Ai'Wi. 15, 1899.] 
28S 
found with porcupine quills in their bodies and mouths, 
but probably onl}- as pickers at the fcai>l of sonic larger 
carnivore or victim of a collision with the porcupine 
among the rockj^ retreats which both inhabit. It is noc 
likely that the human consumption of porcupines for food 
will greatly lessen their numbers. Anj^one taking ihc 
care and trouble to skin one, however, will find a welJ- 
cooked October porcupine that has been fattening on 
acorns and chestnuts both palatable and nourishing food. 
Many a hunter and lumberman's camp in the north woods 
would have sadly suffered for meat if this source of supply 
had not been available. 
Though an indifferent climber, from the standpoint of 
agility, the porky, as he is called by woodmen, spends a 
large share of its time in trees, the twigs, nuts and bark 
of which form its chief food. In securing these its mo- 
tions remind one of those of a black bear in similar posi- 
tions, only the bear is by far the more adroit of the two. 
One habit of the porcupine which I observed last fall m 
the Pennsylvania Alleghenies not only reminded me of a 
custom of the bear, but also of the prodigality or vandal- 
ism of the squirrel, to which most agile creature, by the 
way, our sluggish porcupine is not so distantly related. I 
was hunting for bear signs and came across a large r^d 
oak which had been ascended by some animal, apparently 
a yearling bear, in search of acorns. The ground was 
strewn with acorn shells and oak twigs from i to :]h. 
long, which had evidently been dropped from the topmost 
branches. I was surprised that bruin could execute such 
adroit pruning feats without breaking down some of the 
larger limbs. A few days later, in company with a native 
hunter, my attention was directed to another sturdy red 
oak which had a cartload of these terminal branches, each 
THE TREE VORCUPINE. 
nearly severed as if by a knife, strewn below it. My com- 
panion assured me that it was done by a porcupine and 
that it'w-as a common habit with them. He stated that 
it was not always done to get at the acorns, but that they 
often seemed to do it for amusement or to keep their in- 
cisor teeth from growing too long. Sometimes trees with- 
out acorns were treated in the same way, and in most 
cases only a small percentage of the nuts were devoured. 
While a porcupine has no agUity, it has strength, and 
its powerfully hooked claws and coarsely granulated foot- 
pads give it a very tenacious hold upon the trunk or 
smaller branches of a tree. In securing these slender ter- 
minal twigs they gather two or more limbs together, and, 
if necessar3^ climb out body downward like a stock umil 
near the end of the branch and then bend the limb in- 
ward by means of the strong feet and claws within reach 
of the formidable teeth, severing it with two or three 
diagonal bites and letting it fall to the ground. In secur- 
ing the bark of birch, pine and hemlock, they climb often 
to great heights, usually girdling the main trunks at cor.- 
siderable elevation where they can sit on a limb to do so, 
gnawing away the bark and outer wood in the form of a 
band from four inches to a foot wide. This band rarely 
encircles the tree at any point, and consequently their 
gnawing is not so destructive as if the stem were com- 
pletely girdled. Samuel A. Rhoads. 
Reindeef in Sweden. 
Consul-General Winslow, of Stockholm, under da.e 
of March 3, 1899, says, in part: The only food given 
reindeer in Sweden is "reindeer moss," a hchen highiy 
prized by the Laps, growing abundantly in the Arctic 
regions, almost as luxuriantly on the bare rocks as in the 
soil. It covers extensive tracts in Lapland, making the 
landscape in summer look like a lield of snow. The do- 
mesticated reindeer are never as large as the wild ou'is; 
Siberian reindeer, domesticated, are larger than those of 
Lapland. No care is taken of the deer; they thrive best 
by being permitted to roam in droves and o"btain their 
own sustenance. The moss is capable of being used for 
human food; the taste is slightly acrid. Attempts have 
been made to feed hay, roots, grain, etc., to the reindeer, 
but they have not succeeded. 
