Fi&B. 13^ 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
12B 
without thinking of my gun I sat quietly watching 
him. He sat on a branch close to the trunk, with 
his bushy tail curved over bis back, cocking his 
head first to one side, then to the other, apparently 
hstening for an answer. It soon came from a distance, 
and then I heard the patter of his approaching mate, 
who would advance a short distance and stop, but soon 
advance again, the one in the tree continuing to bark and 
cA2V while the other kept silent, but advanced cautiously 
until, with a bound almost directly over me, it struck the tree 
6ft. from the ground and scampered upward. I reached 
carefully for my gun and placed it to my shoulder without 
rising, and almost lying on my back awaited an oppor- 
tunity to shoot. I watched them come together and could 
have killed them both with one shot then, but they seemed 
so happy in their meeting that I relented and continued 
to watch their actions. Like two playful puppies they 
gamboled about each other, first one chasing, then the 
other, up to the top of the tree and then down, until they 
seemed to tire of their sport and crouched on the limb, fac- 
ing each other not more than a foot apart. Now was my 
time, but the gun was carefully laid on the ground and 
they were safe. I know that I could not have boasted with 
a good conscience of killing two such pretty creatures so 
easily. It would seem like potting chickens in a barnyard. 
I lay quiet a while longer, but they did not seem inclined 
to move, and I got up and walked away. As I arose, 
watching them, they seemed surprised, but flattened out 
on the limb so closely that I could hardly see them. 
I cross a field to another and larger woods, and tramp 
over the old route until late in the day, and see but little 
change since my last visit. The chopper has not been here. 
May he never come. 
Walking along the edge of the woods, I hear a clatter in 
the leaves and see a mother quail struggle frantically along 
the ground, apparently wing-broken, and making desper- 
ate efforts to escape; but I know her trick, and watch her 
little brood glide under the leaves so rapidly and silently 
that it requires a quick eye to detect them, and then the 
mother rises like a flash, and is out of sight in a second. I 
have marked one of her darlings under a big leaf and 
gently pick it up. I • stroke its pretty brown coat and it 
makes no effort to escape from my hand. I almost won- 
der how any one could be so heartless as to shoot anything 
so pretty, while I gloat over the prospect of a day in pur- 
suit of them with my dog two months hence. How incon- 
sistent is human nature. I put it down and watch it glide 
away and hide again, and am careful to avoid stepping 
where others may have hidden. 
I turn now to go to the station, for it is getting late, and 
I want to reach there in good time. As I go down the hol- 
low a ruffed grouse booms out from beneath an old log, and 
instinctively my gun comes to my shoulder, but I do not 
shoot. If it were a month later I would try very hard to 
get you, old fellow, though it is doubtful if I coulcl the way 
you go, and there are so many trees in line of sight when 
my gun comes to my shoulder that you seem safe enough. 
I have no sympathy for a ruffed grouse. They are too tan^ 
talizing, and give me no show. 
I strike the road above the fork and quicken my pace. I 
pass the home of the maiden ladies and receive a pleasant 
nod; the old bridge re-echoes my footsteps, and Uncle 
Lisha inquires of my luck. 
I reach home refreshed and satisfied. The day has 
been beautiful, and the visit furnishes food for retrospection. 
I shall go again next year perhaps before squirrel season 
opens, and I will make some shots, but they will be snap 
shots with the camera; the gun will remain at home, and 
I will have game that will never become stale— "Uncle 
Lisha's Shop," the old bridge and the maiden ladies' home. 
About the squirrels? Oh, I didn't see any. J. H. B. 
CURIOUS RATTLESNAKE POISONING. 
A Lowell, Mass., correspondent sent us a newspaper 
cuttine the other day, remarking, "I see almost every week 
accoimts of persons killing rattlesnakes for the skins and 
oil, but nothing of this kind It looks to me as though tUe 
snakes must have been through dogwood, ivy, or something 
of the kind." The report relatvd that Mr. Louis B. Bailey, 
of San Mateo, Fia., had shot a rattlesnake and cut its rattles 
off. Not long afterward his face and hands began to swell, 
became infl^u^ed and were very painful. The symptoms 
were in some respects liKe those of poisoning with ivy. 
Alter a time the pain ceased, the swelling went down, and 
the occurrence was almost forgotten. More recently Mr. 
