18B 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[March ii, rSgp. 
Skunk Lore« 
BarrEj Vt., March i. — Editor Forest and Stream: As 
several writers have given in their testimony on the antics 
and habits of this "varmin," I wish to add my youthful 
experience and observation of it. 
The old theory of holding ,the skunk by the tail to 
avoid scenting originated, it is said, with the Indians, and 
their favorite method of catching it was for one to ad- 
vance in front, keeping the finger rapidly moving in a 
circle, while a second individual approach it in the rear, 
and quickly grasped its tail and raised it from the ground. 
By following this method my brother found himself in 
full possession of a real live skunk, and it was carried 
some distance without scenting. But while held m an 
off-hand position with a .32 caliber cartridge in its 
brain, it discharged its fluid as effectually as if on the 
ground. Therefore we no longer follow this Indian 
method. 
Skunks captured in box traps and sunk carefully be- 
neath the water and drowned, seldom scent. A good 
method of removing them from the cellar or room is to 
chloroform them; this can be easily done without any 
danger. My experience makes it evident that skunks 
seldom use their weapon against one of their family, for 
during the rutting season I have found them killed in the 
traps by one of their kind. Some skunks are more 
"touchy" than others, so to speak. While one will allow 
you to drag it a long distance, another wnll not permit 
you to touch even the chain of the trap without scenting. 
It also seems that a skunk that gets hurt or into trouble, if 
in no way associated with an enemy, seldom scents. 
Again, I know a party who captured fifteen in a dead fall 
— not a log trap, but a flat stone jplaced upon edge and 
set with a figure 4 — ^not one of the lot scented, and the 
slcins were as clean to handle as a fox's pelt. B. A. E. 
The Lirmaean Society of New Yotk. 
Regular meetings of the Society will be held in the 
American Museum of Natural History on Tuesday even- 
ings, March 14 and 28, at 8 o'clock. 
March 14. — Annual meeting. Election of ofiicers for 
ensuing year. 
Eugene Smith.— "The Turtles and Lizards of the 
Vicinity of New York city." 
March 28. — Ernest Ingersoll. "Scenery and Life in 
British Columbia." 
By Members.— "The Warblers of North Arrierica." 
Exhibition of specimens, with discussion of distribution, 
habits, etc., of magnolia, cerulean, chestnut-sided, bay- 
breasted, black-poll and blackburnian warblers. 
Walter W. Granger^ Sec'y- 
American Museum of Natural History. 
>^ni^ 
Proprietors of fishing and hunting resorts will find it profitable 
to advertise them in Fo«est akd Stkkah. 
The Pennsylvania] PLaw. 
Office of the Board of Game Commissioners, Harris- 
burg, Pa., Feb. 28.— Editor Forest and Stream: The 
Game Commission of Pennsylvania, through their secre- 
tary, most- respectfully request that your inliuence be used 
to secure the passage of the three following House bills, 
"An act to make constables fire, fish and game wardens 
ex-officio" ; "An act to correct a supposed defect m the 
present title of our game laws," and "An act appropriat- 
ing money for the enforcement of the game laws," and to 
oppose all other amendments to the said act of 1897, un- 
less the same have the support of this commission, which 
is the representative of organized game protection m the 
State-. , . 
