.June 5, 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
448 
didn't pay, and he would go away with a sort of an apolo- 
getic expression, but as rapidly as Ms dazed understanding 
could work his motive -oower. 
"With does he knew Jack was very sociable, and he was 
always ready for a friendly rouffh-and- tumble scuffle with 
them, rarely losing his temper. The dogs, though, usually 
did the greater part of the tumbling. 
The kitchen our family used in summer opened into the yard, 
from au L facing the main building, by a glass or sash door. 
In hot weather the kitchen was frequently used also for a 
dining-room. Behind the kitchen, a large live-oak tree grew, 
spreading its branches over the roof. This part of the house 
was about ali that Jack seemed interested in, for he very 
soon knew where the eatables were stored. 
He soon learned when meals were ready and he was usu- 
ally on hand promptly, and then I had either to chain him 
or close the door. When three or four months old he could 
easily peer through the sash in the door by standing upon his 
feet— that is, his hindfeet. (Really a bear has only two feet. 
I have doubts as to bears being quadrupeds, Most people 
seem to think they are. It is true they often walk and run 
upon all-fours, but that is when they are not otherwise using 
their hands. Bears certainly ought to be classified as bi- 
peds.) 
Jack did not content himself with peering into the kitchen, 
and if he didn't reason a little upon the problem of *'how to 
get in," then I have nojudgmentof consequence. He learned 
in a very short time to turn the door knob, open the door 
and walk in. Then we kept the door locked, and we 
thought we had settled the matter; but Jack had it still under 
consideration. He tried all the windows, and tried to get 
under the floor and come up inside. Then he climbed up 
the tree and dropped down upon the roof. After prying 
around in this way for several days, we thought he had given 
it up; but one evening when the table was spread for supper 
'and the family were in the upper rooms, there was a clatter 
in the kitchen. Several of us went down at once, and the 
cause of the clatter was very evident indeed. Jack was in 
the center of the supper table, but most of the supper was 
apparently in the center of Jack. He was very much occu- 
pied with a berry pie, and totally regardless of all decorum 
and decency he was sitting on the butter di-h and smearing 
preserves and pie from a radiating center to the remotest 
corners of the room. 
After clearing out the wrecker and clearing up the wreck- 
age we began to query how the intruder had entered. The 
doors and windows were closed and fastened, but a glance 
upward explained all, There was a ragged hole in the can- 
vas ceiling, and up through that we could see the sky. 
Jack had dropped oS the tree to the roof and simply dug his 
way down through the shingles, then dropped again about 
4ft. to the canvas and through that 10ft. to the kitchen table, 
where he reaped his reward without either grace or thanks- 
giving. 
This was only an incident of his career— only one of his 
adventures. He robbed neighboring orchards and grape 
patches after finishing ours; he was found at midnight in 
other people's kitchens; he got on the roof of a house occu- 
pied by a colored family and frightened them out of their 
wits, for they thought he was the devil sure, and the whole 
lot of them "jined" the church the following Sunday. In 
fact the town was too small to hold Jack, and ai the age of 
about eight months he came to an untimely, tragic and sud- 
den end. 
You see he had never read anything about the origin of 
individual rights to property. The words mine or thine 
meant nothing to him. He evidently believed in having 
everything free and easy on a sort of community partnership 
plan, and probably in a paternal form of government. He 
could not comprehend why a certain Louisiana colonel— a 
neighbor— should hjive a large supply of choice apples while 
there was a gnawing vacuum in his (Jack's) diaphragm. So 
Jack went over to the Colonel's and helped himself. After 
many visits he upset the boxes of apples he couldn't eat, the 
Colonel ran him up a tree and shot him dead. I saved his 
curly brown hide, but it reminded me of so many cunnine 
pranks and intelligent traits of poor Jack's that I put it out 
of sight forever. 
There are many unworthicr animals than such as Jack, 
bear, every inch a bear, though he was. He would play for 
hours with children, and I never knew him to be ill-tem- 
pered as long as he was well fed. When hungry he was not 
to be trifled with. He was of a species considered next the 
grizzly in size and ferocity in a wild state. 
When I have seen similar animals confined in narrow 
cages, I have mused that all the brutality on exhibition was 
not behind the bars, and when I have seen bears led about 
with rings in I beir nostrils by Italians with goads, I have 
considered that the wrong brutes were being tortured. I 
have never had any desire, although fond of hunting, to kill 
bears since I had one for a pet. They are not nearly as fero- 
cious as commonly supposed, in their native haunts. Only 
hunger or injury will cause them to be so. They certainly 
rank very high in the scale of animals of intelligence, and I 
would vote for laws protecting them from extermination. 
