Oct. i8, 1902.] 
FOkSST AND STREAM. 
ao6 
''In Boyhood Days/' 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Under this caption in this week's issue of Forest and 
Stream, Mr. T. J. Chapman has said some very pleasant 
things about the picttirc by my son, published as a supple- 
ment to your admirable paper. 
But I shall have to differ with Mr, Chapman's claim 
that the boy in the foreground is himself, as I know for 
a certainty "that's me" and my little "yaller dog" Ponto. 
Dear old Pcnto was the most enthusiastic squirrel and 
woodchuck dog for his size that I ever saw. He was no 
larger than a pocket beagle, but would tackle any wood- 
chuck that he could get in a stone fence or ledge of rocks, 
and when he treed a black or gray squirrel, he would 
stay at that tree or follow him from tree to isree as long 
as there was any prospects of getting it. 
My father was a country doctor, and Ponto, with his 
running mate. "Old Bull" (a large, white mongrel of 
bulldog and half a dozen other breeds, but the bulldog 
predominated), often followed him into the country. On 
one such trip, when about half a mile from home, they 
chased a woodchuck mto a stone fence beside the road, 
■ and when father returned he found the dogs where he had 
left them, the chuck still "hold ng the fort." Leaving 
his horse in the road, father went to help dislodge Arc- 
iomys monax. The little dog was on the field side of the 
fence at an opening large enough to admit him facing 
the woodchuck. Father removed some stone, which 
enabled the large dog to get a hold on the hindquarters of 
the rodent, which he pulled through the wall with the 
little dog fastened to it ; and then it was "nip and ti:ck" as 
to which ('chuck or little dog) was getting the most of 
the shaking. But enough about the dogs, who died and 
were buried more than half a century ago within twenty 
rods of where these lines are written ; and the wood- 
chucks about here are having a comparatively peaceful 
time, as shoAvn by one of them making hiS home under 
the veranda of a house within ten rods of the Presby- 
terian church that stands at the head of the main street 
of this village (Theresa). (This church was built and 
presented to the Presbyterian Society by the late Roswell 
P. Flower, whose parents were of the original charter 
members in 1828.) 
But to return to "Boyhood Days." Mr. Chapman is 
also mistaken about the gun represented in the picture. 
Originally it was not the "little gun" it looks to be. It 
was _ once fourteen inches longer than when the writer 
carried it. In fact, it was the gun carrjed by the great- 
grandfather of the artist (whose name is in the corner of 
the picture) through the War of the Revolution. Of 
course it was a flintlock then. Afterward it was changed 
to a percussion lock, and just before I commenced to use 
it in the early forties, it was cut off,- restocked and 
changed to a cap lock. Yet it was the same old gun of 
grandfather's. In August, 1852, I loaned it to a country 
boy to shoot ducks in Hyde Lake, two and a half miles 
from the village. A few days later the boy reported that 
he had dropped it from the boat into the lake, After^ 
ward he pa d me the fnunificent sum of $5. Had I it to- 
day I should add two more round figures between the 
five and the period, as its value, with "Not for sale." 
A month ago (more than half a century after tlie gun 
was lost) I was m a boat on Hyde Lake for the first time 
in my life. I saw seven ducks, five of them within reach 
of the old gun. had I had it, and for which I wished. 
As for the stone fence in the picture, that Mr. Chapman 
thinks resembles "Captain Peter's, down by the river," I 
do not deny. I only know that it was changed somewhat 
from the original of which it was rnade, but the near-by 
tree remains the same. J. L. Davison. 
P. S. — To show that the hunting instinct that was in- 
stilled by the old gun sixty years ago (I commenced us- 
ing it when nine years of age) has not diminished, let me 
relate that for the past two weeks a young friend from 
Rochester and myself have been in camp on Red Lake 
alone, except that for three days we had some young 
friends from the village w th us. Most of the time we 
were walking up grouse (we have no dog), of which there 
were plenty. Up to yesterday morning my young friend 
and myself were even as to the number each had killed, 
but yesterday he "wiped my eye," coming in with two at 
noon. I missed the only one I saw during the three 
hours I was out, while my friend reported putting up 
about a dozen. We went separate and in different direc- 
tions. I am not going to report the number we killed, 
suffice to say that we had plenty of grouse in the camp 
from the second day. We also had two gray squirrels, 
of which there are plenty, but we shot only what hap- 
pened to come to us. There has been no frost or heavy 
ra n to disturb the leaves, and the trees are beautiful with 
their green, red and sere brown leaves. 1 have not 
taken a grouse that had not a fair chance of getting away 
on the wing. I have missed many more than I killed, but 
I would rather miss one on the wing than to "pot-shoot" 
it. With the old gun they were always shot on the 
ground or log or from a tree. J. L. D. 
