608 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 27, 1902. 
Notes, >Iso Observations. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I propose to give you some notes on the rattlesnake 
and squirrel, and perhaps some observations about 
other matters. 
There has not yet been an opportunity to determine 
at what temperature the rattlers become completely 
torpid. We had a minimum therrhometer of 30^ 
degrees night before last; but when the snakes were 
observed the temperature was 33 degrees. They were 
then quite inert, but with consciousness and some 
power of movement A few days ago, the weather 
being damp and chilly, though the temperature was 
not lower than about 40 degrees, I brushed off some 
straw from the larger snake with my naked hand, and 
stroked his neck a little with my fingers. His only 
recognition was a feeble movement of the tongue and 
a slight squirming of the body in his coil. 
This looks like undue temerity; but I was quite 
certain that his nerves were not ke^'ed up to the strik- 
ing point, aside from his disinclination to strike at 
familiar objects without severe provocation. Some 
days ago a lady approached the box to view the 
reptiles. The day was warm and bright, and the 
shakes rather lively. The lady wore a large hat and 
a striking costume. Joseph became very much ex- 
cited, put himself in an attitude of defense and 
sounded his rattle vigorously, which he had not done 
before for some weeks, or perhaps two months. 
When the rattlers liave become completely torpid, 
I propose to subject them to a quiet decapitation, as 
I shall have no further use for them, except to dis- 
sect their heads. 
The pet squirrel has growni to be a "big boy," but 
is as saucy and badly spoiled -as ever. He assumes 
the privilege of interruptmg me at my work whenever 
he pleases, compelling me to quit, and romp with him. 
He makes vigorous onslaughts upon my fingers, with 
ears laid back, apparently intending to bite through; 
but always restrains himself, and does not bite hard 
enough to hurt. A little girl, three years old, came to 
see the squirrel, and I expected mutual pleasure be- 
tween them at their meeting. But he showed a de- 
cided resentment at her approach, ran of? and con- 
cealed himself in his den, and could not be coaxed out 
while she was present. 1 then reflected that he had 
never seen anybody but men before. He also shows 
his disapproval of the occasional presence of ladies by 
remaining in retirement during their visits. He was 
coaxed into approaching a lady's hand for a nut held 
between her fingers. He approached in a nervous, 
jerky fashion, scolding all the while, with his tail well 
advanced before his nose, which I have observed to 
be his custom when curiosity impels him to approach 
an unfamiliar object. He seized the nut and galloped 
off with it, still scolding at the lady as he retreated. 
Nqw for some natural history notes. 
This squirrel has never heard another squirrel bark, 
unless in his early infancy. He has developed an ut- 
terance of his own, differing in form from that of his 
kind in a state of nature. He uses his forepaws ex- 
actly as hands are used, grasping and holding on to 
small objects, lacking only thumbs to having perfect 
hands. 
He has a habit of "washing" his face with his paws, 
after the manner of a cat, and uses his tail as a towel, 
to wipe his countenance with. He invariably seizes 
his tail near the root and runs his nose rapidly along 
it to the end, rubbing the while vigorously with his 
paws. 
His heart-bents are of extraordinary rapidity. 
While reposing on my shoulder, my ear resting 
against him, I took my watch to count the pulsations 
and time them. I could count only as high as ten, 
and then begin again at one, as 1 could not repeat 
fast enough, even mentally, the dissyllabic numbers 
above ten. I made out eight times ten beats in ten 
seconds, or eight beats per second — 480 beats per 
minute, while in a normal state of repose. 1 did not 
suppose that the heart action of any creature was as 
rapid as this. 
And now for my "obserA'ations." 
• I suppose that ray good friend Mr. Jos.- W. Shurter, 
will expect me to say something about his last re- 
mark about not dumping the barrel of pork into the 
bayou. 1 will do so briefly. "Objected to as irrele- 
vant.", it cannot be supposed that the man who 
sliould own the barrel of pork would decline to sell 
it for 533'^ 25 cents a pound, merely because he him- 
self had butchered the hogs. Not to pursue the argu- 
ment further, I will merely "mention a circumstance." 
