Nov. t, ipoa.j 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
846 
barred with yellowish and blackish, and pied on the legs 
and belly with white. This species hunts in packs of from 
thirty to a hundred, and its numbers make it invincible. 
In this house, too, is the gentle little Senegal Uoness. 
already referred to. Here, too, is a beautiful ocelot, with 
two very pretty playful little kittens, born Aug. 14 last, 
and now as large as half-grown cats. Here, too, is a lit- 
ter of half-grown opossums, which seem in good condi- 
tion. 
In the otttdoor cages opposite the small mammal house 
there are interesting things. Noticeable among these 
are three fine mountain lions, which early in the day 
seemed as cross and ill-tempered as could be, growling and 
snarling at each other all the time, but after feeding they 
were extremely good-tempered, and played with each other 
very prettily. . . 
It is a pity, but not surprising, that the walrus calf 
brought back by the Peary Expedition is dead. So little 
is known about the conditions which surround these ani- 
mals in their native haunts, that it is almost impossible 
to keep them alive, and, as already stated in Forest and 
Stream, this is believed to be only the third that has 
ever been on exhibition. 
There is so much that is interesting in the park that a 
day is all too short a time to spend there. The reptile 
house and the monkey house, two of the most attractive 
exhibits, were neglected on this visit, though within their 
walls there is a very great deal that is well worth seeing. 
Other visits must be made to see all that is to be found 
there. 
Ways of the Blue Grouse. 
Keller, Wash., Oct. 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
This has been one of the best grouse seasons we have had 
here since the opening of the reservation for mining, fottr 
years ago. We thought, as the spring seemed to be so 
late and it kept cold so long, we should have a short crop, 
for but few people here pay any attention to the game 
laws, but think thej^ have a right to kill for their own 
use. And then they begin killing before the young ones 
shed their baby tail feathers. 
It was JVIarch 10 when I heard the first old grouse hoot, 
and not long after there was a continual hooting on the 
mountain' opposite my cabin. To add to the music, a 
pheasant kept up his drumming near the cabin. One 
Sunday I went over on to the small hill and sat, and 
with my binoculars watched him for nearly half a day. 
My glass has a power of twelve times, and as I was less 
than 100 yards from the bird, he sJiowed up very plainly. 
Should he be there next summer, I shall endeavor to get a 
picture of him while he is druinming. I tried to get the 
photographer to come up and try this spring, but failed. 
The grouse — that is, the blue grouse — come down from 
the high mountains every spring, and rear their young 
along the breaks of the Columbia and the small streams, 
aiid stay here till after t-he service berries are gone; then 
they work back up to the high mountains in time to help 
harvest the huckleberry crop, and the huckleberry puts the 
finishing touch to them. It must be like the celery putting 
such a rich flavor to the canvasback. When the huckle- 
berries are gone, then they go to the tops of the highest 
peaks, where they take up their residences in some big fir, 
cr one that has an abnormal growth, and there they stay 
all winter. 
While in the Clearwater country I have noticed where 
they kept all winter ; for whenever I passed the trees, I 
would examine the snow and I always found fresh drop- 
pings. Once while returning from a chase after elk, Tay- 
lor and I came under a tree, and from the amount of 
droppings we thought there must be several in the tree, 
but the foliage was so thick we could not see any. I 
told Taylor I would climb the tree and see if I could not 
roust some out. I had no difficulty after I had got ten 
feet from the ground; there were plenty of limbs. I got 
up within less than ten feet of the thick limb when 
grouse began to fly out, and there was six left the tree. 
Two of them lit in a near-by pine, and I got down and 
killed them. We took them home, and when they were 
dressed, there was nothing to be found in their crops but 
the tender pieces of fir browse. One was a young bird, 
and we fried it, but the other was an old one, and it 
took four hours' hard boiling to get it tender enough to 
eat. I shot their heads off, so they did not taste of the 
fir; but when they are shot through the entrails, then 
they taste, and no matter how much you may wash them, 
the taste is still there. I have often noticed a blue grouse 
with a flock of sharp-tailed ones, but I have never seen a 
pheasant among any of the rest of the grouse family. 