As you are aware, the act of 1897 was the result of over 
two years' labor given the subject of game protection by 
representatives from many organizations for that purpose 
throughout the State, men who realized that something 
must be done, and done quickly, to save the game birds of 
our State, such as the pheasant and turkey, the quail and 
woodcock, and that noble game mammal, the deer, from ab- 
solute extinction, at the hands of the market-hunter with- 
in our borders, and the hordes of hunters from other 
States, as well as the insectiverous and song birds from 
the irresponsible hunter, who, when allowed to carry a 
gun, shot anything and everything that chanced to ap- 
pear before him, whether the same was in season or out 
of season, fit for food or not. The members of these as- 
sociations, composed of judges, lawyers, physicians mer- 
chants, mechanics and farmers, men from all walks ot 
life, numbering at the time of the passage of the act of 
1S97 fully 10,000, and to-day twice that number, in the 
State, and having no interest save the perpetuation of 
these birds and mammals, labored to formulate a bill that 
would accomplish the desired end with the least friction 
in the difffTent sections of the State. After many mcet- 
ino-"; and a tf, trough consideration of all interests, they 
drafted and secured the passage of the present law, which 
they then thought, and still maintain, to be the best law 
for its purpose on the statute books of the common- 
wealth To secure a uniform law it was necessary to give 
and take The representatives of these organizations who 
enjoyed a day in the field with gun and dog (and there 
are many members who never shoot), presented the claims 
of their different localities— those who enjoyed squirrel 
shooting desired the season to open Sept. i, but admitted 
that untold numbers of young pheasants and quail were 
killed by men who ostensibly were hunting squirrels, ihe 
pheasant and quail shooters, especially from the southern 
tier of counties, desired a late season, not eariier than 
Nov 15 but also acknowledged that this was too late for 
successful squirrel hunting, so, to further uniform pro- 
tection, those advocating an eariy opening of the squirrel 
season gave their time, and to allow an equitable adjust- 
ment of the season the pheasant and quail shooters waived 
their claim to the late opening, and Oct. 15 was decided 
upon as the most just to all, thus all questions were settled 
after a careful consideration of the rights and equities of 
the several sections of the State; the time for shooting 
was limited to two months, thus closing the season before 
the snows of winter exposed the retreat of the different 
kinds of game, thus preventing its increased slaughter. 
Evidence from unquestionable authority was presented, 
showing that the market-hunter was the most dangerous 
of all enemies to game ; testimony was produced showing 
that this class of men started with the opening day of 
the season, and canvassed the country with horse and 
wagon until its close, moving as occasion required, and 
killing from forty to seventy pheasants a week, and even 
bej'ond that number. One man was reported to have 
killed ninety-nine pheasants in one week, and another of 
making a total of 1,400 pheasants for the season. Quail 
were slaughtered in the same way. Pheasant's nests were 
found by the aid of dogs, and the eggs sold to photog- 
raphers at high prices, because of the valuable quality of 
their albumen. Evidence was produced showing that when 
the woodcock season opened in July and continued 
through the year, orders for game were received by 
market-hunters to "ship all the woodcock possible, we 
will also take all the young pheasants you can send." 
Deer were killed by the aid of dogs, contrary to existing 
1aAV, and without an effort upon the part of any one to 
prevent it. Because of these facts the clause prohibit- 
ing the sale of pheasants, wild turkeys, quail, woodcock 
and deer was called into being ; the sale of no other species 
of game is prohibited within the State, and the section 
forbidding the shipment of all game out of the State was 
to close the door against possible violations with refer- 
ence to the above named birds and deer. 
Not only is game protected by the act of 1897, but also 
the farmer, who has but short and limited time through 
whicl;i he must contend with irresponsible persons, who 
under the name of hunter, open his gates, destroy his 
fences and shoot his poultry, and for the same reason 
reduces the possibility of forest fires that are so frequent- 
\y, whether justly or otherwise, charged to the hunter. 
Reports from all over the State indicate that the act 
of 1897 is giving protection to an extent never before 
rbalized in this State, and that game of all kinds, with 
insectivorous and song birds, is on the rapid increase; 
therefore, in the opinion of this commission, the game 
laws of 1897' should not be altered or amended for the 
gratification of the people of any special locality of the 
State, and we therefore ask your help to defeat all meas- 
ures bearing upon this act, except as before stated. 
Joseph Kalbfus, Sec'y of Game Commission. 
Another Old Gun. 
The last time I saw the old gun was on my last brief 
play-spell, back in '97. One barrel is bursted, one ham- 
mer lost, breech shaken, stock all scarred and battered 
with hard usage, but I would not exchange the memories 
connected with that old gun for a pair of Mr. Anybody's 
best make, with all modern contraptions. 
My first endeavors on the hunting field were made 
with a double muzzle-loader, my first day with which 
was devoted to carrying around a loaded but useless 
gun, for, woe inexpressible, I forgot the caps. But soon 
I grew able to be trusted with my father's gun, then a 
fine new shining creation. 
My first ducks fell to the clang of this dear old gun. 
