44 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 16, 1897. 
believe, though the spectator's eye could not note the 
movement with nertainty, fixing the long grip of his 
jaws just over the junction of his skull and spine." 
THE OTTER AND HIS WAYS. 
It is an off time for fish stories just now, but there is 
never a lack of interesting matter in the way of the habits 
of the enemies of the fish, and the otter ia one of the moat 
destructive of these. This animal seems to be distributed 
all over creation, as his prey is. I find him here in North 
Carolina sneaking about my ponds and the river, in which 
he plays the same sort of tricks he does elsewhere, as I 
knew him once in the far northern part of Michigan. 
There, over forty years ago, I once employed a Yankee 
hunter — who had learned his tricks in the picturesque 
Housatonic when he was a boy, and studied the ways of 
fish and learned how great an enemy this sinuous, slip- 
pery fellow was to them — ^to hunt fur for me during the 
winter. I often accompanied him on his trips over the 
hard snow on our snowshoes for many miles through the 
dense, then scarcely ever trodden, woods, unless it was by 
the Indians or such hunters as came that way, I saw 
these animals playing like boys on their slides down the 
steep banks, chasing each other up the banks, then to the 
slides, down which they slid into the water, where the 
holes were, and up or down the stream to other holes, 
which they kept open doubtless for this purpose. These 
slides were the surest places to set the traps under the 
water, so that the otters would get into them as they went 
under. I remember this man that year took enough otter 
fur to pay me something over $800 for my half of it. It 
was in war times, when furs were dear, and this man 
went to York, as he called it, with his bales of fur, and 
brought me back my money all in solid gold, coming to 
my house, before he went anywhere else, with the money 
at 11 o'clock at night, so anxious was he to deliver it, lest 
anything might happen. 
Here in the South these animals play the same tricks 
and kill the fish in just the same way they did in the 
North. They are often to be seen swimming in the water 
with the nose just above the surface, scouting for game, 
when all at once they go under and then swim to the 
bank with the prey. Once I saw one lying on the bank 
at the edge of the water suddenly slide in and take a big 
trout as it was in the act of rising for a fiy on the surface, 
making not the least ripple or splash as he went in, but 
quite a turmoil as the fish struggled to get free. 
It is a diflBlcult matter to get an otter except by trap- 
ping, when one of the double spring Newhouse traps set 
where they come out of the water, 4 or 5in. below the 
surface, is the most successful method I have never 
known them to take a bait, living as they do on live fish 
only. These animals are hunted in England with spears, 
and by dogs — a sort of terrier of large size, much of the 
kind known as the Dandie Dinmont, of which Scott in one 
of his stories writes; the dogs going into the stream or 
hunting on the bank dislodge the game, when the hunt- 
ers on shore spear the animals as they may be seen diving 
like fish in the clear water to gain their holes under the 
banks. 
I send you a clipping from the London Fishing Gazette, 
in which will be found some interesting history of this 
animal, new to me, as it doubtless will be to many of 
your readers. Hen'ry Stewart. 
"I may claim some right," said Mr. M. R. Frances in 
Fishing Gazette, "to speak confidently of the otter's 
proceedings when in pursuit of his prey, since I was the 
first person to record, from the testimony of eye-witnesses, 
the course of his dealing with his victims, both by land 
and by water. It is unlucky that Major Fisher, who 
.writes on such subjects with the keen interest of a sports- 
man, should not have seen this testimony, which would 
have saved him the gratuitous error of denying that the 
otter seeks his prey on land as well as in water. 
"No doubt this Vrror has been encouraged by the posi- 
tion of Lutra's eyes, which look upward from above a 
rather flat snout. Naturalists at once inferred that this 
arrangement was for the convenience of the otter in seiz- 
ing the slippery victims from below. This being demon- 
strably a mistake, we are tempted t» suggest that this 
upward gaze enables him in his long dives to keep in 
view the course of the eddies and the outline of the bank 
— matters which closely concern him. But of course this 
is mere conjecture. We know, however, that whether 
on land or in water, he seizes his prey from above, infix- 
ing in almost half a moment his four claws and inflicting 
with eager haste what is designed to be a fatal bite. 
When he was watched while seizing a rabbit on the bank 
of the Mole he seemed not to have bitten deep enough, 
and dragged his victim, piteously squealing, into the 
river, where he deliberately drowned it, and then ate it 
at his leisure, washing the flesh from time to time, so as 
to suggest that the warm blood was over strong for his 
digestion.. 
