S44 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. I, 1902. 
and I made up my mind to send them all to you if I 
could manage it, but tliey said at the house that I could 
rot possibly do it as the weather was so warm and the 
distance so great. I was dreadfully disappointed. 1 
fisheil until noon and had thirty-eight. Uncle said : 
"Thai's a good catch, but last year they ran about as big 
as your largest one." 1 was satisfied, however, and pretty 
proud of my morning's success. I_ don't exaggerate one 
bit when I say there are thousands of trout in that 
stream. The folks about here don't tiiink as much of the 
fresh- water trout as they do of the salt-water ones caught 
in the river below the dam. 
I am going back to town now, and leave to-morrow for 
home. I shall be glad to get back only for one reason. 
Can you guess? Diana. 
Pacific Coast Items. 
NoRDHOFF, Cal. — Whatever may have been the case in 
other parts of Ventura county, the first day of the quail 
season passed off very quietly in the Ojai Valley, and 
though it is now the second Aveek in October, they are 
still comparatiAfcly fearless. The pot-hunter has found 
that the coveys here escape to the hills on the first or 
second flight, so he hunts where extermination can be 
more readily accomplished. A hunter can have good 
shooting, though if he hunt along the base of the hills in 
the afternoon, at which time the birds come down on the 
level to feed, as by walking fast he Avill have continuous 
sport till nightfall. Residents who have lived here a long 
while say that the quail are finer and more plentiful in the 
Ojai at present than for years. 
Over abundance of this game, however, is declared to 
have caused a protest in various sections against the law 
as now enforced. Many of the ranchers in the northern 
part of Santa Barbara county, so the game warden tells 
us, complain that their late grain crops and the vineyards 
were injured through September by quail, and ask that 
the season be made a month longer. It would be unfair 
to discredit this reputed sentiment, there being no other 
m.eans to establish its truthfulness, but there must have 
been a recent change among he ranchers, for all of them 
used to be on the alert to protect their quail. When your 
correspondent made a trip up that way late in August 
two years ago, though he was not at all disposed to violate 
the law .in any manner, acqiiaintances warned him at 
every turn that he must not dare to shoot quail, that 
every person within miles was on the lookout, and the 
most conspicuous objects he observed were the trespass 
notices. Some of the ranchers maj' feel aggrieved now 
that the Avarden has also watched them closely. 
Though in rare instances complaint has been made wath 
regard to the stringency of the protective law and the ex- 
pense of employing wardens, so far as an observer can 
judge there exists a sentiment nearly unanimous through- 
out southern California favorable to close preservation of 
game and its propagation, or to stocking the suitable 
waters with fish, for climate and other features here actu- 
ally compel hunting of every sort and whipping the 
streams. The few ranchers who' wish a retrograde policy 
adopted that would soon mean the loss of these amuse- 
ments, if they realize how strongly the country boy or 
the best hired' help is attracted to city employment, should 
rather try by every means to make ranch life enjoable. A 
more intelligent feeling is noticeable in the Ojai. Nearly 
every rancher or his son is a crack shot. Homes seem 
private armories. What that up to date rifle or hammer- 
less has accomplished with game would astonish you. 
Remoteness of our place from the ducking country 
makes news concerning that class of sport hard to obtain, 
occasionally some minor item comes to hand. Early in 
the summer one of the Los Angeles cliibs with privileges 
on the coast had to pay for flooding celery ranches near 
its preserve, and for a while it looked as if all the clubs 
would be compelled through the courts to come down 
heavily, but a compromise must have been effected, as no 
more suits have been reported. Preparation for the sea- 
son had been made by sportsmen and the counties. The 
latter appointed a great many additional deputies to serve 
v,'here most likely to be needed. The best duck shooting- 
will not come until severe weather induces migration 
south. 
The State hatchery of California has been engaged for 
the past month in distributing black bass for propagation. 
Lots are not large in number, but the average length is 
better than six inches. Consignments have been made in 
many instances to the different protective associations that 
these might place the spawn in suitable water. The club 
St Arroyo Grande, in San Luis Obispo county, retained a 
few fish of its consignment to show at the local fair and 
turned the others loose in Black Lake, near town. The 
shipment to Needles Avent into the Colorado River at a 
point near the Santa Fe bridge. Our southern waters 
contain only trout spaAvn, for minnows and frogs are 
scarce; only a few fish are being introduced at any one 
point; otherwise the conditions are favorable for the pres- 
ent effort at stocking with bass. The pool-like formation 
of all California water courses would seem a great ad- 
vantage. 