Theresa, N. Y,, Oct. 4. 
The Kinkajou. 
In April last we published a short article about the 
curious kinkajou (Cercoleptes caudivohmlus) , that curi- 
ous animal which was long regarded as one of the lemurs, 
bixt is now placed in that division of the carnivores known 
as Arctoidea; a group which contains the Southwestern 
bassaris, the raccoons, nasuas, bears, otters and weasels. 
It is an extraordinary an mal, whose hands have no 
opposable thumb and whose fingers are webbed for nearly 
their whole length. Nevertheless, it uses its hands much 
as the human being does his. The tongue is long, slim 
and extensive, and can be inserted into small holes in 
search of insects or the honey of bees. Its life is spent 
chiefly in trees. It is a nocturnal animal, and very active 
in the hours of darkness. It is easily tamed, and is said 
to make an mtelligent and affectionate pet, as was shown 
in our issue of April 5, From the London Country 
Gentleman we take the accompanying illustration and 
these observations, contributed by one who has studied 
the kinkajou: 
"Suspended Animation" was the title suggested by a 
contemporary for the portrait of this strangely attractive 
beast, taken in its favorite position of hang.ng by its tail. 
It eats its food and drinks in this inverted pose, which it is 
reported by the Indians to assume when drinking from 
the rivers of the Brazilian forests. The kinkajou descends 
a branch hanging over the water, drops itself to the length 
of its tail, and then laps comfortably like a dog. It has 
the longest tongue, in proportion to its size, of any living 
mammal, the ant-eaters not excepted, and is the only 
creature which habitually climbs up its own tail, or uses 
it as a rope to haul on. The tongue seems practically 
endless, yet it uses it with as much precision as if it were 
a hand. With it it explores all the holes and crevices in 
trees for insects. It will put it out to reach food at a 
THE KINKAJOU. 
distance, as neatly as an elephant does its trunk. If made 
a pet of (and it makes a very charming pet) it will try 
to explore your ear or the space between your neck and 
collar with the same inquisitive organ. In the forests of 
South America and Mexico, Avhich it frequents, it is 
said to feed largely on the honey of the various wild 
bees. The solitary bees which make small nests in holes 
and cracks with a few honey cells, probably suffer most 
from its attacks, for all their care cannot keep out its 
endless exploring tongue. There are other bees, too, 
which make honey, but have no stings, which the 
Brazilians have rather humorously named "Angelitos," 
or angels. The nectar on which these angels feed is, no 
doubt, an easy prey to the keen-scented, night-walking 
kinkajou. In appearance he is one of the most taking of 
all the smaller animals. His fur is like yellowish plush, as 
deep and soft as the wonderful carpets made for the 
central aisle of Westminster Abbey, for the Coronation. 
The hand sinks into it as if it were moss, and the "pile" 
IS so thick and springy that the fur comes back into place 
at once. By day it mainly sleeps. Its eyes dislike the 
light, and the pupils vanish into mere points, but it is by 
no means so great a hater of the day as the lemurs and 
the lorises. If wakened up it will feed and even play. 
But it is at dusk that it wakes up and shows its ac- 
tivity and wonderfully friendly disposition. It is a most 
graceful climber, and swings itself from point to point 
with Its tail. One kept at the "Zoo" used to swing from 
the top of Its cage to any point at which food was offered 
It. It had also a pretty habit of holding the food, which 
it took in the first instance with its tongue, in its' hands 
and eating it with great propriety in the pendent position it 
had just assumed. Swallowing "upward" apparently 
gives It no trouble. When hanging thus it frequently 
holds on to its own tail by its hind feet, just as if the 
tail were a rope detached from its body, which it was 
nervous about lettmg go. In size it is as large as a cat 
but much more strongly built. It is probably quite carni- 
vorous when it gets the chance. A correspondent of the 
Spectator states that one which he kept killed a whole 
brood of young turkeys, and occasionally tried to use its 
teeth on him. 
Blue Fox Raising in Alaska. 
For some years past, efforts have been made to increase 
the production of blue foxes on various Alaskan islands 
by the destruction of male animals only. The blue fox 
is believed to be monogamous, and it has been hoped 
that by artificial selection and environment it might be 
possible to change its habits, so that it would become 
polygamous. If this could be accomplished, a very large 
proportion of the males might be killed each vear, the 
supply of blue fox fur would be materially increased, and 
yet the annual production of young would constantly in- 
crease. 