"The observer on this occasion, whose attention was 
first drawn by the cries of the rabbit, was fortunately 
himself a master of otter hounds, used to watching the 
stealthy maneuvers of the enemy. He had with him a 
sharp fox terrier, and though on the opposite side of the 
stream to that on which the otter was dining, rather ex- 
pected the latter to make himself scarce when the dog 
appeared. But the marauder showed amusing coolness; 
he dropped into the stream, raised his head above the 
water a few yards from the bank and watched the ter- 
rier's proceedings. Having satisfied himself that the dog 
had no taste for anything beyondidry shikar, he returned 
tranquilly to his dinner. Here we had a depredator, bold 
as well as cunning, and obviously a clean feeder. Of 
course I do not assume that the otter usually, or even 
frequently, seeks his prey on land. I am content to know 
that he is capable of doing so 'as occasion serves,' and 
that in such a case, at all events, he does not seize bis vic- 
tim from below. 
"About the same date at which this curious rabbit in- 
cident was reported to me I received from the same 
neighborhood an account, equally well authenticated, of 
the otter's modus operandi when in pursuit of the fish, 
which, we may safely assume, form his principal diet. A 
pike, guessed at some 71 bs., wan seen basking under an 
overhanging tree on the Mole. Nearly above him ran a 
bare bough. Aloiig that bough an otter was seen to 
creep-— I wish I could find some apter word to express the 
prowler's stealthy, sinuous movement — till he was close 
above the pike, down on whose back he dropped or slid, 
at onoe fastening all his claws la the fish, and, I fully 
A CURIOUS NEW RABBIT. 
In the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Wash- 
ington, issued Dec. 29, 1896, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, of the 
Biological Survey, describes a new and extremely inter- 
esting rabbit, recently collected in Mexico by Mr. E. W. 
Nelson. In appearance and habits this species is unlike 
any known rabbits. It is singular for its small size, its 
short ears, its lack of tail and its exceedingly short hind- 
legs, and, instead of moving like ordinary rabbits by a 
series of leaps, it runs along on all fours, and lives in run- 
ways in the grass like the meadow mice. Moreover, it 
has certain characters in the skeleton which are very dif- 
ferent from those of the ordinary rabbits, and these 
differences, external and internal, are so marked that not 
only is it placed in a new genus, but the characters of the 
family Leporidce must be extended to include it. As Dr. 
Merriam remarks, "It is sing'dar that of the four char- 
acters given by Flower and Lyd»kkpr in the first sentence 
of their diagnosis of the family jLepon'dce (imperfect clav- 
icles, ielongated hindlegs, short recurved tails and long 
ears) not one applies to this new rabbit." 
Mr, Nelson preserved a perfect skeleton of the new rab- 
bit, and this shows that the clavicle, or collar bone, of this 
species is complete, and articulates directly with the 
sternum, a thing that never happens in the genus Lejms. 
There are marked differences in the sternum, or breast 
bone, in the vertebise, and in the bones of the legs and 
feet. On the other hand, the skull does not differ mark- 
edly from that of the cottontails. 
What little is known about the habits of this sppcifs is 
given in the following account, prepared by Mr. Nelson 
at Dr. Merriam's request: 
"On my first visit to Mt. Popocatepetl, in the spring of 
1893, I learned that these little rabbits were found there, 
and on my return to the city of Mexico I prepared for an 
expedition to secure them. On Jan. 5, 1894, my assistant, 
Mr E. A. Goldman, and I made our camp on the side of a 
canon at an altitude of about 3,350 meters (11,000ft.) on 
the northwest slope of the mountain. We were accom- 
panied by three Indian hunters and our packer. Among 
the firs and alders at this altitude the northerly slope of 
the hills and canons are covered with a luxuriant growth 
of saccaton grass in huge bunches, from 3 to 6 ft. across, 
and often reaching a height of 6 or 8ft., which covers the 
ground, so that the only open spaces are small spots scat- 
tered irregularly here and there. A search under the 
overhanging masses of long grass blades showed a perfect 
network of large, arvicola-like runways, tunneling 
through the bases of the tussocks, and passing from one 
to another under the shelter of the outcurving masses of 
leaves. It was evident that the rabbits were very numer- 
ous, and we all proceeded to hunt the vicinity carefully 
for them, The first day I saw three, but was unable to 
get a shot at any. One came running through the grass 
along one of the hidden trails, and seeing me stopped in 
a little opening only 7 or 8ft. away. It was too near to 
shoot, and so escaped, after looking at me with inquiring 
eyes for a few moments. The next day I shot one by 
taking a stand on a large log, whence I could see several 
small openings in the grass, and saw one as it stopped a 
moment at the entrance to a runway. By persistent 
hunting for three days my Indians secured three more. 
