Aug. 13, 1S9S,] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
125 
I range which was daily traversed as long as they re- 
amed with us. 
■ I have followed this particular fellow day after day 
Irer his so-called range, till, as I have related above, he 
J last decided to reward ray persistence with a song in 
Is own charming manner. 
■ You know "nothing is worth having that is not worth 
riving for." I have long and faithfully striven for just 
ch an intimacy with T. ludovicianus as the summer of 
I98 has given, and the result has repaid me a hundred 
lid. 
II have but one regret, 'tis that I was alone, with no 
■low enthusiast to enjoy with me the marvelous music 
I the Carolina wren at close range. 
WlLMOT TOWNSEND. 
pAY Ridge, N. Y , Aug. 1. 
Some Animal Pets*— II. 
|I have learned, as the result of long experience in- 
j weakness for domestic pets, that they will get cross 
i thcy grow older, especially those redeemed from a 
lid state. As long as they are young they are amiable 
Id interesting, but no amount of domesticating seems to 
kevent their gradually resuming all the characteristics 
[their nature, which crop out by degrees until the time 
Irives sooner or later when they become dangerous, 
I children particularly, who are wont to tease them. 
[You would naturally suppose that the period for the 
lost prolonged amiability would be that of the deer 
fetead of that of the bear, but such has not been my 
Ipenence. The deer became dangerous at an earlier 
|>nod. They are lovely pets when young, and so con- 
liue for a year or eighteen months;' after that they are 
-t to be trusted; and strange to say the doe is the first 
I become viciuus. j he ue?., as wi aii khuw, ,s a pu ,- 
I fellow, and continues to be so for some time after he 
h obtained his growth, and does not exhibit dangerous 
J.ahties to any extent; but the trouble with him is that 
gets so infernally rough in his play that one's clothes 
Her, to say nothing of scratches more or less severe. 
|e seems to have no judgment in the use of his claws, 
I has a cat. I have had many a suit of clothes reduced 
L a condition that the neediest tramp would reject. 
Id yet bruin considered it all the height of fun. Dogs 
fcrn dearly bought experience became shy of him, and 
timed a game of rough and tumble. The exception of 
Emals disposed to develop into unamiable traits was 
Kittle armadillo that I had caught when quite young, 
b was a serious little fellow, and spent most of his time 
|der the house, at least during the day. At night he 
huld come out and roam all over the house, dragging 
I corrugated tail over the bare floor with a soundlike 
jagging a length of stove pipe. It was fun to see a 
Ig dash for him: his turtle-like shell, which, when me 
dertook to grab him, seemed a surprise to the dog; 
Id the attack did not concern little piggy in the least, 
fe "seemed to be saying, "Go ahead, doggy, and try it 
k if it amuses you," which it did not after a trial, 
tags would usually lie down and look at him, am_ 110 
ubt were saying to themselves, "Well, what manner 
j animal are you?" 
lAs I say, he was a serious minded little chap, and at- 
nded strictly to his own business, which consisted 
! rooting around the kitchen back door in quest of 
raps, and when the supply was short going into the 
Ichen and looking appealingly to the cook, who usually 
jve him a slice of bread, which he took in his mouth 
Id carried under the house. He and the cook were 
feat friends. 
(There is one animal that I defy any human being to 
he or get on friendly terms with, and that is the 
Jpropriately named wildcat. A Mexican brought me 
Katten one day rolled up in a sack, exhibiting his 
Kids bloody and covered with scratches. I had always 
lard that it was impossible to tame a wildcat, but I 
pught I would try the experiment, and placed him in 
[wire cage. As small as he was, he would spit and 
fowl if one came near him, and would not drink his 
Ik if any one was present. As he grew uo he seemed 
I grow more devilish. I tried starving him, but it 
bde no difference. I kept him for six months, by 
Rich time he attained full size, and ferocity was no 
pi for his devilishness. Finally one day, with the 
|ip of my Mexican boy, Santos, we dragged the cage 
[ride the yard, and were debating whether to shoot 
In or take the cage down the river and throw him in. 
pt then along came a neighbor who owned a big- 
Ill dog. "Hold on," said he, "let me go to the house, 
id get Tige; it will be just furi for him." 