About six weeks ago two of the miners from our mine 
came down one Sunday and wanted me to go out with 
them. John had a shotgun, and Jim intended to get my 
.22 Marlin. I told them I would go for a while, but I 
did not care to go too far. We started up a small canon 
from my cabin, and climbed a mountain for about two 
miles. We saw several bear tracks in the service thickets 
and plenty of grouse sign, but not having a dog, we 
rolled rocks where we could find any small enough to 
roll. We started three birds out of one thicket, and I 
got a shot and killed one. Jim missed with the shotgun 
on the wing. We went around on to the top of the 
ridge, and here we found quite a bevy. There must have 
been about a dozen. I got one at the first shot, and Jim 
got two. John would not shoot; he said he would carry 
the game. An old grouse flew down the mountain several 
hundred yards, and lit in the top of an old dead pine. I 
went around down and when I got opposite, and on the 
same bench, I got where I could have a good shot. I 
was about eighty yards from the tree, and the boys were 
sitting up above me and watching, and discussing as to 
whether I would hit or miss. They knew that I would 
either hit its head or miss clean. 
The grouse was sitting on the limb, and its head was 
at right angles to where I stood, which made the shot- 
niore difficult. But I felt equal to the occasion. I raised 
the little rifle, and held for the grouse's eye, and at the 
crack of the .22, down came the grouse. "l heard John 
say that it was the best shot he ever saw made at a 
grouse. The boys came down and complimented me on 
the shot. I had struck the grouse in the e3'e. I then gave 
Jim the rifle and John took the shotgun, and we got seven 
altogether, but mine were shot in the head, while the 
shotgun drove the contents of their intestines through the 
meat, and to me those birds did not seem fit to eat. 
That is the only hunt I have indulged in this fall. I 
have got so that unless there is some one to come along 
who wants me to go, I care nothing about it, I have 
been fishing but twice this summer here, but when over at 
iVIissoula, the Fourth of July, I went out several times. 
Twice I went up to the falls at Bonner, and there I saw a 
bull trout that weighed 20 pounds and i ounce. It was 
the largest char I ever saw. 
Around here deer are a'thing of the past. I saw but 
one this summer, and it ran across the road ahead of 
nie while I gas going to town. Yesterday I saw a track 
in the road near the cabin. 
I saw more bear sign this summer than for several 
years, but I did not see any of them. I have been wanting 
to get one treed so that I can kill it with my .22. A 
few beaver are still to be found along the San Poll, but 
they will not last long. 
Salmon are now running, and the Indians have a trap 
in the river near the mouth. Some nights they get the 
trap nearly full; some nights they get not more than 
twenty. One night, two years ago. they got 2,600. Sal- 
mon run but little in the light moon. Now that the nights 
arc dark, the Indians think they will get all they want. 
L. P. WiLMOT. 
Vermin on the African Farm. 
South Africa has often been described as a land of 
plagues, but an outsider can hardly grasp how much 
the farmer suffers from vermin, both carnivorous and 
herbivorous. In olden days the voortrekkers lost much 
stock from the ravages of the large and fierce carnivora, 
and to this day in parts of Rhodesia the owner of live 
stock can only insure its safety by erecting strong and 
high kraals to repel the attacks of predatory lions and 
hyenas. These brutes have, in civilized districts, been 
improved off the earth, but small stock all over the coun- 
try still has to contend with a host oi formidable prowl- 
ers. Chief among them is the Cape tiger or leopard, 
whose habitat is the wooded and mountainoits kloofs 
as far south as Table Mountain. This brute is truly 
the stock farmer's bete noir, as when he gets among a 
flock of sheep his victims are counted by the score, the 
mere lust of killing causing him to destroy far more than 
are required to satisfy his hunger. His tit-bit is a young 
foal, but no stock is safe from his ravages, and, unlike 
the less bold vermin, he prowls by day as well as by 
night. Even to man his lurking habits, activity, and 
poisonous claws make him, especially when cornered or 
wounded, a dangerous opponent, requiring the services 
of a good gun and dogs. 
Of the same species, but smaller, are the numerous 
wild cats, most destructive to lambs, kids, and fowls. 
The progeny of domestic cats run wild are to be most 
dreaded among. thein, such having even more than the 
usual amount of cunning. These vermin are usually 
hunted out of the kloofs by means of dogs, many farmers 
keeping terriers especially for the purpose. Of the 
three species of jackal two create great havoc among 
stock, the rooi, or red jackal, being the worst offender. 
Poison has not much effect upon them, as in nine cases 
out of ten their natural cunning causes them to reject 
the offered bait, which a valued dog often picks up. 