The Treasury Department has permitted the carrying 
on of extended experiments on the Pribilof Islands, and 
for the last four seasons all females taken in the traps on 
bt. George Island have been released, males only having 
beeti killed. In 1901 an effort was made to ascertain the 
total number of foxes on St. George's. All animals cap- 
tured were marked and released, so that no fox was 
counted twice. According to theory the method prac- 
ticed on this island should have resulted in a great pre- 
ponderance of females, but such excess does not exist, as 
shown by the record of 1901-02, which gives for a total of 
1,304 foxes caught, an excess of only 76 females over 
males. 
If the effort to increase the number of breeding females 
had been successful, and only two young were allowed 
for the increase of each female annually, it is obvious 
that the females would have doubled up every year less 
of course such as died by accident or from natural causes; 
while if seventy-five per cent, of the male increase was 
destroyed, the numbers of that sex would increase very 
slowly. As a matter of fact, it is believed that foxes 
sometimes have ten, twelve or more young ones. 
On the Semidi Islands is a fox colony owned by the 
Semidi Propagating Co., where the foxes are cared for 
and all the females trapped— as well as a certain number 
of the males— are released. Nevertheless the foxes here 
have not increased as they should have done according to 
the figures. Very little is known about the causes which 
keep down the blue foxes, but the observations made 
show clearly that these causes exist, and it is known that 
certain blue foxes bred in the National Zoological Park 
were killed by the parasite Uncinaria. 
We may imagine for the present that the profits of the 
blue fox industry in Alaska will not equal the glowing 
expectations of the enthusiasts who have gone into it. At 
the same time it may be a very profitable and satisfactory 
business. 
The food problem has always been regarded as the most 
important one to be faced in the carrving on of this in- 
dustry. It may be imagined that many other difficulties 
stand in the way of the fox breeder, as has been found • 
true m the case of persons who have endeavored to breed 
other fur-bear.ng animals for profit. 
About Sea-Gulls. 
Prom Cornwall Simeon's 'iStray Notes on Sea Fishing and 
Natural History," 
Sea gulls I have heard, which had been caught 
young, and tamed, have continued to keep up their 
intimacy with those who reared them after they had 
gained the full use of their wings and were at perfect 
liberty; though they took advantage of it tn go away 
every year at the breeding season, and might have been 
supposed to have entirely resumed their natural habits 
Both of these instances occurred in the Isle of Wight- 
one at Calbourne, where I well remember "Old iPhil" 
as he was called, year after year, sailing over the village 
green and alighting on a low wall at the grocer's shop 
from which he used to be fed with bits of cheese of 
which he was very fond, and other similar dainties The 
other instance was near Sea View, where, I am informed 
the gull used to return in the same way, his former tame- 
ness not appearing to have been at all affected by his 
temporary retirement into wild life. Not the least re- 
markable part of the history of these birds is that dur- 
ing the breeding season, each of them occasionally 
brought his mate with him to introduce her to his old 
friends and to invite her to partake of their hospitalitv 
I dont think, indeed, that "Old Phil" ever prevailed on 
his better half to come and share his cheese, but she 
used to keep him company into the village, and some- 
times amuse herself in a pond hard by, while he went to 
,pay his accustomed visit to the grocer. In the other 
case, near Sea View, my informant tells me the wild 
gull used to come up and feed with the tame one under 
his dining-room windows, though she would not ap- 
proach quite close so long as anyone was visible at tbein 
but sat on the grass plat a short distance off, or hovered 
round until the coast seemed clear. 
Perhaps there is naturally less fear of man enter- 
tained by gulls than by most other birds. One can 
scarcely be for a few hours at sea, or by the water in a 
harbor town, without some of them, from curiosity or 
ca^lessness, coming round so close to one as to afford 
sufficient proof of this. On one occasion while fish- 
ing at some distance outside the harbor at Stornoway 
I threw over, foul-hooked, and brought into the boat' 
with a short cuddy rod and line, which happened to be 
on board, two gulls, as they flew round close to us 
allured by the hope of a share in our fish The first' 
when released, not having exhibited the slightest fear' 
but continued to hover round us, closer, if anything' 
than before, as if he fancied he had then a snecial claim 
to our attention, I thought on catching the second I 
would see to what extent he might be disposed to enter- 
tain friendly relations toward us. AccordincrLv I took 
him in my lap, and offered him some nice bits of fish 
At first ne professed to be angry, and pecked at my 
fingers instead of the fish, as if to ask whether I thought 
It possible that he would condescend to accept my dona- 
tions under J^straint._ However, having accidentally- 
on-purpose,^ hold of a piece of the fish, down it went- 
and, apparentTy thmking that under the circumstances 
he might do worse, he set to work with no ill will o? 
appetite and soon got through a good part of a had- 
dock. 1 hen, however, whether from eating too fast or 
from his position being uncomfortable, or perhans from 
a feeling that he had been compromising his dfgni^- 