In conclusion, speaking from observation and experience,. 
I have found that the s udy of any animals will not fail to 
arouse our sympathetic interest in them They all improve 
upon acquaintance, and but a dim conception of the animal 
world can be acquired from books or treatises 
"He prayetli best who loveth best 
AUttimgu, both great and small." 
Coleridge must have been an accomplished naturalist, 
therefore one of the best kind of sportsmen. Ransackee, 
Shasta Mountains, Cal. , May, 1897. 
l^olf Poisoning. 
Big Moose Lake N Y., May 17,-1 am glad to see a letter 
in FoKEST AOT) Si'EEAjr from J. W. Shultz, of Montana. 
He killed one of the last panthers in the Adirondacks near 
Big Moose Lake. He speaks of the action of strychnine on 
dogs and wolves. I suggest that they put the poison in a 
small lump of lard or tallow. The poison in meat does not 
touch the stomach for some time, but if put in lard or tallow 
the lard immediately dissolves, and the poison takes effect at 
once. I learned this by seeing my father poison foxes; he 
always found them near the bait. The lard might not work 
in very hot weather; the most of the time it will. 
J. H. HiGBV. 
"Angling Talks." 
Wb have a very few copies of George Dawson's "Angling Talks " a 
series of chapters of entertaining chat about men, fishermen fish 
fishing and fishing places. Cloth, 50 ceats. Forest and Stream' Pub^ 
iBbing Co, 
DOMESTICATED ELK. 
Grand View, Tenn.— As usual, I am dwelling much on 
reminiscences of the past, and I send you a paper published 
some forty years ago. It was written by my brother (long 
since deceased), by rfqnest of the secretary of the Cattar- 
augus (N. Y.) Agricultural and Horticultural Society. The 
paper explains itself, and shows what some opinions were 
regarding the preservation of game forty years ago. As I 
had considerable to do with the manager and management 
of this elk bu8ine,8S, it is possible that I may have an undue 
interest in the matter. E. L. Stratton (Antlek). 
The American Elk Domesticated. 
lYom ihe Transactions of the State Agricultural Society. 
Mr. Lorenzo Stratton, of Little Valley, has been experi- 
menting for a few years past, with a view to test the practi- 
cability of domesticating elk ; and for this purpose inclosed 
a tract of very hilly land, well wooded, for ranging and 
browsins:. His animals are so amiable that he has driven 
several of them to the three last fairs of Cattaraugus county, 
without difficulty, where they attracted great attention, tn 
answer to a note of inquiry, Mr. Stratton has kindly 
furnished the following interesting paper, and it is hoped 
that the suggestion it contains may attract attention. The 
success attending Mr. Stratton's experiments thus far cer- 
tainly argues well for more extended efforts. 
From Cattaraugus County Report. 
Mr. John Manley: Dear Sir— I have received your letter 
asking, as secretary of the Cattaraugus County Agricultural 
and Horticultural Society, some statement in relation to my 
experience in domesticating the American elk or "great 
wapiti" deer. 
To commence at the beginninar, I came in possession of 
my first pair in the spring of 1853, in the course of trade 
with the agents of a Western fur company, who had pur- 
chased the fawns of a tribe of Indians on some of the head 
branches of the Missouri River. At the time of my pur- 
chase I had no other object in view than the hope of repro- 
ducing a few, and having the pleasure of seeing a herd of 
these magnificent foresters quietly feeding on the identical 
grounds where nature had once planted and provided for 
their ancestors, in untold numbers. In view of their rapid 
decrease on the approach of civilization, and the threatening 
prospect of exterminating the entire race, I have deemed it 
something more than idle curiosity to preserve from destruc- 
tion some of the characteristics of our American forests. It 
is not yet fifty years since the elk were so numerous in this 
country that the Indian or pioneer trapper, after finishing " 
his store of provisions for his breakfast, might with confi- 
dence expect to sup on a choice cut from the sirloin of an 
elk; and the Indian is now living who can boast of killing 
three elk in one day, within 100 rods of where you have held 
your last three agricultural fairs; and another Indian in- 
forms me that he once killed an antlered buck within rifle 
shot of the Cattaraugus depot, and, as near as can now be 
ascertained, the famous forester fell on the precise ground 
where since has been reared the elegant and substantial 
residence of Judge Leavenworth. 