There is a lake in the adjoining county of Tunica, 
called Swan Lake, about forty miles from here, mainly 
by rail. I was informed that this lake is a great 
resort for ducks in season, and the shooting there very 
fine. But the lake is almost completely occupied by 
a tall, coarse grass; so that it is impossible to recover 
the ducks after killing them. For that reason the 
lake has no attraction for sportsmen, and is never 
visited by them, although only four miles from a rail- 
road town. Corollary: There is no "sport" in shooting 
ducks unless they can be had in possession after kill- 
ing them. 
Observation No. 2: I have occasionally been im- 
prudent enough to "put in my oar" in other people's 
controversies toward the wind up, for the purpose of 
"pointing a moral," or deducing an abstract principle; 
and liave sometimes got myself into hot water by so 
doing, as witness Mr. Shurter. The late dispute be- 
tween Mr. Converse, Mr. Brown and others, about 
the "V^errriont Mode," affords another opportunity 
for a similar experiment. 
1 believe it may be truthfully said that the proper 
mode of hunting game of any kind in any country is 
purely a "local issue." Different methods of hunting 
in different countries grow up naturally, as it were, as 
the result of environment. Under the compelling in- 
fluence of local conditions, sportsmen in the South, 
and in Old England, hunt their foxes in a certain 
way because the physical fe^ture.^ of th<;ir country 
are favorable to that way. Likewise the New Eng- 
lander, without indulging in any sentimental theories 
on the subject, simply and naturally adjusts his 
method of fox hunting to suit the physical conditions 
by which he is surrounded. 
It is difficult to understand upon what ground the 
right is claimed by a sportsman of Pennsylvania or 
of Mississippi, or any other State, to dictate to New 
Englanders, either how they shall or shall not hunt 
their own foxes, or to bar them the right to call their 
mode "fox hunting." If it is not fox hunting, what is 
it? As the illiterate man said, "If n-a-t does not spell 
nat, what does it spell?" 
It would seem that the Vermonters, who have de- 
veloped a "mode" of fox hunting to suit the con- 
"Then veteran Cap winded a bevy." 
ditions of their countr}-, have the same right to apply 
the obvious and non-copyrighted term, "fox hunting" 
to their sport, as have the sportsmen of other coun- 
tries, who have done the same thing after their lights. 
As regards the proper or improper way, of accom- 
plishing the destruction of the fox, the view we may 
take, like all other purely sentimental questions, de- 
pends altogether upon what we have been accustomed 
to. Our method is the right one; all others are 
wrong. And here, we are apt to indulge the de- 
lusion that the estimate we form upon this question 
has relation to the feelings and sensibilities of the 
fox. That is a mistake. It is our own feelings and 
sensibilities that are consulted, not the fox's. The 
mode of killing the fox that we have not been accus- 
tomed to", may be revolting to us, because our own 
sensitiveness is shocked in its contemplation. 
It would be difficult to say, if the fox were con- 
sulted, whether he would prefer to be killed from 
ambush, without warning, or smoked out of a hole, 
or chased to the point of exhaustion and then give 
up in despair, to be torn to pieces by the pursuing 
pack. Judged by human standards, the first method 
would seem preferable. But so far as the fox has 
'He careful drew and stanchly stood." 
given evidence of his views on the subject, the last 
method seems to be preferred. Certainly none of 
these modes of destroying our four-footed fellows in 
this vale of tears is nearly so cruel as keeping a bear 
or other animal four days at a time with his foot fas- 
tened in and lacerated by a steel trap. And yet I 
have never seen the propriety of doing so questioned 
— because we are accustomed to the idea; therefore it 
seems right. Coahoma, 
Dec. 7. 
Stubble Rhymes. — IV. 
Warning. 
When Scotia's bard sings Robert Bruce, 
His verse flows on a limpid stream; 
When Alma chants of Robert White, 
His rhymes roll on a limping dream. 
Prologue. 
What madness drives us in the spring. 
To whipping up and down the stream? 
Or lures in autumn chill to seek 
The quail with which the stubbles teem? 
No fragrance like the meadows' breath, 
No melodies like woodland tunes. 
The rills and winds sing soothing songs, 
Their music weds weird forest runes. ' 
When hunger gaunt smites every^ son ' 
Qf Nimrod with a welcome pain, 
How sweet the fare; and sweeter still 
The fellowship in hardship's train. 