Result of bounty legislation has now caused no little 
consternation in Oregon. Mandamus proceedings Avill 
soon be begun in Klamath county, just north of thq Cali- 
fornia line, to compel payment of a five-dollar bounty upon 
five hundred covote scalps held in the clerk's office. These 
claims had always been alloAved, but the Superior Court 
at its last session, despite a ruling of the lower court, 
ordered the county clerk to issue no more Avarrants after 
September, hence the basis of contention. Refiisal to 
meet this class of debts, not only in California and 
Oregon, but throughout the West, indicates that bounty 
legislation is impracticable for its purpose. Your corre- 
spondent hopes that it will never be tried East, Avith such 
useful creatures as haAvks and crows. 
So far as the Ojai Valley is concerned, the coyotes were 
never more plentiful, not even before the bounty law had 
been enacted, and though rarely seen through the day, they 
rend night Avith their shrill outcries. One band gathers 
at evening a mile Avest of town to salute the train, as 
though this Avere a ncAvly discovered member of the 
family, and imitate the shrill whistle. Very little trapping 
is done in the A^alley; but more violent means are often 
adopted. Robbed poultry fanciers Avill butter aged hens 
with honey and strychnine, then in the morning look for 
at^onized tracks. A coyote seldom dies near the sham 
hospitality, but driven onward by disgust, he makes the 
mountain : or should he not die at all, little brother avoids 
forever man and a chicken. The average size appears to 
be greater here than it was in Nebraska. 
This country has about as many kinds of small animals 
as are found along the Atlantic coast. Chipmunks, red 
squirrels, tree rats, the last nearly allied to the squirrel 
family. Avill be met with about brush or timber. The 
httle broAvn civet cat, a AA'easel marked Avhite and dark 
brown on head, terrorizes the gophers and ground squir- 
rels by a close pursuit. Cottontails resembling the SAvamp 
variety, SAvarm through all groAVth. Jackrabbits haA'e 
become a pest. 'Coons inhabit the creek bottoms. Foxes 
between the red and gray types exist in great numbers. 
Wildcats approach town to rob roosts. These are here 
beside the small animals already mentioned in this letter. 
Then also deer at times are shot in the A-alley ; venture- 
some mountain lions come doAvn the hills. But blade 
bears and the grizzlies aA'oid civilization. The rangers 
had hoped to close their guard for the summer by bring- 
ing in a grizzly that for some time has been making 
"sign" on the high peak east of our valley. The trail is 
also reported as having been discovered in a caiion 
within easy Avalking distance of Nordhoff. 
Since the last letter Avas Avritten, good luck secured 
for me several California tree squirrels, a gray variety, 
Avhich. A'icAved closely, appeared CA'en handsomer than at 
a distance. Their length proved to be twenty-four inches, 
tAvelve of it tail. Color seemed to be more sharply defined 
than upon the Eastern variety. The steel gray was .sharp 
and free of tawny to its limits ; under part snoAvy white ; 
profuse tail, distinctly marked. They Avere shot Avhile 
feeding upon the seeds of cotton Avood timber. These 
beautiful creatures must not be confounded Avith the 
California ground variety, for this filthy pest, a cannibal 
in habit, lacks both in form and veracity of color ; nor the 
ground variety Avith the chipmunk. Avhich reappears here 
but slightly changed from the Eastern type. 
The Warner Ranch Indians, the last of the Mission 
contingent likely to be disturbed, and Avhose removal 
has excited Avidespread pitj^, Avill fare Avell after all it 
Avould seem, as a fine property better than the original 
tract has been selected for them, and at a price that 
A\ ill make it possible to devote a large part of the ap- 
propriation to making improvements. Well-Avatered land 
in the southern part of San Diego county has been pur- 
chased. President Roosevelt took a deep personal interest 
in having these Indians provided for, their case being 
harsh in the extreme, and appointed a commission com- 
posed of men Avho could accomplish this end. The 
Sequoya League organized recently for the betterment oi 
Indians. Avith the editor of Forest and Stream upon its 
Executive Committee, has looked closely after the rights 
cf its wards in this affair. But no provision can make 
removal of the Mission Indians from their homes less than 
a tragedy to be greatly deplored. H. R. Steiger. 
— - 
The Zoological Park. 
A visit to the Ncav York Zoological Park is aUvays 
pleasant and one sees there ahvays something that is ncAv 
— either some addition to the collection, or an animal 
overlooked at the previous visit, or perhaps some habit in 
a captiA^e Avild thing not before noticed. - 
This is especially a good time to go to the park, when 
the October sun shines Avarm through a soft hazy air. 