But what a change has been wrought since? It has now 
been some years since the last track of the elk has been seen 
in the fastnesses of the Pennsylvania woods. It is said there 
may yet a few be found on the western shore of Lake 
Huron, in the vicinity of the Au Sable River. Where next 
may we find them? Within some six or seven years herds 
of hundreds, and perhaps thousands, were to be found in 
the vicinity of St. Paul, Minn.; but now we might as well 
look for them in Orange countv Their western range 
being large prairies, skirted with narrow strips and small 
patches of woodland, they were easily slaughtered and 
driven off by the first settlers; and at the present time they 
are only to be found by at least a week's journey beyond the 
linis of civilization. 
The first thing that called my attention to this matter, as 
likely to afford any pecuniary profit, was a document laid 
before the Senate by Wm. R. King, Vice-President of the 
United States, and also President of the Senate, by Prof. S 
F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution, at the instance of 
Thomas Ewbanks, Commissioner of Patents. The substance 
of which document was a call on the Government for means 
to procure, domesticate and restock certain portions of land 
in the States of New York, Pennsylvania and other States 
which were nearly or quite worthless for agricultural pur- 
poses, but would still be a most inviting place for this pur- 
pose—citing as sufficient proof of its practicability, that 
formerly this country produced elk as naturally as it does 
now brush and white rabbits. 
jSTow, as I had a pair of elk and a quantity of this descrip- 
tion of land at the time my attention was called to this view 
of the subject, it readily occurred to me that I might indulge 
rny fancy in this business, with a fair prospect of remunera- 
tion. 1 therefore set about it in a business way, by purchas- 
ing at different times three more elk, and preparing them a 
pasture of 125 acres of well-fenced woodland, in which they 
have now been for three years, without any additional ex- 
pense worth naming beyond a visit to the park some three 
or four times a week, at which time I always carry a pocket 
of corn, oats, or a handful of clover heads, in summer, all 
of which they are very fond; and m this way I keep on 
excellent terms with them. My success in domesticating 
them by this sort of treatment has been ciuite satisfactory • 
instead of scampering away like wild animals when i 
approach them, they crowd around me like so many pets 
My original number of five purchased elk have increased to 
ten. with a prospect of an additional increase of four next 
spring. 
During the winter and in time of deep snows, they gather 
into a thicket of brush (which embraces about one-half of 
these grounds), which they trim with great apparent relish; 
and notwithstanding the deep snows and severe winter of 
1855-6, they remained in high order, with no other resources 
than the staddle timber or brush, which they laid waste by 
the acre The inclosure I have for them would be quite 
sufficient to sustain from fifty to sixty elk until they have 
destroyed the brush, at which time their pasture would have 
to be extended over new territory, or trees be cut in winter 
for them to browse. 
Now, in view of the character and price of large quantities 
of land in this country, and also of the fact that these moun- 
tain ranges were formerly the natural home of the elk and 
their perfect susceptibility of domestication, I deem it an 
enterprise of the first importance that portions of these lands 
should be restocked with their original denizens; and not 
only to the naturalist, the man of science, but to those wish- 
ing a profitable investment, it holds out every inducement 
YYhen we consider the aiooimt pf lands in this country only- 
fitted for such purposes, I do not hesitate to say that it might 
be made a business of vast importance. While the world is 
being ransacked to obtain rare and foreign animals, which 
may never be acclimated to this country, and whose utility 
is rather questionable if they should be, the elk, with all its 
claims to our attention, with scarcely an effort to domesti- 
cate, is rapidly disappearing from the land. When we con- 
sider the short space of time (say fifty years) since the elk 
ranged the entire country between this and the Mississippi 
River, it is a fair estimate, with the increased facilities' of 
travel and emigration, and what is being done in the Territo- 
ries of Utah, Nebraska and Dakota, that within twenty-five 
years the race will be entirely extinct, unless proper means is 
resorted to for their domestication— not a very pleasant pros- 
pect, when our forest might produce, at comparatively small 
expense, an abundance of venison, the quality of which is the 
very crowning dish of the epicure, adding materially to the 
wealth and the importance of the country. 
The elk, although having many characteristics of the deer, 
has yet a strong individuality of his own : it is not particularly 
timid, or liable to stampede or sudden fright like the deer, 
but depends more upon prowess than flight, in case of dan- 
ger. The elk is not so restless in disposition, and therefore 
more disposed to fatten. I have been much surprised to see 
mj whole number (ten) in higher condition than any ten 
animals that could be selected among all the domestic cattle 
on the farm, which had the advantage of good pastures 
The weight of a full grown buck is from five to six hun- 
dred pounds; that of a doe, from four to five hundred. 