What peace in "God's first temples" reigns! 
What vigor in the mountain air! 
What like communion with the hills 
To knit "the ravell'd sleeve of care!" 
The mountain brook with nectar flows, 
Each hill and vale endianted land; 
Diana beckons to her shrine 
With health and happiness in hand. 
The Major rousing from the spell 
Cast o'er him by the hundred four. 
Said to the Colonel at the club, 
"I find this social whir] a bore 
And long to don my shooting coat 
And shake myself from business free; 
The Norman also has a mind 
To take his gun and go with me." 
"Now autumn's here," the Colonel said, 
"I'll scatter lead o'er hill and dale, 
And touch the woodcock on the head. 
But sprinkle more on Bob White's tail." 
"Why linger in the city's din? 
I go to summon all the clan, 
Blackstone and .(Esculapius, 
For pilgrimage to Michigan; 
Where other days have seen such sport 
As rarely falls to lot of man: 
The quails are piping in the corn, 
What think you, Major, of the plan?" 
"The plan is good, the time is ripe, 
To-morrow ere the sun goes down 
Shall find us in a Pullman car 
And speeding west to Almatown." 
Sport. 
The morning sun had barely rolled 
The misty blanket from the breast 
Of field and stream, when sportsmen four 
Were sallied forth on merry quest; 
Don coursing boldly up the slope, 
With swinging stride Vic racing down, 
The white dog and his darker mate 
Are silhouettes on stubble brown. 
They catch the faintly tainted breeze 
And up-wind quarter well the groimd, 
Then careful side by side draw on 
And stanchly stand; the quarry's found. 
What strange contagion in the air 
Has instant hushed the merry tone? 
Men, dogs and birds are motionless 
As images of graven stone. 
The heart beats fast, life currents bound 
Through every vein a torrid stream; 
Nerves a-tingle, each muscle tense. 
With bated breath and eyes a-gleam: 
A moment thus, then from the heath 
The covey bursts on whirring wing 
To greet the thunder of the guns 
And to their fire defiance fling. 
"My gun at safe," "Sun in my eyes!" 
Excuses buzz as thick as bees 
When swarming wild in forest deep 
And honey hunters fell their trees. 
"All trigger fingers left at home?" 
The Major asks — his fire retards 
Till as they to the open flash 
He cuts two down at fifty yards. 
"However could you do it, G?, 
For shadows never swifter sped." 
With merry twinkle in his eye — 
"Crack shots are born, not made," he said. 
"Could greedy guns attain that state 
They would the game exterminate; 
So that lime-lighted eminence 
Diana holds in self-defense: 
And sees afield no sadder sight 
Than bristles on her chosen knight." 
Then stooping by a pile of brush 
Where steady Don did stanchly stand. 
Discerned a Bob White 'neath a branch 
And deftly caught it in his hand. 
At words of praise his .swarthy cheek 
Blazed ruddy as a blackbird's wing 
When o'er the marshes Kink-cher-ee, 
Rings out a harbinger of spring. 
Such skill and modesty and grace 
Are themes the minstrels love to sing, 
See Siegfried with the mystic hoard, 
And then the Nibelungen Ring. 
Once more the pointer ranging wide 
O'er furrowed field to shady wood. 
When by a clump of berry brush 
Threw up his head and stanchly stood, — 
Foot up, rigid, save twitching lip 
And tremor slight at tip of tail; 
What life and energy restrained, 
Made statuesque by perfumed gale! 
Behold the stalwart financier 
With ready gun and purpose grim! 
The wary quails that lay concealed 
Made merry of the likes of him; 
For as they flushed by twos and threes, 
He promptly shot, but strange to tell. 
Instead of bringing down the game 
Did nothing at all and did it well. 
Such shooting makes the maples blush, 
Bluejays above with laughter scream, 
While comrades look the other way, 
And smiling ripples sweep the stream. 
"Aha!" he cried, "those fleeting wings 
Must be well loaded down with lead; 
Let's follow them and surejy find 
A brace or two among the dead." 
(No trigger-knight would e'en in thought 
Accuse him of mendacity, 
But simply free, unfettered by 
Exactiotis of veracity). 
"I'll habeas corpus two/' h^; said, 