Avhen the grass is as green as that of June, and yet ths 
ripened foliage of the trees is colored Avith a thousand soft 
and subdued colors, brightened here and there by the 
blaze of sumach on a hill or of some pepperidge or soft 
maple tree that has not yet lost its foliage. 
If one goes to Fordham by the Harlem Railroad, and 
Avalks or drives the short distance to the park, he enters 
at its northAvest corner, and, passing down between deer 
ranges on either side, goes through the bird house and so 
on to the geographical center of the park. The cooler 
weather has made it necessary noAv to bring into the bird 
house the tropical, or sub-tropical, birds, Avhich have spent 
the summer in the flying cage, and the cage is thus no 
longer croAvded Avith pelicans, ibises, cormorants, herons, 
spoonbills and flamingoes, but is tenanted by a fcAV ducks, 
croAvs and magpies, Avith two great vultures and a fish- 
haAvk. At a distance it seems very empty by comparison 
Avith its populous appearance in the summer. The birds, 
Avhich have been removed from their condition of prac- 
tical freedom to the closer quarters of the bird house, all 
seem healthy and in good feather. Just beyond (south) 
of the bird house, is a large yard Avhich contains a number 
of foreign cranes, several of which bear a close resem- 
blance to our familiar sandhill crane, though some are 
much larger and some of course are strikingly different. 
Continuing southward, one passes other deer ranges, 
Avhere Avhitetails and caribou are confined, on to the elk 
range, and here, confined in the elk house, and awaiting 
the completion of the lion house, are a number of the great 
cats which the Society recently purchased in Europe. As 
already stated in Forest and Stream, there are six lions, 
two tigers, and a number of other lesser felines. These 
will be shoAvn to the public in the course of a few Aveeks, 
as soon as it is practicable to install them in their new 
and permanent home. 
In the elk house there are three large lions, two lionesses 
and a pair of tigers. . The tAVO Barbary lions, whose 
manes are A^ry dark and abundant, are most impressive. 
A Nubian lion, Avhich has far less mane, is on that account 
less striking. All three male lions seem cross, and one 
of them struck viciously through the bars of his. cage at 
a person Avho passed near him. Unquestionably the close 
confinement of the little traveling cages Avhich barely 
give the animals room to turn around has temporarily- 
soured their disposition. No doubt a transfer to more 
roomy quarters will improve their temper. These lions 
are each about four years old. The tAvo lionesses are 
A-ery handsome animals, and seem much more placid 
than the lions. The two tigers, each two years old, are 
very beautiful creatures, and very mild and gentle, so 
far'as one could gather by looking at them. 
In the small mammal house is a Senegal lioness, a cub 
eight months old, very gentle, and a great pet. 
Passi-ng out of the elk house to the near-by wolf dens, it 
v. as gratifying -to see Avolves, coyotes and foxes, all in 
admirable condition They are all cheerful and playful, 
and are now" assuming their winter coats. In one of the 
cages here are Iaa'o Eskimo dogs, deposited by the Peary 
Arctic Expedition, of which the male is the animal which 
led the team thai drew Peary to his furthest north. This 
is a dog gf great power, about the size and build of a 
gray Avolf, but much more heavily furred and more 
muscular in the legs. The head, though Avolflike, is far 
shorter than that of the Avolf, and the color darker — 
almost a black on the back. The ears, too, are shorter 
and sharper. The female is slightly paler and seemed 
little more than half as heaAfj'^ as the dog. 
A neAv animal in the Avolf den is a blue fox from 
Alaska. Avhich is neither blue nor AA'hite. but a A'ery pale 
gray. The Society expects to receiA'e a dozen mgie blue 
fcxes which are likely to come through Mr. Ehvood 
H of er. 
On Motmtain Sheep Hill are a number of neAV animals. 
At the north end. occupying the pen Avhich held the little 
musk-ox given the Society by Mr. Whitney, is its succes- 
sor, the calf brought on by Peary. It is very small, this 
s])ring's calf, and its horns are just appearing. Very 
heavily coated, the warm Aveather appeared to be causing 
it suffering, for it Avas panting. The musk-ox, like the 
Avild sheep and goats, seen a little later, all seemed eager 
for dry food, and Avere picking up and eating the Avithered 
leaves, Avhich were constantly falling into their pen. 
Next south of the-musk-ox is the pen occupied by a 
burrhcl, a small sheep from India, characterized by horns 
very thick at the base and almost at once .spreading out- 
Avard and upAvard. It is curiously marked Avith black on 
the front of the foreleg, and has a black line on the flank. 
It is quite a .small animal, not far, from thirty inches in 
height. In the same paddock are tAVO Vignau's sheep, 
much taller, slighter animals, AA'ith horns which somewhat 
suggest those of the mottfiflon. 