J said, "I hope you don't value the dog much." 
('Value him? I have been offered $150 for him." 
I 'Well," I said, "then don't turn him loose on 
[-mint. If vou do there will be a used uo dog." 
But he insisted on it. So Tige Was brought, and was 
Id to get at the cat. The man held the dog while , 
fastened the door. Out bounded the cat, and Tige 
|r)t for him. For about five minutes there was one 
fcfused ball of dog and cat foi the air, and yowls and 
bwls. At last Tige got the cat at the back of the 
' ■ there was a crack and the cat was dead. But such 
[looking dog as Tige was. He limped out of the 
pt covered with blood and scratches, one eye gone 
K a generally used up dog. 1 said, "How about that 
00? Sorry you did not take it?" 
'No," replied the owner, "after that fight I would not 
le $200 for him." 
[fige might have said with the Cave Roller: 
"Now the game is o'er and the coast is clear. 
Straighten up my nose and help tne find my ear." 
PODGERS. 
Ln Francisco. 
this 
I 
Captive Albino Robin* 
Highland Park, III., Aug. 4.— From a robin's nest 
the porch of his house, a young friend secured an 
|mo specimen which is now almost full grown and 
perfect plumage. It is snow white, with pink eyes. I 
fe seen albinos of other species, but never of a robin, 
is a rara avis, E. N. 
Mink and Grouse* 
Morristown, Ni J. —Editor Forest and Stream: Your 
paper is received with pleasure at my house, and Mr. 
Mather s articles are read with pleasure and profit. I agree 
with him as to the destructiveness of the mink. What 
was said about minks in the issue of July 30 reminds 
me of the following incident: Together with my son 
I was following the track of a mink up a little brook, 
the ground being covered with snow, and came to where 
the track turned abruptly away from the stream and led 
to a brush heap about 25 or 30ft. distant. On the brush 
heap were scattered the feathers of a ruffed grouse. 
I he track led back to the brook and on up. Evidently 
the mink had scented the grouse from the brookside. and 
must have been pretty hungry, as none of the flesh was 
left C. M. Phillips. 
fog md 
Indian Modes of Hunting, 
IE, — Foxes. 
The fox as a rule is a most wily animal, and numerous 
are the stories of his cunning toward the Indian hunter 
with his steel traps. 
Starvation makes them catch in deadfalls, but they 
must be very starved indeed before they pull a piece of 
frozen bait and have a weight fall on their back. The 
skins of foxes killed during starvation are never so 
valuable, as the hair then lacks the rich gloss. When 
small game is plenty, such as rabbits and partridges, 
and foxes are few, the skins are of a deep richness not 
seen under other circumstances. 
There are several different and. distinct colors of foxes 
of the north country. They are all of the same family, 
with the single exception of the white or arctic fox. 
These, apart from their difference of color, differ very 
much in their characteristics. They are not cunning; 
on the contrary, they are positively stupid. They wtll 
readily catch in deadfalls, and will walk into an open un- 
covered steel trap in daylight! Again the flesh of the 
arctic fox is eaten as readily as that of the hare or 
white partridge; all other foxes are carrion; even a 
starving Indian would give them the go-by. 
Of the other or true fox we have many colors and 
shades of color, and I give them in their cash 'value 
rotation, beginning with the black or pole fox: First, 
black or pole; second, black silver; third, silver gray' 
fourth, black cross; fifth, dark cross; sixth, ordinary 
cross; seventh, light cross; eighth, dark blue (i. e., lead 
color); ninth, light blue; tenth, bright red; eleventh, 
light red; twelfth, arctic white; thirteenth, pale red. 
Number thirteen is the poorest quality of the fox 
family, and is worth less than the arctic white fox. 