Bailey shot a rattlesnake, which, however, he did not touch 
with his hands, but on the day followmghis face and wrists 
were again badly swollen. 
We forwarded the report to Dr. De Witt Webb, of St 
Augustine, who in turn communicated with Mr. Bailey and 
wrote: "I send you a letter from Mr. Bailey. He is known as a 
perfectly reliable man, and so it would seem as if there were 
some people who were so susceptible to the poison that they 
might be affected even by a dead snake, aithougti it has 
generally been held impossible. In the cases referred to by 
Mr. Bailey it does not appear that there could have been any 
spitting of the snake, as sometimes happens. I was told last 
night of a case of a boy who cut off the rattles of a snake 
and suffered from it. Otherwise I never heard of anything 
like it. 
"I wUl see Dr. Vedder, who knows more about rattlers 
than any man in Florida, I guess; who feeds them, so to 
speak, out of hand, as wneu those he keeps in captivity re- 
fuse to eat he takes them out of their cages, and holding 
them by the neck, gently stuffs the food down their throats. 
He has been twioe bitten during this pleasing employment, 
but both times without sedous injury, as he ligated the limb 
and bled out the wound at once." 
Mr. Bailey writes: "The first snake killed was in March. 
1896 It was about 7ft. long and had thirteen rattles. 1 
handled it only enough to cut the rattles off, put them in my 
pocket and started home. At the time I experienced a little 
nausea. The following day my left eye was entirely closed, 
my right hand swollen, and there vsas a little eruplion on 
both wrists. I was treated by Dr. D Eiton, of Palalka, 
and recovered in about five days from the effects of this 
poisoning. 
"Again in August I came across another rattler, and 
having a short- handled axe in my hand, I struck and cut it 
in two parts As I struck the snake hissed and rattled. 
Within fifteen minutes afterward my left eye was swollen^ 
also my cheek. My hands and wrists troubled me exceed- 
ingly with itching and stinging sensations, and were swoUen 
as before. 
"It is believed by some people that the poison was from 
the breath of the snake, and as I was perspiring very freely 
at the time it may account for the quicker absorption of the 
poison than before." 
There is a belief among some persons that, in addition to 
the venom ejected by the rattlesnake through its fangs, 
these animals have the power to throw off a "dust" which is 
poisonous and affects people in their neighborhood. It is 
well known that at times snakes exhale a .strong odor, to 
which some people are much more sensible than others. 
We know a person who is able to smell a rattlesnake if it is 
near him, and has often detected the presence of the reptile 
in this way. The whole subject is an odd one and worth 
investigation. 
Robins Wintering in New Jersey. 
SoiiE of your correspondents seem to think it strange that 
song birds should appear in this north latitude (-40:30) at this 
season of the year. On Feb. 3 a song sparrow was seen and 
heard,while not 100yds. distant a robin was seemingly answer- 
ing. On the 5th inst. in the woods south of Melucben a downy 
woodpecker was seen circling the trunk of an old apple tree, 
while on top of a nearbv white oak a bluejay was chattering 
away. There was an Sin. covering of snow upon the ground 
at the time. 
Thousands of robins winter in the cedars and tangled 
underbrush adjoining the fresh-water lakes on Sandy Hook, 
and on warm days they can be seen flying in every direction, 
seeking a change in their menu of cedar berries. 
Probably but few of your readers are aware of the exist- 
ence of the fresh-water lakes on Sandy Hook. 1 inclose a 
view of Eound Pond. These lakes extend north and south 
nearly two miles. The ocean surf breaks on the shore an 
eighth of a mile to the eastward, while Sandy Hook Bay is 
only a few bundled yards to the west. M-any wild ducks 
seek the shelter of these lakes during storms, while thousands 
of song birds find sutficient food and good shelter in the 
dense mass of weeds that line the shores. Wild Hoistey 
MiLHURST, N. J.— I saw four bluebirds here a few days 
ago. L. 
White Coons. 
Editor Farest and Sir earn: 
Last September, while at Rosenbaum's Lake in the early morn 
ing watching for turkeys, I saw nut on the dry bed of the lake 
a white object, which at first I thought a white crane sitting 
down with its neck stretched out. But after advancing 
nearer, and the sun just coming up, I discovered that it was 
a large white coon. 