Packs of terriers and mixed dogs are of great benefit, 
but in such a vast and mountainous country the indif- 
ference of a few landowners will nullify the efforts of 
their more active neighbors. 
Many farmers, rather than exterminate vermin, resort 
to the pernicious practice of kraaling or folding their 
sheep, and consequently their farms become the refuge 
and breeding places of jackals, which, unfortunately, 
sally out by night and molest sheep running oji neigh- 
boring farms. The jackal, as well as the carrion crow, 
is very fond of ostrich eggs, and both resort to many . 
ingenious devices to crack the thick shells. 
The muishond, or stoat, confines his operations 
chiefly to poultry, with an occasional weakly lamb, but 
is most enterprising in clearing out any poultry yard 
which may be open to his attacks. The great aasvogels, 
or vultures, are usually beneficial scavengers, but some- 
times vary their menu by tearing open helpless ewes in 
labor. The lammervangers, or eagles, carry off lambs 
to their eyries on the mountains. Baboons are com- 
mon all over South Africa, and devastate the gardens, 
and, in addition, carn.^ off young stock. Hunts are 
organized against them, and they are shot in large num- 
bers. Poisonous snakes do damage, especially to sheep 
which tread upon them when grazing. 
So much for the carnivorous pests. When we come 
to their herbivorous comrades, we find their number 
truly legion. The locust plague, formerly occurring 
only periodical^, seems to have now come to stay. It 
is evident that there has been a wholesale destruction 
of creatures which used to keep down the numbers of 
this plague. It is a toss up whether the creeping voet- 
ganger or the flying rooibaaitje is most to be dreaded. 
The latter can, with a favorable wind, be moved on by 
means of smoke, but woe betide the man in whose gar- 
den or land they settle for the night or on a cold or 
wet day. The voetgangers move on in myriads regard- 
less of water or other obstacles, and death alone, by 
fire or under the feet of a flock of sheep, will stop their 
inroads. Hares, and especially the species, half bat 
half hare, called the spring hare, cause great damage to 
the crops. The latter gives a certain amount of recre- 
ation, being shot at night with the aid of a bullseye lan- 
tern, this being about the only means of putting an end 
to his existence. 
Trouble in many places in South Africa is given by 
the ant. These tiny insects, in addition to devouring 
our houses and furniture, eat through trees and vege- 
tables. Boiling water or lime and water is the only 
means of destroying them, but the difficulty is to observe 
the danger before it is too late. The white ant is con- 
sidered the most destructive, but the red is also a terror 
to gardeners. Revenge is taken upon them by using 
their mound-like nests for floors of huts, tennis courts, 
etc., for which the material is well suited. In parts of 
the country caterpillars travel about in hordes, devour- 
ing all before them. The omnivorous interior native 
collects them in bags and turns them into a sort of 
shrimp paste. Another nuisance to the farmer is the 
fretful porcupine, especially in hilly country. A pair 
can do an incredible amount of damage in the potato 
or .wheat land, but a stone wall effectually steps their 
entry. Hunting them has to be done in their roaming 
tmie, VIZ., at night, with dogs and sticks. When the 
ravager is discovered both dogs and men make a rush, 
and he is quickly dispatched by blows on the nose. The 
dogs soon learn to be very wary in attacking, impru- 
dent ones receiving great punishment from the terrible 
quills, The flesh is. very white and tender, and when 
baked forms a tasty dish. 
Pests among the fruit trees are very numerous, most 
ot them being imported. Thus the dorthesia. or Aus- 
tralian bug, wrought great havoc among the orange 
groves in the seventies, and only of late years has a de- 
stroyer been found for it in the shape of the vedalia, 
or ladybird. The phylloxera was introduced in 1885 
and caused tlie uprooting of many beautiful vineyards 
It has been_ met by the planting of phylloxera-proof 
American vines, on which the European stocks are 
grafted. Nowadays pear slugs, peach yellows, quince 
borers and insects and fungi of all sorts make the 
fruit grower keep a far more vigilant eye on his trees 
than he ever previously had need to. 
Of parasites among live stock there is, unfortunately 
an abundant supply, often caused by overstocking. In 
wet and marshy districts sheep fluke is very prevalent 
although unknown wherever the soil contains a fair 
amount of lime and saline matter. Bots are very 
troublesome to horses on certain farms, and it often 
happens that one place may be notoriously unhealthy 
houses, while its neighbor may be quite the reverse 
iulp, or tuhp, renders certain places deadly to cattle 
while the tsetse fly has still to be reckoned with in the 
Transvaal and Rliodesia. It will be seen that South 
Africa has its fair share of plagues, and every year 
seems to add to them. Farmers often lament the good 
old days, when many now prevalent diseases were non- 
existent and when, barring inevitable droughts, the 
stock owner and husbandman had little to' contend 'with 
— London Field. 