"On our first night wire snares were set without suc- 
cess, so the next night we put out a lot of steel traps in the 
runways. This latter method - was very successful, and 
three fine specimens were taken in a small area a few 
yards across. So far as obserted, these animals are 
strictly limited to the h^avy growths of saccaton grass, 
between about 3,050 and 3.650 meters (10,000 and 13,000ft.), 
a few ranging a little above and below these limits in 
favorable places along canon slopes. I found them 
equally numerous in the heavy grass on caiion slopes and 
hillsides and in the dense growth of grass about tne sides 
of the snaall parklike openings in the forest. They make 
their forms within the matted bases of the huge grass 
tussocks by tunneling passageways along the surface of 
the ground through the mass of old grass, leaves and 
stems, and then hollowing out snug retreats within the 
weatherproof shelters thuB obtained. Their concealed 
runways w^re intermingled with those of the common 
meadow mice of the mountains, and the striking resem- 
blance in coloration and habits between the two animals 
was remarkable. Like the arvicolas, the rabbits are 
mainly nocturnal, but are occasionally found moving 
about by day. They become active just at dusk, and on 
frosty mornings sometimes come out at sunrise into the 
small openings atnong the grass to bask in the warmth. 
My Indian hunters claimed that they often found them 
out sunning themselves in this way on summer afternoons 
after cold, heavy showers. 
"This species has practically no external tail, though in 
some specimens there is a small fleshy papiUa 3 or 3 
millimeters in length; in others even this is absent. In 
this respect the animal resembles the pikas {Lagomys)" 
Dr. Merriam has named the new genus in which this 
rabbit is placed Romerolagus, in honor of the Mexican 
Minister at Washington, and has given it the specific 
name Nelsoni, after Mr. E. W. Nelson, its discoverer. 
) Robins Wintering in New York. 
Ithaca, N. Y, — The writer and a friend, while hunt- 
ing rabbits a few miles south of town, Jan. 1, saw a robin 
redbreast flitting among the gaunt forms of the birches 
and maples of a dense hillside cover. He sported a lusty 
chirrup and a mahogany-splashed vestment strangely 
out of harmony with his bleak, wind-swept surround- 
ings. Are we to vote him a social outcast, forced to ex- 
perience this solitary vigil, after the manner of the mate- 
less auk upon an arctic isle? M, Chill, 
[We have seen a robin in New York city almost daily 
up to this date, and if here why not in Ithaca? It is much 
more usual for robins to winter with us than is com- 
monly supposed, but as they keep themselves pretty well 
hidden in woods and, swamps they are not very often 
seen.] , 
ITie Forest AND Stream is -put to press each week on 
Tuesday. Correspondence intended ior publieaUon 
should reach us at the latest hy Monda/y, and as muQh 
.mrlier m prW 'Wca&ie. 
nniB mtd ^mu 
DAYS AFIELD. 
The Professor and I arrived at a small wayside statiom 
in western North Carolina a little before noon on the 
Monday after Christmas, three hours late. Eager for a< 
hunt. Boys again. 
He had been poring for months over a learned article 
on Hebrew verbs. lam in business, and most business' 
men know without telling what I was poring over the 
last six months of 1896; but to-day the sun sparkles, 
bankers, bills receivable and payable, due and overdue, - 
are 600 miles behind me. 
Here are stubbles and woods, fields and meadows, and,, 
as I glance over the country I firmly believe, quail. 
Dogs — the Professor had a blue-blooded pair with him, 
one of which has fought and won, or taken an honorable 
place, in numerous field trials, and no judge has yet 
failed to "see him" when on the bench. Lewis has sent 
my three. They have had steady work all the fall, and 
are tuned to just the proper pHch. 
A hasty dinner and change of clothing and we decide to 
"put down" my special pets, Donald and R^,b — setter and 
pointer. Even to the novice in dogs it is unnecessary to 
explain how they are bred; they look and are thorough- 
bred. 