Near Bangor, Me., farmer George W. Brown chopped 
down a large dead hollow pine tree for fuel, which as U 
fell divided into halves, and there in the cavity lay eight 
fat coons snugly housed away for the winter. Further 
up in the trunk were two more coons while in the stump 
was a 50-pounder, the biggest and fattest of the lot. 
Brown thus got, besides, two cords of dry wood, over 
2Co!b5. of ccon meat, — Mcthuen (Mass,) Tratiscript. 
* * Nature^s Compasses. ' ^ 
About a year ago Mr. G. W. Dearborn wrote an articic 
with this title, in which he pointed out various peculiarities 
of trees by observing which one could travel in the woods 
without the help of a compass. Although I had traveled 
the woods of Maine for over fifty years, and often in 
company with as good woodsmen as there are, I had never 
been observing enough to notice any of these signs my- 
self, and had never, among all the hunters I had known, 
heard anyone .speak of being guided by any of them. I 
thought I would give his theory a fair trial before deciding 
on its merits. 
For nearly a year I have observed as closely as I am 
able, over a large tract of country, and among all kinds 
of growth, and the results are as follows: Mr. Dearborn 
states that the tops of cedar and hemlock always point to- 
ward the south. I find that they usually point straight up 
and when otherwise are as likely to point to one point of 
the compass as another. If they all pointed as he claims, 
they would be of little help, as in such places as they 
grow, it is extremely hard to see their tops even in the 
clearest weather, and in rain or snowstorms, which are 
the times when one most needs direction, they could not 
possibly be seen. He states that trees have more and 
larger limbs on the south side. I have tested this in 
scores, if not hundreds of places, in every kind of growth 
we have in Maine, and I find there is no reliance to be 
placed in it. Trees throw out the largest and most 
branches on the side where there is the most room for 
them to spread. If trees stand alone with room 011 all 
sides, most kinds branch out quite evenly on all sides, 
especially fir and spruce, but when crowded on one side 
and there is room on the other, they naturally reach out 
toward the open space. If a road runs east and west the 
trees on the north side will have the longest branches to- 
ward the south ; those on the south side will branch most 
toward the place, wdiere they have the most room to 
spread and grow without any regard to the points of the 
compass. Probably at first, about an equal number of 
branches start to grow on each side, but those on the side 
where there is the least room either die or are stunted 
in their growth, while those on the side where there is 
plenty of room receive all the nourishment which other- 
wise would have helped the others grow, and so are 
larger and stronger. 
Another point made is that trees have more moss on the 
north side than on the south. I find that this depends a 
great deal as to whether the tree is situated in a con- 
tinuous growth or is more exposed on one side. The ex- 
posed side, no matter how it faces, is most likely to have 
the most moss. I know where there is a long row of 
maples by the roadside, which are equally exposed on all 
sides, but every tree is mossed up on the south side. I 
think this is owing to their being on a southern slope of 
land and probably face the south wind more than any 
other. Trees exposed on lake shores will moss most on 
the exposed side. The same is true on the side of bogs 
and mountains, those trees most exposed will mo.ss up the 
most and usually on the exposed side. In the solid woods 
some have little moss and some a great deal. A. sickly 
or dying tree, often has more moss than the same tree 
would if healthy. As a rule I find that tho.se trees, espe- 
cially hardwood trees, if crooked, have the most moss on 
the concave side; as the crook holds moisture and so en- 
courages the growth of moss, while the outward bend 
sheds off the wa,ter. and consequently is apt to be free of 
moss. I do not believe that any man who is uncertain 
about his direction will ever get any help from observing 
which side of a tree is mossed up. If anyone thinks dif- 
ferently, let him give it a fair trial on different slopes of 
land where he knows the points of the compass and see 
how much it would help him if he were lost. 