I see yet the excitement with, which my side-partner, 
age sixteen, nashed into the pond waist deep to get 
those four little blue-winged teal. I got 'em all on the 
wing, too, and carefully concealed my intense joy and 
surprise at the two pretty doubles. That was a red- 
letter day — one of those days one never forgets. Ten 
years have gone over my head quicker than the sound 
of those four thrilling splashes. 
The old gun and I passed through many of those de- 
lightful vicissitudes of cold and rain and snow, which we 
never heeded, so long as there was success, and which 
we have long forgotten. But one day — a dreadful day 
I tliought it for a long while — egged on to get out at 
3 o'clock in the morning, a Dutch boy and I went hunt- 
ing on the prairie. We didn't see, hear or believe there 
was anything to shoot till after 10 o'clock; then we 
sighted a flock of mallards on a Httle pond in a hollow. 
He went one side and I crept flat on my face down a 
little, low, stone fence on the other. Three hundred 
yards on my stomach through a muddy field, and the 
old gun and I are within range. I jump to my feet, yell, 
end as the fluttering, splashing crew of green birds rise 
I fire twice right into the brown. Not a thing results 
except accelerated speed on the part of that beggarly lot 
ot measly ducks. With rage I throw the breech open to 
slip in fresh shells and my left hand run against a jagged 
piece of steel; the right barrel had blown out about i4n- 
from the fore end. There had been 3in. of Missouri 
mud in the muzzle, and it couldn't stand the pressure. 
The left barrel, for some mysterious reason, is unhurt. 
My heart was broken. I turned back homeward with- 
out one glance at those cussed birds. My father never 
said a word when I showed him the gun, but gently took 
it and slipped it into- its case. His he^rt was broken, 
too. A 1 , r 
But that didn't finish the old gun. As the loss of an 
arm is said to result in double strength for the other, so 
the left barrel of the best gun in town seemed to have 
acquired double efficiency; it was the deadUest left bar- 
rel I ever knew. And even now, when a third lot of 
shooters, my younger brothers, are learning on the 
old stand-by, that left barrel has lost not a twinkle of its 
old-time power. 
The brightest day of the many bright ones I have to 
look back upon in my hunting experience I had with only 
the poor, old, battered gun as my artilleri^ Nine teal 
a-wing, nine single kills in less than fifteen minutes of a 
sunshiny Octobel" afternoon. My boy's heart had never 
had so glorious a swelling, and my man's heart beats 
faster now. as I think of it. Little thing as it is, when 
one has something like that to think of it makes "chained 
to business" a deal less galling. 
The old gun can't be bought; it has earned its asylum; 
we all of us have killed our game with the Peter's gun, 
and we all wouldn't bear the parting with it. I'd most 
rather shoot the old gun with the useless metal to carry 
than I would the new, shiny, hammerless so lately first 
my own. ^- ^- 
The Storm and the Birds. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
That exquisite gem of art, a stately and intrepid moose 
in that picturesque and vigilant attitude, as if ready to 
cope with any emergency, either to defy an enemy in 
encounter, or to secure safety in flight, arrived at its 
proper destination 25th inst., to be appreciated by the 
recipient, who attributes the delay to the irregularity in 
the mail from the inclemency in the weather. 
The recent unprecedented and continued excessive cold 
weather of 6 to Syi degrees below zero, that prevailed in 
this locality during about the middle of this month, was 
productive not only of many distressing and unpleasant 
features to those residing here, but was somewhat disas- 
trous to game, which suffered from a limited supply of 
available food ; many birds and small animals perished, 
being frozen dead when found. The wind, rain, sleet, 
snow and zero weather combined were destructive to the 
life of the game, as the wind and rain blew and beat out 
the seed, the sleet froze the surface to such an extent 
that it rendered the food inaccessible. The birds and 
animals that survived this arctic condition were not in 
that most excellent condition that would invite the fasti- 
dious palate of an epicure. 
After abatement of the intense cold, and when the 
weather assumed a more temperate character, those who, 
inspired by the zea-l of sport, varied the monotony of the 
times by engaging in a hunt, found in some instances an 
entire small covey of partridges (quail here) frozen in 
groups; and fragments of coveys still in existence. Quite 
large coveys of birds were observed collected together 
when the sleet first began, and those witnessing this spec- 
tacle were animated by that generous impulse to refrain 
from an indiscriminate extermination, possibly with some 
premonition of the fatal vagaries of the weather. Should 
there be no recurrence of similar weather with its sleet 
and snow, there will remain enough birds to .supply a de- 
mand for sport in the future. 
