage underneath. 
"The Page people put on two large gangs of men and 
drove the work with great rapidity, closing it out a month 
Jjea4 of the contract time. 
"The fence runs through the roughest Adirondack coun- 
try, through swamps and over mountains. At one place 
it crosses the bay of a lake, a distance of ISOyds. ; at an- 
other it runs over the crest of a mountain nearly 1,000 ft. 
above the level of the surrounding country. 
"The wire is, as it were, corrugated before using, and its 
elasticity is so great that if a tree falls upon the fence, 
when the tree is cut away the fence springs back into 
place and only requires re-stapling. 
"The area inclosed is about two and a quarter miles wide 
by six and one-half long, amounting to between 8,000 and 
9,000 acres." 
Early in 1894, Mr. Litchfield had had an inclosure 
half a mile square fenced, and to this was brought 
a small band of elk. The original purchase consisted of 
four bulls and seven cows, which were wintered at Rome, 
N. Y. Three of the bulls, however, died, owing no doubt 
to injuries received at the time of their capturfi or to 
rough handling in transport, reducing the herd to eight 
animalp. Since then he has purchased nineteen more 
elk, so that at present the herd numbers twenty-seven. 
Of these seventeen have the freedom of the entire tract, 
while the others are kept in the small park. 
As yet no elk have been born in captivity, but judging 
from the latest reports there are good prospects of calves 
this year. The elk thrive in their new environment, and 
all have wintered well and seem to be in good condition. 
Of those that died, one bull fell off a rock and broke his 
back, and two others died from tumors shortly after their 
arrival. Climatic conditions are not responsible for any 
deaths. 
Besides the elk, Mr. Litchfield has recently turned 
loose in the park five black-tail deer, and there are also a 
great many native deer within the inclosure. Mr. Gus- 
tavo Snyder, a civil engineer by profession, who has su- 
pervision of the park at present, estimates the number of 
these deer at fifty. The head gamekeeper, on the other 
hand, puts the number at 200. No doubt the true figures 
lie between these two extremes. 
In the small park there are fifty jack rabbits from 
Kansas, and Eaglish pheasants are beiug raised with suc- 
cess. Mr. Litchfield has also put out a lot of fox squu-- 
rels, and is planning to stock with capercailzie and wild 
turkeys when he can procure the specimens. Though he 
has advertised for wUd turkeys, he has failed as yet to 
get any satisfactory offers. 
Though Mr. Litchfield does not care for them among 
the fauna of his park, some of the larger carnivorous ani- 
mals occasionally stray his way. Last year a deer was 
killed on the west line of the park by an animal supposed 
to be a panther. 
Mr. Litchfield has had the stream running from Heav- 
en Lake to Lake Madeline cleaned of fallen treetops and 
brush that obstructed the passage of trout. This stream 
has a drop of 350ft. in its course of about a mile and is an 
ideal trout stream. The character of the fishing in the 
lakes may be judged from the fact that trout up to and 
including Hlbs. in weight are returned to the water. 
A very interesting exhibit in connection with the pam 
is a beautifully colored topographical map, laid out do a 
scale of 500ft. to the inch, and with 20ft. contours. This 
map is nearly 7ft. in length, and not only shows the natu- 
ral features of the land, but also the location of the vari- 
ous kinds of timber found on the tract. The necessary 
surveys occupied the time of a corps of engineers from 
July 1 to Nov. 1. 
The elevations of the five lakes in the park were deter- 
mined by actual levels run from Tupper Lake, and the 
elevations along outside boundaries and cross' lines by 
vertical arc observations referred to the above base, while 
interior contours were fixed by aneroid observations re- 
duced to the same base. 
These "cross lines" are 4Et. wide blazed lines running at 
right angles through the park, and dividing the entire 
area into sections measuring about a mile square. By 
reference to these cross lines the exact location of any 
point of interest may be determined on the map, and vice 
versa, The IS^-mile fence runs 15 or 20ft, inside the 
boundary of the park, and is not a line fence according to 
the strict definition. 