January is the best month for trapping. First, because 
the fur is then at its primest, and second, food is harder 
to get and the fox consequently more likely to enter 
a trap. ,^ 
Oi course any number of trap will catch a fox, but 
not every trap will hold him. There is such a thing 
as the trap being too large and strong, as well as too 
small and weak! When too large and strong it. catches 
too high up the leg, and being too strong it breaks 
the bone at the same time; and then in cold weather 
it's only a question of a few minutes for the frozen 
skin and muscles of the leg to be twisted off and Master 
Fox runs away on three legs, ever after to be too cun- 
ning to be caught in a trap, On the other hand, if the 
trap is too small and weak it catches the fox by the toes, 
and he either pulls his foot clear at once or the toes, be- 
coming frozen and insensible to feeling, are twisted 
off; and this, if anything, is a harder fox to circumvent 
than the one with half a leg. 
The proper trap to use is a Newhouse No. 2. When 
properly set it catches just above all the fingers, as it 
were, or where the paw or foot would correspond with 
the thick part of the hand. There there is a good,- solid 
hold of muscles, sinews, etc. There, once the jaws are 
fixed, they hold the fox to the death. 
Fox hunters are very particular to keep everything 
connected with the trapping away from the house or 
camp, even wearing an outside pair of moccasins, which 
are peeled off and hung up with the snowshoes. 
The hunter generally places his trap or traps on some 
bare point jutting out into the lake, or some narrows, 
or near a clump of willows at the edge of barren grounds] 
or any other place his judgment tells him a fox is likely 
to pass. The fewer signs the better; therefore instead 
of the chain being tied to a picket, a stick 4 or 5ft. 
long is slipped through the ring on the chain up to the 
middle. Here it is securely fastened, so that it won't slip 
either way. A trench the length of. the stick is cut down 
in the snow with the head of the axe, and the pole laid 
therein about a foot beneath the surface. Snow is 
then piled in and the whole packed hard. 
The trap is now opened, and the snow packed down 
with the back of the man's mitt, large enough to lay the 
trap and spring therein. The trap is now open and about 
2in. lower than the surrounding snow. The hunter now 
begins carefully to lay five flat balsam bows or clusters 
of needles from the palate out to the jaws until the 
whole is covered; then very gently he either dusts light 
snow over this until it has the same appearance as the 
rest or he takes up two large pieces of frozen snow 
and rubs them together over the trap until all is cov- 
ered. 
Chopped up frozen meat or fish, a sunply of which 
the trapper is provided with, is now sprinkled or thrown 
about, beginning 1.5 or 20ft. off and gradually getting 
more plentiful as the trap is neared. 
With a brush broom the hunter dusts his snowshoe 
tracks full as he recedes from the trap until he is off 
30 or 40ft.; after that no further precaution is necessary 
for an ordinary fox. But for an extraordinary one I 
could relate a hundred different ways of setting traps and 
bait to overreach the wily old fellow; but. in most cases' 
it is time wasted, the fox eating the bait and turning the 
traps over night after night, much to the vexation of 
the hunter. 
It is a pretty sight to see a black or silver gray 
tox jumping m a trap on the pure white snow. I went 
one time with Wa-sa-Kejic to see his traps in the 
barren grounds back of the post. I was following in 
his snowshoe tracks steadily, and we were just topping a 
small swell m the country, here and there clumps of 
black widows. All at once he stopped so suddenly in 
his tracks that I fell up against him. 
'There," he said, "look at that!" My eye followed 
his finger, ai.d there, jumping and struggling to get, 
away, was a large black fox! 
"Let me shoot him," I exclaimed, drawing my gun 
cover as I spoke. 
"Oh no," he replied, "we will only do that if he pulls 
himself clear of the trap." And with that he drew his 
belt axe and walked with a steady step down on the 
fox. The closer he -got the more the fox struggled but 
he was well and freshly caught, and the trap held' him 
fast. 
Wa-sa-Kejic gave him a tap on the nose with the helve 
of the axe, which had the effect of stunning him. The 
Indian then seized him with his left hand by the throat 
and with his right hand felt for his heart; this he 
drew gradually down toward the stomach until the heart 
strings gave way; there was a quiver, and the fox was 
thrown down on the snow limp and dead. 
What a pleased look the Indian wore as he stood 
there, evidently oblivious to my presence for the mo- 
ment, as he gazed down on the most valuable skin it was 
possible for him to trap. What a number of necessaries 
and luxuries this would procure for his family. He 
would get from the factor at the post $80 for that one 
single skin! What a number of any other skins it would 
take to amount to that sum! 