It is also stated that the needles of the pines are longer 
on the south side. Now if a man were lost in our Maine 
woods, the chances are very small that he would be where 
he could find any pine small enough so that he could gee 
the needles, but I tested this till I was tired on our white 
pine needles and have been \-ery exact about it. Any one 
who will test it will find that the needles on the white 
pine tassel are never of the same length on all parts of 
the tassel. Those at the base are the longest, and grow 
shorter toward the end. In order to test fairly, the 
needles to be measured tnust come from the same rela- 
tive oosition in the tassel, on both sides of the tree. 1 
haA-e in all cases taken a tassel from the north side by 
the compass, and one from the south side, then I have 
measured a needle from the base of one tassel, with one 
from a corresponding place on the other: then I have 
measured one from tlie end of each. In the many cases 
I have measured I have never, but in a single instance, 
found any ditfcrence. In this one case that on the north 
side was the longest. 
It is also stated that the gum will be clearer on the 
south side. Avhile that on the north will be darker and 
lure more insects to it. As all the trees we have in Maine 
which has much gum is the spruce, I suppose that he re- 
fers to that tree. In the summer time on a hot day the grtm 
on the south side of a tree would be apt to be softer, but 
the time when men need help to find their way is not in 
a bright day, but cloudy at best, and more likely in rain 
or snowstorms, and then all gum would be hard. As to 
its clearness on different sides, I have talked with one of 
two men who have just brought in 6oolbs. of spruce gum 
and he has not seen this difference or anything which 
would help a man if lost. He says as I do, that owing to 
gum inJiot days being softer on the south side that more 
insects get stuck on that side than on the north. There 
is another thing which probably Mr. Dearborn did not 
think of. It is very seldom that one finds gtmi on botli 
sides of a tree except on an old spotted line, and then 
they are as likely to be east and west sides as north and 
south, to say nothing of the fact that in some cases a 
man might travel for hours where he could not see a 
particle of gum on any side of a tree. There are several 
points which Mr. Dearborn mentioned, but I find them all 
as unreliable as those cited. No man who is fit to travel 
alone in our Maine woods, needs any help in keeping his 
way in a clear sunshiny day. When it is cloudy, or what 
is worse, a rain, or thick snowstorm, he had better de- 
pend on a compass if he feels the need of heln, as T do 
not believe any of the things named will be of the least 
as.sistancc. 
LTntil something more reliable is discovered than any of 
the points of "Nature's Compasses," wliich Mr. Dearborn 
describes, it will be safer for any one traveling Maine 
woods, who tieeds any help, to stick to the old-fashioned 
compass. I remember hearing of an old Irishman who tried 
lo ship as a sailor, when asked, "EJo you know the point;? 
of the compass?" replied. "It is not only a compass that I 
have, but a pair of thim. that me brother Tim, the car- 
penter, left me when he died. But the divil of a point is 
left to thim, for the childers broke thim off boring holes 
in the flures wid "em," If nature ever had any compasses 
the points must have all been broken off before she got 
to Maine. M. Hardy. 
0mr(e ^dg dtrd 0un, 
Game Laws in Brfef and "Woodcraft Magazine. 
See announcement elsewhere. The April number is now ready. 
Man and Other Animals. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Some expressions in Mr. Hough's last interesting con- 
tribution on the subject of game protection lead me to 
put into words some reflections that have frequently 
passed through my mind, and doubtless through the 
minds of many others. I quote from Mr. Hough's article ; 
"Warden Osborn (of Michigan) has on the whole a 
sad story to tell about his game and fish. He says that 
squirrels and rabbits are less each year, that the fur- 
bearing animals are decreasing, that the bear is disap- 
pearing, that the wolverine is practically extinct, that the 
elk and wild turkeys have disappeared. He cites the 
killing of one moose in Mackinac county last fall, but 
learns of no caribou." 
The question to be asked is this : Amid that gloomy 
array of desolation in the game resorts of Michigan, why 
was that last lone moose destroyed? The inference is 
that if there had been one caribou left, and its destruc- 
tion could have been compassed, the caribou would have 
gone the way of the moose. 