Mr. Litchfield proposes to cut a good road through to 
the head of Tupper Lake, to connect with the road run- 
ning to Horseshoe Pond station on the Adirondack & St. 
Lawrence R. R. The existing road to Tupper Lake is very 
poor. The new road will be laid out by skilled engineers, 
and in grade and construction will be the best. 
Mr. Litchfield is a sportsman of ripe experience. He 
has hunted all over the United States, and is familiar 
with all kinds of game in their native wilds. 
He first hunted in the Adirondacks in 1866, at a time 
when moose still were to be found in the wilder portions. 
Some, in fact, were reported that year at the headwaters 
of Bog River, In 1869, in company with Asa Puffer, an 
old moose hunter, he saw old moose workings on the 
north shore of Big Moose Lake. These signs, however, 
according to the best estimate that could be found, were 
then about three years old. 
Puffer had an interesting theory to explain the sudden 
disappearance of the moose from the Adirondacks, Dur- 
ing the last year or two of their occurrence he said he had 
found a number of moose that looked as if they had died 
from disease. At any rate, he could find no wounds on 
them. After the moose had gone and only the memory 
of them remained, he recalled this fact and argued that 
an epidemic had carried them off. 
In February, 1871, while hunting on Little Moose, north 
of the Fulton Chain, Mr, Litchfield was followed by a 
pack of four or six wolves, who ran in his snowshoe track 
till he met them, having taken his back track for camp, 
Furloujgh Xiodge. 
At his summer place in the Catskills, Mr, George J, 
Gould has a game preserve of 600 acres. This is inclosed 
with wire fencing, and is well stocked with ring-neck and 
Mongohan pheasants and various kinds of hares, as well 
as large game. The greater part of the park is woodland. 
Mr, John E. Haynes, superintendent, writes: 
"Mr. Gould has at the present time fifty elk from one to 
ten years old, and about twenty calves. He also has 
fifteen common red deer and five black-tail deer. He is 
also the owner of a fine trout lake covering about 20 acres 
of land, and one mile of trout stream where he can go 
and catch 15 or 20 lbs. of trout in two or three hours any 
time he wishes." 
Mr. Gould has had remarkably good luck with his elk, 
as a reference to the table will show, but fop soree reason 
his deer have not done well, 
Ne-ha-sa-ne Park. 
Dr. W. Seward Webb has 9,000 acres of his Adiron- 
dack lands inclosed as a game park. He has made a spe- 
cialty of stocking with moose and elk, and has success- 
fully demonstrated that both will thrive in confinement, 
and that elk are adapted to the Adirondacks. 
According to the average estimate of five gamekeepers, 
there are at present in his preserve sixteen moose, thirty- 
five elk, and 275 deer. Under date of May 27 Dr. Webb 
writes : 
"Replying to your letter of April 30, I would say that I 
have only added four moose to the game in my park dur- 
ing the past year, but I have orders out in Canada for ad- 
ditional moose, which I expect to receive from time to 
time. All of my game ai'e in good condition, and I have 
not lost a single moose, I lost a few elk at first, but since 
they have become acclimated they have done finely, and 
both the elk and moose have bred. This year all the fe- 
males seem to be in calf." 
Theodore A. Havemeyer. 
Mr. Havemeyer's preserve at Mountain Side Farm, Mah- 
wah, N. J., is inclosed with a fence of barbed wire 8ft. 
high. His superintendent, Mr. John Mayer, furnishes the 
following particulars: 
* 'There are about 250 acres inciosed in our dBer park, part 
thickly wooded and part open grazing glades. Spring 
water in abundance. We think there are about seventy 
deer in it this year, and many rabbits, Belgian hares, 
quail ,woodcock,partridges and English pheasani s. Keeping 
this park as the sanctum, and allowing no shooting in it, 
brings birds to it from other sections of this county where 
no preserves exist," 
Tranquility Park. 
Mr, Rutherfurd Stuyvesant's game preserve at Alla- 
mucby, N, J., includes an area of about 4 000 acres, 
fenced with a close board fence 9rt. high, and one barb 
wire llin. above the boards. The park includes wooded 
hills and swamps and a number of old abandoned farms. 