Some Mississippi Creatures. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
At the risk of the imputation of claiming an undue 
sliare of the attention .of your readers, and your own for- 
bearance, I will send a little "hodge podge" of variotjs 
iDHttcrs. 
The rattlesnakes have not yet gone into hybernation, as 
the weather has not yet been cold enough. The lowest 
thermometer reading so far was AiV^ degrees on the morn- 
ing oi Oct. 15, accompanied by a very light frost. 
We have now a new pet, in the shape of a young red 
sqmrrel, whd, m the- language of Artemus Ward, is an 
amoo.sm httle cuss," and a subject of considerable in- 
terest m a small way. He has the freedom of the office 
buildmg, the windows and doors being wire screened, and 
gambols about at large, his favorite exercise being to 
rim up and down the screen doors. He also makes a 
playground of mc, and as I sit at my desk runs over me 
and on the top of my head, nibbles at my fingers as I 
write, and makes squirrel tracks in the fresh ink on my 
paper. Certain hereditary instincts cropping out in this 
joungster are interesting to note; as for example, he 
will attempt to hide a nut by sticking it between two 
books on the table, poking it in tight with his nose, and 
going through the motions of scratching dirt over it with 
his paws. 
While the rats guinea pigs, and chickens, remained in 
the rattlesnakes' "den" without any show of fear on their 
part, nor any sort of strained relations arising between 
the snakes and their intended victims, one sight of the 
reptiles was enough to throw the young squirrel almost 
ii'to spasms, and he was not content until snugly ensconced 
u '^M^^ ^ '^^^^ hanging on a peg in a remote 
part of the building. 
This little fellow is quite afifectionate and will play with 
the fingers or with a string very much after the manner 
oi a kitten, sitting on his haunches the while. 
There was some inquiry made recently by a writer in 
J- CREST AND Stream as to whether squirrels drink water 
and how. It is a matter of common knowledge in this 
part of the country, where pet squirrels are of rather 
common possession, that thev drink water frequentlv in 
the same manner that a cat drinks. 
Speaking of pet squirrels reminds me, that in the fall 
ct ib64, when campaigning in northern Georgia in a 
wooded region, the capture of squirrels became a fad 
with the Confederate soldiers. On going into bivouac at 
the end of a days march, if any daylight was left, axes 
Avere seized and the surrounding forests invaded Every 
tree showing a hole in it was cut down, and many youn? 
squirrels were captured. This was in September and 
October. It was not uncommon to see a regiment on the 
march with perhaps fifty squirrels perched on the shoul- 
aers of the men, strings being tied around the squirrels' 
necks for security. 
The "quail" season opened here on the 15th. My friend 
B. and myself indulged in an afternoon shoot, and bao-o-ed 
thirteen birds (an unlucky number— for the birds) °° 
Apropos of the recent discussion of "true sport," mv 
iriend B., who has an argumentative disposition, Avas dis- 
posed to take the esthetic and non-utility side of the con- 
troversy—perhaps merely for the sake of argument I 
determined to apply a practical test to the sincerity of 
his arguments on this occasion; so on our way home Ave 
stopped on a bridge and laid out our bag on the brido-e 
railing— thirteen handsome birds, all in a row -stroncrK' 
suggesting juicy broiled quail for breakfast, to rejoice the 
eyes of the missus and the childer" next mornino- As 
we were admirmg the game, I remarked to B "Now it 
would be a gluttonous performance if we should take 
these birds home and devour them like hogs; in fact, very 
degrading o the high ideals of aesthetic sportsmanship. 
Let us pull off their heads and take them home as 
trophies and to prove our skill as sportsmen, and we will 
throAV ,the birds into the bayou for the fish and turtles 
to eat. Strange to say, my friend B. repudiated this 
suggestion with vehemence, and declared that he would 
"^T^^'l,"^ apiece for the birds he had killed 
ihe bluewing teal have been in this country for a 
week or two past. Being in the vicinity of Horn Lake a 
tew days ago, I heard heavy firing in that direction, as if a 