Martin Hunter 
Woodcock and Plover. 
One sultry afternoon the last day of July, 189-, a gun- 
ning skiff rowed out from the Pennsylvania shore of the 
broad Delaware, with three men and a veritable boat 
load of miscellaneous articles. They had not far to go, 
for their objective point was a graceful little sloop yacht 
lying about 200yds. out in the stream, and glad were 
the occupants of the skiff that the distance was no 
greater, for they were anything but comfortable amid 
the confusion of guns, bags, boxes, baskets of fruit, and 
a big chunk of ice amidships wrapped in blankets and 
newspapers. 
On the last seat sat the rower, there being no other 
seat available. He was a typical Delaware River man — 
fisherman and gunner— employed to take charge of the 
yacht Signet, to which our party were rowing. Of 
medium height and size, wiry and bronzed by continued 
life on the river, such is a brief description of Carmen, 
one of the best shots, undoubtedly the best plover 
hunter in the country, and considered by his present 
employers an invaluable assistant in the field, and the 
best of company on a yacht. 
On the extreme stern of the skiff, with one leg along 
the gunwale and the other stuck out over the baggage, 
was Bill, the youngest of the party. He was one of 
those overgrown boys that are sometimes termed all 
legs, and his were certainly long as well as remarkably 
thin, albeit straight, and as had been shown on many a 
shooting trip, strong and tough enough to carry their 
owner as far as the next man. Bill was an enthusiastic 
sportsman, a hard worker, a tolerable shot, and was not 
easily discouraged, but always extremely elated over any 
success, no matter how small. 
At the bow was the Colonel, a man of medium size 
and some ten years older than Bill. He was the best 
hunter, the best shot, and the life of the party; in fact, 
most every time he spoke the others had to smile, and 
when he told one of his famous stories after supper Bill 
would almost go into hysterics, while Carmen would 
chuckle to himself at intervals for an hour afterward. 
The only other occupant of the boat was Ready, Bill's 
Irish setter, of whom we will have more to say later. 
By the tkne Carmen had melted an indentation in his 
icy seat, the skiff lad reached the yacht, so our sports- 
men jumped, and while Carmen put the things aboard 
they went below to change their city clothes for some- 
thing cooler and more appropriate for shooting. 
By the time they got under way the sun was scarcely 
two hours from The horizon, and as the wind was very 
light they calculated by the time they reached the mouth 
of Sculitown Creek on the Jersey shore there would be 
little more than an hour of daylight remaining in which 
to shoot. In addition to this it was apparent that on 
the high water they would have a thunderstorm; and so 
it proved, for hardly bad they come to anchor in the 
creek before ffce wind came out in puffs from the north- 
west, and the heavy clouds above them burst with all 
the fury of an August thunder gust. 
But the rain made no difference to either the Colonel 
or Bill; in fact, the change in the weather made it more 
pleasant for their work. As the time was short, leaving 
Carmen to prepare supper, they jumped in the skiff, 
called Ready after them, and rowed up the creek a quar- 
ter of a mile to the end of a row of willows which grew 
at the end of the fast land, and between it and the marsh 
along the river. 
Here was what is termed a rift, which is the collection 
of driftwood and debris left by the tide at high water. 
This rift was in some places right under the willows, 
in others 20yds. further out toward the river, and on 
both sides was it hemmed in by cat-tails and reeds. In 
dry season the woodcock, not finding the woods suffi- 
ciently moist, come down to such places as this, where 
the high tides keep the ground damp and succulent, 
and here they are often shot in considerable numbers, 
there being but a' limited amount of space to hunt over, 
as the rift is seldom 10yds. wide, and the birds come 
out of the cat-tails and from under the willows at night 
to feed on the more open ground. 
The evening of which we now speak was particularly 
favorable, for the reason the tide, now high, would drive 
in any birds there might be on the marsh outside the rift, 
while the thunderstorm had made it appear as if the sun 
had set already, thereby having a tendency to bring 
the birds out from under the willows at an earlier hour 
than usual; and so it was that our sportsmen started up 