The Siberian ibex is one of four in captivity. It sug- 
gests a very large goat Avith tremendous saberlike, back- 
v.'ard curving horns, Avith strong transA'erse ridges in 
front. Its color is purplish broAvn and on the back it has 
a large patch of pale gray. Still further south is the pen 
which holds the beginnings of a herd of Spanish ibex, 
male, female and young, and one chamois. The horns 
of the male — though much smaller than those of the 
Siberian ibex, as the Avhole animal is smaller — are some- 
what similar in character. Among these goats are seen 
also specimens of the tahr from the Himalayas, a curious 
Avild goat found only in the high mountains. Of the 
Barbary wild sheep knoAvn also as aoudad, or maned 
sheep, the Society has now a little herd of five or six in- 
dividuals. The patriarch, Avho has been here for a long 
time, is A'ery impressive Avith his long throat beard and 
pantalets. "There are females and young as Avell. The 
old male seemed to be disposed to fight some one Avhen 
last seen, for he had been butting the ground until his 
horns and face Avere covered Avith earth. The herd of 
moufiflon has increased in numbers, and the ram, Avhich 
leads the flock, is as friendly as ever. If one pa.sse3 near 
the pen and stops, he trots up to the fence, evidently de- 
siring to have his head scratched. 
The buffalo herd Avas confined to its corrals. There are 
three calves. tAVO of Avhich are noAV quite as dark as 
their mothers. Near the buffalo range are two smaller 
pens, in one of Avhich is a Avild boar from the Corbin 
Park ; in another a Avild boar from Africa. 
No one is likely ever to go to the Zoological Park with- 
out visiting the bears, and on bears the Ncav York 
Zoological Society believes that it leads the Avorld. It has 
betAveen thirty and forty specimens, representing ten 
species, and most of them are in splendid order. All the 
young animals have made good growth this year, and 
almost all of them are in the very best condition. Per- 
haps most interesting of all are those Avhich came from 
Cook's Inlet, Alaska, called Kadiak bears. These two 
are markedly dift"erent from the grizzlies and black bears 
with which they are associated. They are of very great 
size, have short and very broad heads. Avell furred ears, 
and very thick and long hair about the neck and head. 
The tAVO on exhibition differ considerably in size, and 
slightly in color. The largest is much the darker and is 
an exceedingly playful and attractive beast. The o-ther 
day he was seen Avrestling and sparring Avith a good-sized 
cinamon (black) bear, which of course did not approach 
Irm in size and Aveight. The Kadiak bear at no time put 
forth his strength, but the two played Avith each other on 
equal terms, like great pirppies Avrestling with each other, 
biting in play at heads and necks, and finally the great 
Kadiak bear alloAved himself to be pushed over on to his 
back, while the black bear stood over him and pretended 
to maul him.. Both bears Avere as active as cats, very 
quick, and. of course, strong. Their play Avas through- 
out entirely good natured. The Kadiak bear, Avhen stand- 
ing on his hind feet, was estimated to be between seven 
and eight feet in height. 
The tAvo great polar bears are groAving. but not very 
rapidly. They are in good condition, except that one of 
them 'shoAvs rlecided traces of a skin disease, Avhich at 
various times has troubled both. During the heats of 
summer they spend their days and nights in the water, 
and much of the time backed up against the rock Avork 
which forms the sides of the bathing pool. Constantly 
rubbing against this they Avcar off the hair of back and 
hips, and finally scratch the skin raAV. HoAvever, the new 
hair is noAV growing on the affected surface and un- 
doubtedly by winter the coat will be perfect throughout, 
'i'hese bears are savage and cannot be handled. It is 
necessary, therefore, to transfer them to their shifting 
cage. Avhere, the quarters being so much smaller, it is 
possible to reach and treat the affected part. 
In the small mammal house in the park are a number 
of new arrivals. Here is the cheetah, a spotted cat 
smaller and paler than the leopard, which seemed rather 
cross and snarled Avhen it Avas inspected. This is the 
hunting leopard of the East, native to parts of India. 
Persia and parts of Africa, and trained, as is well kno\vn, 
to capture game, and then to submit to be taken from its 
prey, blindfolded and put in its cart again. Here, too. are 
an African leopard, two black leopards, avhich decline to 
be seen, a young jaguar, noticeable for its dog-like head, 
and the very interesting hyena clog, or cape hunting dog 
{Lycaon) from the Kilmanjaro distrxt of East Africa. 
This is rather a small animal, less in size than a coyote, 
with a hyena-like head, a bushy tail, the body striped and 