On returning, after running info a flock of nice (urkeys 
and procuring a fine young gobbler, I met a local hunter, 
Andrew Davis, and told him^the white coon story. He and 
a neighbor went the next morning to the place designated, and 
saw the white coon and another one with it. They watched 
until they got through feeding and went into their den, 
which was a large cypress tree near by. Then the men cut 
into the tree and captured both coons The creatures are as 
white as snow, all except the edges of their eyelids, which 
look as if wrapped with red flannel. C. R. Schabr. 
Woodpeckers and Bluebirds in Maryland. 
Ellicott City, Md., Feb. I —Editor Forest and tit ream: 
As a matter of interest to bird lovers is that a redheaded 
woodpecker has wintered in and about my house, making 
its headquarters in one or both of two holes or nests from 
which several broods of these woodpeckers have been 
hatched. Jan. 7 I noted the first bluebird, and as Pat 
would say, "That was a pair;" Jan. 10 two pair, and Jan. 
20 three pair in a field somewhat remote from where I 
saw two pair ten days previous. 
If I am not mistaken this is about the earliest date I 
have ever reported, and would seem that my "arrivals" 
may have been, like my woodpecker, "stay-overs." 
Samuel" J. Foet, M.D. 
Birds in the Northwest. 
Latona, Wash.. Jan. 32.— Have noted the following birds 
as winteiing here: Robin, golden woodpecker, sapsu-'.ker, 
blackcaps, meadow lark, purple grackle, Canada jiy, bluejay, 
crow, raven, several small birds'of the chickadee family and 
the water ousel. 
Grouse are very plentiful, both the ruffed and the blue 
varieties. Deer, bears and other large game holds its own 
and probably always will in these woods. 
Yacht clubs on the Sound are locking forward to some in- 
teresting events for the coming racing season. 
El Comancho 
A Horned Doe. 
Dr. J. D. Usher writes from Louisiana: "I read with 
interest the articles in regard to hornless stags. Did any of 
your people ever see a deer doe with horns? There was one 
killed near here a few years since which had horns with 
twenty-one points. The party who killed it was an old 
hunter and a reliable man " 
There used to be in the Forest akd Stream office a doe's 
head with horns. 
"That reminds me." 
A Mountain Bear Hunt. 
One morning when f.armer Avery went to feed his hogs 
he found that a bear had broken into the sty during the night 
and scared out the pigs. Hastily apprising some of his 
neighbors of the fact, a company of seven were soon ready to 
go in pursuit of bruin, whose tracks led them to a deep 
canon, down which they sent the dogs. The hunters then 
divided and went down the hillside on either side of the 
gulch. 
Finally the dogs began a terrible fuss and the boys thought 
they had found found the bear, when their courage, wh ch 
had been slowly ebbing as the hunt progressed, "left them 
altogether, and every man made for a tree. "Long Hungry" 
Wilson, one of the braves, fastened on to the first tree he 
ran against (a 10ft. pine), and yelled to the others, "Climb a 
treelike me, boys," when the poor, scared fellow had merely 
thrown his arms around the tree and sat down on-ihe^ 
ground! 
And it wasn't a bear, either— just a little family row among 
the dogs. Walrod. 
Caiopornxa. 
§^n. 
A WINTER CAMP ON WADLEIGH 
BROOK. 
\Conchtded.'] 
Part m.-Brlnsrlng in the Game. 
Dkc. 5 was our last day in camp. We got an early start 
and went up the brook four miles to the spot where the 
buck killed near the upper dam (Avhich was the fourth on 
the brook) was cached. Hoisington and Du Bois took the 
job of dragging him to camp on the ice, and Dr. Wright 
and I set out acro.ss country for our buck. 
The night before we had come out on the brook two 
miles below this point, but snow had fallen since then and 
made it impossible to retrace our trail. It seemed like a 
hopeless task to try to find the deer miles back in a coun- 
try full of hummocks-— meaningless ridges— and absolutely 
devoid of any striking natural features to serve as land- 
marks, but neither of us would give up while there was a 
ghost of a chance of success. 
Laying our course by instinct, we struck off in a north- 
easterly direction through a part of the burnt lands of 
which neither of us had any previous knowledge. 
The general character of the burnt lands was the same 
here as elsewhere. The ground was broken into low, par- 
allel ridges running for the most part northeast and south- 
west. These ridges are almost devoid of soil, and the 
slaty understratum is frequently exposed, its covering of 
bennes having been consumed by fire. Narrow strips of 
lowland between thebroader ridges are frequently sw^ampy 
and wet, and here the forest has escaped the fate that was 
its lot elsewhere. These belts of green timber furnish a 
retreat for scattering deer and moose during the day, 
though probably the larger portion of game at this time 
was in the main body of forest surrounding the burnt area. 