An incident that occurred immediately after the disap- 
pearance of the snow shows the result of the severity of 
the weather. When the hunters with bird dogs and gun 
discovered a covc}^ that was comparatively reduced in 
numbers, the birds at first flew, but afterward their wings 
refused to respond to the effort at flying, and some were 
captured with the hand, the captives being afterward 
liberated. They were in that impoverished condition so 
typical of the birds generally. In this latitude during a 
deep snow many are inclined to devote time in hunting 
rabbits, omitting the dogs, when the snow is unusually 
deep. If they do not find the rabbat in the snow they pur- 
sue him by his tracks to some refuge in a hollow log, hol- 
low tree or "sink hole" in the earth, but after the late 
"crisLs" in the weather, dead rabbits were sometimes 
found occupying their beds. Yet those hunting them 
found them very numerous, but corespondingly poor, al- 
though shrubbery, the sprouts of the sassafras, sumac, 
honey locust and exposed small fruit trees bore witness 
to extensive ravages committed by rabbits. 
Numbers of ja3'birds, woodpeckers, yellow hammers 
and other feathering denizens of the woods did not en- 
dure this extreme condition of the weather, and now 
compose some of the debris accumulated beneath forest 
trees. Many field larks that had selected sequestered re- 
cesses as protection from wintry blasts became victims, 
and these birds are now seen in diminished flocks; the 
smaller birds, whose daily activities are confined to some 
secluded haunt in the grass, died in great numbers ; while 
some doves did not possess that powef of resistance to 
prolong life against the chilly rigors incidental to a month 
of February that will long remain as an episode in the 
history of the weather of this country. W. L. D. 
Lenow, Shelby County, Tenn., Feb. 27. 
Mr. George Dobbin Penniman, president of the Mary- 
land Game and Fish Protective Association, returned yes- 
terday from a gunnnig trip to North Carolina. Mr. Pen- 
niman spent Saturday in the country in southern Mary- 
land. With reference to the partridges in North Caro- 
lina, Mr. Penniman said the recent blizzard was not of 
itself severe enough that far South to kiU many birds„ 
but that while the snow was on the ground colored people 
and others slaughtered the defenseless birds by thousands. 
In some places the birds could be killed with sticks, and 
they were easily trapped or shot. Rabbits suffered like- 
wise, and at one small town below Charlotte, N. C, 
v^rhere Mr. Penniman stayed, 2,ioolbs. of rabbits were 
brought in from the country and sold in one day. 
Mr. Penniman said also that down near Wilmington 
the freezing of the swamps drove the woodcock to the 
waters nearer the ocean, and that 500 were killed in one 
day on one stretch of water near Wilmington. The par- 
tridges were rather scarce and quite thin, Mr. Penniman 
found, near Charlotte, where he was shooting. He said 
that further north in Virginia and Maryland he found 
that the birds had perished in great numbers, because 
of the cold and snow. 
Reports come to Mr. Penniman from the country dis- 
trict in this State that numbers of dead birds are being 
found. He will issue a circular in a few days to the 
game wardens of the State, asking every one to report 
upon the mortality among the birds in his neighborhood. 
When the game association gets some approximate idea 
of what the mortality has been, steps will be taken- to 
remedy the loss of the birds as far as possible, by re- 
stocking the district best adapted to their propagation.— 
Baltimore Sun, Feb. 21. 
March i. — Our big snow (13111- deep) and big freeze 
with minimum" temperature to 3 degrees, which occurred 
here in the middle of February has nearly cleaned out our 
local birds. Where the premises are usually vocal with 
song at this season, I have heard but one solitary w;ren 
since the weather broke. Such warblers and other birds 
as did not freeze and starve were mercilessly shot iv 
hundreds as they shivered and tried to forage on the 
buried seeds and capsules which were shaken off by the 
winds anci snbwed under. I never saw such uncon- 
scionable slaughter by men who call themselves sports- 
men, as here last month. It was enough to break one's 
heart to see the strings of larks and robins and bunches 
of quail which hung in every stall and market. The quail, 
or partridge, as they are called here, were tough and 