Mr. C. W, Puffer, superintendent in charge, furnishes the 
following particulars: 
"The deer have done well and are increasing fast. It 
would be impossible to give a correct estimate, but I 
should think there were nearly 200, Three years ago we 
started with twenty elk, fifteen cows and five bulls, and 
now we have forty. We killed one last fall and have 
lost two this winter, that would be an increase of twenty- 
three. I think it would be impossible to raise elk in the 
Adirondacks without providing hay for them in winter, 
as they are an animal that migrate. I hope that I will be 
found wrong in this remark, as I would like to see the 
Adirondacks stocked with that royal game. 
"The beaver are doing well and increasing fast, but 
there is no way of telling how many there are. They can 
be seen at sundown or after. They have two houses and 
several dams built on the streams, 
"The buffalo died last month, and we count the cross- 
ing almost a failure, although we have two fine half- 
breeds. 
"We stocked the pond with 5,000 German brown trout, 
but as we have since found pickerel in the streams we are 
afraid the trout will prove a failure, 
"The ruffed grouse are quite plentiful, and there are a 
few English pheasants, but they stay in the park only in 
summer and go to lower ground in winter, Mr. Stuy- 
vesant's bird department is on Tranquility Farm, man- 
aged by an expert by the name of Duncan Dunn, who 
has always made the bird department .a success." 
C. C. Worthingtou. 
Mr, C. C. Worthington has a preserve near the Dela- 
ware Water Gap, said to contain 3,500 acres. It is in- 
closed with a wire fence 8ft, in height. It is reported 
that there are upward of 600 deer in this park. 
Anticosti Island. 
It is reported that Henri Menier, the millionaire choco- 
late manufacturer and well-known French yachtsman, 
who now owns Anticosti Island, has fenced off one-third 
of the island, which he will use as a great game preserve. 
The princely scale of Mr. Menier's enterprise may be 
judged when one considers that Anticosti is considerably 
larger than Long Island and that the tract which will be 
turned into a hunting park measures forty miles in length, 
with a maximum breadth of about thirty-five miles. 
Mr, Menier's agent is at present advertising in Forest 
AND Stream for elk, and it is stated that he contemplates 
the purchase of buffalo and moose. He has already sent 
to the island five caribou and nineteen deer. The result 
of this stocking with exotic game will be watched with 
interest, for aside from bears no large wild animals have 
hitherto been found on the island. 
In Volume I., No. 2, of Forest and Stream "A Naval 
Officer" gives the following account of the animal life of 
Anticosti: 
"It . is worthy of remark," he writes, "that in many 
parts of the country there appears 'to be something in the 
pasturage which has an injurious effect upon certain 
forms of animal life. Rabbits and hares, without which 
scarcely an island of any size in the Gulf (of St, Lawrence) 
is found, are never seen, and though often introduced 
have quickly disappeared. Rats which have escaped from 
wrecks speedily become extinct, and it is strange that, 
though the interior of the island abounds in lakes and 
ponds, the sources of numerous streams, the beaver, mink 
and muskrat (the latter animal being so common else- 
where) are wholly unknown. The pleasant chirping of 
the graceful little chipmunk here never greets the ear, 
and there are but four fur-bearing animals known to the 
trappers — the black or brown bear, the otter, marten and 
fox, of which latter there are several varieties," 
These four fur-bearing animals, however, are found in 
great numbers. The streams are full of salmon and sea 
trout, and multitudes of ducks and geese resort to the 
island in season. 
Mr. N. Le Vasseur gives the following additional in- 
formation: 
"The intention of the new proprietor of Anticosti 
Island is to make a park in a corner of the island. The 
island is 147 miles long by thirty-five and thirty-nine; 
wide. Wild animals that already exist on the island are 
bears, black and silver foxes, martens, otters, and I think 
hares are also to be found there. I have already sent over 
there thirty red deer, and will send moose, caribou and 
beaver. I have also here a fine specimen of female elk, 
and I want a bull elk now, If prices for flk delivered at 