They mature at about four years of age. The bucks only, 
have antlers, which they shed yeariy, like the deer. The 
engraving I send you does not give very flattering portraits 
but the best I could get executed in the country. Yours re- 
spectfully, Lorenzo Stratton. 
liiTTLB Valley, N. Y., February, 1857. 
Antler tella US of the outcome of the experiment: "So 
far as it was carried out it was a success. Had there been a 
moderate amount of capital invested with a larger territory 
of cheap mountain land added, and with close attention to 
the business, it would have been a profitable investment and 
doubtless would have shown handsome dividends. But 
when we decided to move South the elk business had to be 
abandoned. Most of the stock on hand was bought by some 
foreigners and shipped by rail to New York, thence some to 
Italy and the rest to Germany, and three or four were 
slaughtered at home. Whether Professor Baird's propo- 
sitions or suggestions were ever acted on I never learned." 
BIRDS OF COLORADO. 
First and last, much has been written about the birds of 
Colorado, although this much is little by comparison with 
the contributions to ornithology made in the older States of 
the Union. Still, Allen, Acken, Bendu-e, Ooues, Ridgeway, 
Morrison and others have added a great deal to our knowl- 
edge of the birds of this State. 
Lying as it does partly on the plains and partly in the 
mountains, Colorado might be expected to furnish a great 
variety and number of species, and as a matter of fact we 
find that the 363 species and varieties known to occur in it, 
is a greater number than has been taken in any State in the 
Union, except Nebraska, which slightly exceeds it in 
numbers. 
In the publications of the State Agricultural College in 
Bulletin No, 37, Technical Series No. 3, is given an inter- 
esting list of the Birds of Colorada by Mr. W. W. Cooke, 
the State Agriculturist. Mr. Cooke's work in ornithology is 
sufficiently well known, and it is fortunate that so careful 
an observer should have taken up the work of making us a 
modern list of its birds. These number, as stated, 863 spe- 
cies, of which 230 are known to breed. On the plains at 
the foot of the mountains are found many truly Eastern 
species; in the mountains themselves are found many species 
from the West and from the North, while in the Southern 
part of the State over twenty truly Southern speoies have 
been taken. 
Though much ornithological work has been done in Colo- 
rado, many parts of the State have never yet been visited by 
the ornithologist, and it is by no means to be supposed that - 
anywhere near the whole number of species occurring in the 
State have been recorded. Nevertheless there have been an 
extraordinary number of straggling visitants taken. Among 
these are three varieties of surf ducks, a wheatear, a white- 
winged dove, a white ibis, a roseate spoonbill, and a scarlet 
ibis. 
Following his introduction Mr. Cooke gives twelve lists of 
birds, which he classifies as follows; (1) Residents, 87 spe- 
cies; (2) regular winter visitants from the North. 24; (3) re- 
gular breeders that sometimesroccur in winter, 17; (4) rare 
or accidental winter visitors, 22; (5) summer residents, 228- 
(6) summer visitants, not known to breed, 15; (7) migrants' 
58; (8) stragglers, 48; (9) regular visitants from East and 
Southeast, 14; (10) rare visitants from South and Southeast, 
33; (11) regular visitants, from West and Southwest, 20' 
and (12) rare visitants from West and Southwest, 12. 
Following this are some data on the migration of Colorado 
birds, in which dates of arrival at three points in Colorado 
are compared with dates of arrival at St. Louis, Mo. 
A very full bibliography of Colorado ornithology is fol- 
lowed by a history of Colorado ornithology— both very 
interesting— and this by the annotated list of the birds of 
Colorado, which occupies 80 pagas. A page of addenda at 
the end of the work gives three more species for the State 
than are mentioned in the body of the work. The list of 
birds is quite fully annotated and very interesting, and from 
these notes much might be selected worth repeating. We 
can only refer, however, to some of the game birds. 
It appears the quail has been introduced at various places 
along the mountains, and in many of these places it is quite 
common. Those which were turned loose a few years ago 
in Estes Park, at an altitude of about 8,000ft., are occasion- 
ally heard from. The California p rtridge was also intro- 
duced. The sharp-tail grouse (Far camijestrifs), occurs in 
small numbers, but seems to have been nearly exterminated 
The wiW turkey is rapidly decreasing in number. 
This list is one which ought to be in the hands of every- 
ornithologist, and we learn that it can be obtained without 
charge by addressing the Director of the Agricultural Ex- 
periment Station, Ft. Collins, Colorada. 
r/ie FoHEST Ajjn Stream is put to press each week on luesdoy 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at ths 
\at^t by Mm<iay, an4 as much tarlier^as practicable. 