Donald knows me well — with him grouse and wood- 
cock and quail for the past two years have been a familiar 
story. Rab has been away from me so much that he does 
not seem sure that I am the same man who took him out 
of the crate when he left hia aristocratic dam two years 
ago. 
I have always notfced that most shooters, in telling of 
their outings in Forest and Stream, have perfect dogs. 
The points are dramatic and stanch; there is no breaking 
to shot or wing; the dogs always drop to shot and only 
pick up the dead bird after being ordered to "fetch." 
I have spent some money and a good deal of time try- 
ing to find that sort of dogs. 
In front of the house is a stubble, thirty acres or more — 
and away go my dogs, with heads in the air like racers, 
and out of sight in a minute. I make for a knoll in the 
center of the field, and gaining its crest look around for 
them. There they are, almost 300yd8. from me, just in 
the edge of those pines. 
Donald, how did you stop quickly enough to strike that 
attitude? and Rab, did you know the birds were there to 
get so close? 
Did I feel good? Add another dollar to each one those 
dogs have cost, and still another, you could not buy them 
now. 
I beckon to the Professor to come, and can see the light 
dance in his eyes as he sees the handsome pair, while he 
nervously feels for the safety on his gun. 
"Just look. Professor, at that little pointer Rab. I 
never thought to see him do so nicely. Did you?" 
We are now within 50yds. of the dogs, and Rab seems 
uneasy ; a quick glance over his shoulder to see where we 
kre, and in he goes, .and away go the birds with that mis- 
erable dog after them — over the fence into the woods and 
out of sight. 
The Professor grunts and says, "I don't quite think he 
will catch any, but he will come very close to it." 
I won't write what I said. 
Really, I don't believe I caught that precious pup until 
he had put up every single bird. Then he came in, and, 
looking into my face in an innocent sort of way, seemed 
to say, "What do vou think of that? Can't I make them 
go?" 
Naturally, I proceeded to introduce myself then and 
there to His Royal Highness, and, frankly, I never saw a 
"licking" make a dog so fond of a man before. He appar- 
ently couldn't bear to leave me the remainder of the alter- 
noon, and I don't believe he was that day 10ft. from my 
heels excepting once: in following me over a log that 
spanned a stream, he fell in and nearly drowned. The 
farmer who was our host, and who was guiding us, pulled 
him out. 
Trouble? We had lots of it, though good times out- 
weighed by far the petty annoyances of a mistake here 
and there with a dog. Next day Rab improved, and & 
couple of days put the dogs on good terms with me. 
They are not perfect. Nor do "I believe the dog is yet 
born that is. 
As to the birds we shot. We secured some, as many as. 
we needed or wanted, and lots got away. G. B. 
WHO OWNS THE GAME KILLED BY 
THE GUIDE? 
Philadelphia, — Editor Forest and Stream: Following 
out the rule of action laid down by Shaganoss in Forest 
ajto Stream of Jan. 9, namely, "Primarily the man who 
captures wild game owns it— always and everywhere," 
any man cannot waive his ownership. Here it appears that 
Shaganoss loses sight of several important considerations 
directly relating to the subject. Primarily every inan is 
free, but in civilization it is found that man's freedom is 
largely a theory. In business matters men give up a 
part of their freedom. For a consideration they give up 
their time and services in exchange for something or 
value to them. The services of the employee accrue to 
the advantage of the employer, otherwise what purpose 
of gain would the employee serve. In the fisheries, in 
the fur trade, etc., from time immemorial, the sailors and 
trappers never considered that their employers had no 
ownership in the fish and fur they captured. 
The question has been considered merely from the 
standpoint of sportsmanship. The standing of the guide 
who follows his calling for hire alone has been c in- 
founded with sportsmanship. The guide works for his 
wages the same as any other employee, and his standing 
in the matter is that only of a wage earner and not an ap- 
pendage to take wages for his labor and appropriate to 
himself the products of it. So long as he is hired as a 
matter of business, it is no concern of his what his em- 
ployer's motives are. If he is paid a sum of money which 
IB commensurate with his skill and the value of his ser- 
vices, the proceeds of his labor are as fairly his employer's 
as if he were engaged in some other business. 
Because a man is a sportsman it is not a reason for rul- 
ing him out of what he justly can purchase. 
It may be odious to many to think of shooting as other 
than an abstract enjoyment, something of ethereal pleas- 