One is reminded of the "widow woman" of Zarephath, 
who said to Elijah, "I have not a cake, but an handful of 
meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse; and be- 
hold, I ani gathering two sticks, that I may go in and 
dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die." 
It is not assumed as literally true, that the last moose 
and caribou in that part of Michigan have been destroyed. 
But the above episode is taken by way of illu.stration, "to 
point a moral" if not "adorn a tale." Not infrequentlv 
has been seen in print, some such statements as the fol- 
lowing: "Mr. Brown reports that he saw last week a 
remnant of the once numerous llocks of wild pigeon, the 
first that haA^e been seen in these parts for many years. 
There were seven pigeons in this flock. Mr. Brown suc- 
ceeded in securing three of them." 
Or this: "A few days ago a deer was discovered in 
Black township, the first one seen in this county for 
many years. Several of the neighbors gave chase, and 
succeeded in killing it. The animal was a large doe, in 
good condition." 
Or this: "Early last week a wild deer came up to 
farmer Sntith's barn with the cattle. This is a remark- 
able occurrence, as no deer have been seen in this part 
of the State for at least twenty years. Mr. Smith was 
fortunate enough to kill the deer, which proved to be very- 
fat. The animal was qttite tame, which gave rise to the 
.suggestion that it might have escaped from captivity." 
And so on, luI nauseam. I presume that most of your 
readers will recognize the above as familiar specimens. 
Last fall my family took up their abode in a house in 
Memphis, Tennessee. There are some fine old forest trees 
in the yard and those adjoining. Early one morning 
my ears' were greeted with the familiar sound of a squir- 
rel's teeth on the shell of a nut. I soon discovered a 
couple of gray bunnies in a black walnut tree in my 
neighbor's yard. They continticd to be a .source of de- 
light to us, until the Christmas holidays, wdien, during 
the general license prevailing in the use of explosives, 
some boys shot both of the squirrels. What a great loss 
for so small a gain ! 
Now. brother sportsmen, let us enter into a little whole- 
some self-examination. The "epithets," "game hog," 
"trout hog." have been much discussed of late in the col- 
umns of F0KE.ST AND Stream. Likewise, many brave 
narrations have appeared in its columns, reciting enor- 
mous quantities of game and fish destroyed by sports- 
men in \arious parts of the land, Avitli much self-ap- 
|)ro\';\l. Occasionally there is evidence of self-restraint, 
but not often. We can all see clearly enough the "game 
hog" in others, bttt can we see him in ourselves? "Oh 
wad son'c power the giftie gie us," etc. 
Now let us ail lay our hands upon our hearts and re- 
]jeat after nte this formula: "If I should see a remnant 
of seven wild pigeons in my neighborhood. I woidd not 
shoot one of them. 
"If a <leer shotdd come up to my barn with my cows 
(or any other man's barn), and was in easy range, I 
would not shoot it. 
"If an eagle should light on a tree near me, and I had 
a gun in my hand, I would not kill it. 
"If I were in a hunting party in the Rocky Mountains 
and had a chance to kill ten elk, I would kill only two or 
three. 
"If I had a chance to kill twenty-six ducks, I would 
stop at twenty-five. 
"If I had a chance to catch one hundred sib. trout, f 
would stop when I had caught looTbs. 
"If game should become very scarce in my neighbor- 
hood. I would refuse to kill any more until the supply 
was increased." 
Can we all repeat the above sentences with clear con- 
.sciences? T do not quote, with Mr. L. A. Childress, "He 
that is without sin among you let him first cast a stone." 
But I say. we are all rank sinners (or the majority of us). 
Let us all pelt one another roundly tmtil we all show 
marked inqirovement in our habits. 
Man has inherited from his remote ancestors tvv-o very 
powerful instincts. One is to "look out for number 
one" first of all. The other, to kill— bipeds, quadrupeds 