Game trails invariably run along the ridges in the pre- 
vailing northeast and southwest directions, and the walking 
is, of course, easiest on these trails. Everywhere are fallen 
trees, but these are mostly branchless stubs and lie flat on 
the ground, making the traveling easier than it would other- 
wise be. Asa general thing these trees have fallen parallel 
with the course of the ridges, which no doubt accounts for 
the uniform direction of the game trails. 
A three-mile tramp brought us about noon to a spot that 
seemed familiar. The country had assumed a rougher 
and more irregular character, and the ridges had lost their 
uniformity and were disjointed and peaky. AVe stopped 
for a moment in a little hollow where the snow was deeper 
than was the rule on the open ridges, and a depression 
that the recent storm had failed to quite obliterate attract- 
ed our attention. Dr. Wright kicked the snow with his 
foot, and there under its white covering we saw a few 
crimson spots of blood, proving that the deer had passed 
that way, 
A short distance beyond we crossed a little ridge, and 
there sure enough was the buck hanging up against a 
birch tree just as w^e had left him. It was like finding 
a needle in a hay stack to go to that deer, and we felt 
rather proud of our achievement. 
The buck measured Sft. 4in. as he hung, and he was very 
fat. We estimated that he would dress 2201bs., and prob- 
ably we were well within the limit. He had a very pretty 
set of antlers with a spread of 18in. 
It was dinner time when we reached the buck and we 
were hungry. Accordingly, Dr. Wright broiled sections of 
the buck's liver, while I skinned out the head and fore 
quarters. 
Afterward I shouldered the hams, which, together with 
the skin, weighed 671bs., and the doctor took the head, 
axe and my rifle, which was the only one we had along', 
and we set out for camp, six miles away by the shortest 
course we could take. 
Caribou Curiosity. 
Two miles from the spot where we killed the buck we 
came out on the isolated bog which lies northwest of the 
burnt mountain. We walked through this in a southwest- 
erly direction to take advantage of the smoother traveling 
afforded, and when near the end of the bog spied two cari- 
bou forty or fifty rods away. 
In a ji'ffy we had dropped our loads, and just about then 
the caribou sighted us and ran up a little nearer to investi- 
gate. We had their wind, and feeling confident that they 
would give us a better chance for a shot, waited, crouching 
down behind some low bushes, the only cover that of- 
fer red. 
The doctor wore a red toboggan cap, which seemed to 
interest the caribou immensely. They trotted first to One 
side and then to the other to try and get a good view of 
this. Red caps evidently were a novelty in the burnt 
lands. The cap had not been intended to decoy caribou, 
but had rather been taken along to neutralize the effect of 
a leather hunting coat which was a good deal the color of 
a deer. Hunters are sometimes mistaken for game by 
their companions, with distressing results, so the doctor 
adopted the precaution of wearing the cap as a distinguish- 
ing feature, warning us not to shoot at "red-headed deer." 
The caribou ran up within easy shooting distance, and 
at 80yds. I let drive at the biggest one, who immediately 
wheeled and ran. I rose to my feet and fired twice more, 
and at the last shot the caribou went dowm in a heap. AU 
three shots had taken effect, but all had gone low, and 
when we examined the animal we found the only way I 
had gotten him was by actually shooting his legs off. 
Subsequent te.sts proved that at 100yds. my rifle shot 
about oin. low. I am ashamed to acknowledge this fact, 
but it is only justice to the gun to do so. Up to lOOyds. 
the rifle would hit an animal the size of a deer, though not 
in any necessarily vital spot, , but beyopd that distance the 
error was so magnified that it was not possible to score. 
This fact explained two misses that had bothered me a 
good deal— one at a fox at lODyds. and the other at a deer 
at about 200yds. 
At 40yds. the error w^as comparatively trifling, and this 
was the distance at which I killed the buck mentioned 
earlier in the narrative. 
Of course, no hunter should go into the woods with an 
improperly sighted rifle, and excuses do not count for 
much. 
It had taken me a month to get the sight I wanted on 
the gun, and not till an hour before leaving for the woods 
was the job completed. 
