64 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 25, UM 
are found, one in Sotithefii California and Arkona, and 
the other from Central California to Washington. They 
are snakes of medium size and may be recognized by their 
short blunt tail and vertical pupil, 
Still another family, which may be known as the 
.E;roove-toothed snakes (family Difsadida), should per- 
haps be included here as in spite ot the fact that they are 
provided with enlarged grooved teeth, and are closely re- 
lated to species which are knoAvn to be venomous, they 
themselves are apparently harmless. Six species of this 
group are known to occur in the Southern and Sonth- 
western States. 
In the foregoing account it has not been possible to 
more than touch upon the commonly accepted super- 
stitions regarding the harmless snakes; a volume might 
be written on this subject alone, but it is the belief of the 
author that if these creatures are carefully observed, 
enough can be learned to convince any one that they 
have been greatly misunderstood and grossly maligned. 
Most snakes are harmless, many are extremely useful - 
and because there are in the world some venomous snakes 
the innocent ones should not be made to suffer. Our 
efforts should be to separate the dangerous from the 
harmless kinds, to exterminate the ones apd to secure to 
the others the life and freedom which are as much their 
birthright as they are our own. 
Some Midsummer Notes* 
Midsummer, as all picnickers and campers-out know, is 
an excellent time for studying the nature and habits of 
insects and creeping things. All creation now seems .to 
be on the go. Midges fall into the lemonade, ants run 
over the sandwiches, flies fight for their share of the 
sweets. Crawling creatures of a hundred varieties, all 
equally loathsome, take the measure of our garments. 
But few persons stop long enough to observe carefully 
the appearance and hatiits of these small intruders; the 
only feeling is one of hostility to their presence, and a 
desire to -get rid of them. Yet the humblest fly or the 
most disgusting worm is a creature worth observing — 
wonderful in construction, often exquisite in color, and 
evidently designed to fill some purpose in the economy 
of nature. 
Recently I noticed a little ant running along the ground 
carrying a crumb of bread much larger and heavier than 
itself. Its strength, in proportion to its size, was im- 
mense. It was, I should think, at least as though a 
man of 120 pounds' weight should attempt to carry a bar- 
rel of flour through a thicket of trees and underbrush. 
Yet in spite of the bulk and weight of its burden, the 
tiny creature proceeded with great rapidity and apparent 
ease. All sorts of obstacles were in its way, pebbles and 
bits of sticks, which must have seemed formidable to a 
creature so minute, but over these or around them it 
made its way without hesitation. Thoreau's Indian Joe 
carrying his canoe through the Maine woods was noth- 
ing to this achievement. 
At one point in its path lay a pebble as great in bulk 
as a boy's marble; it was many times higher than the 
creature's head, and was insurmountable. Around this 
huge boulder the ant was compelled to make its way ; but 
on the other side of the rock an enemy lay in wait — an- 
other ant. As soon as the first ant came into sight this 
second ant rushed upon it and attempted to take its 
precious burden from it. It was a regular attempt at a 
"hold-up," such as we used to read in books were prac- 
ticed by Claude Duval and Sixteen-String Jack on 
Hounslow Heath and Shooter's Hill, but which now, 
alas ! are everyday affairs in every part of our own coun- 
try. The laborious ant at once dropped his burden, but 
not to run away; he promptly engaged tooth and nail 
with the footpad. The contest was long and doubtful, 
but I had the satisfaction of seeing the villain put to 
flight, when the ant took up his crumb again and re- 
sumed his way. I had no time to watch him further, but 
I presume he got safe home with his burden. I meas- 
ured the ground that the creature had gone over, and I 
found he had traveled about 15 feet inside of five minutes. 
To do this I calculated he had taken at least a thousand 
strides, and was about the same thing as if a man should 
walk through the thicket with his barrel of flour at the 
rate of 12 miles an hour. It was a wonderful exhibition 
of physical power in so small a creature. 
Caterpillars ai'e not usually thought to be attractive, 
especially the hairless variety; but I was interested one 
day for a few minutes in one of the latter. I noticed 
one letting himself down from a moderate height by 
means of a thread, which he was spinning as he de- 
scended. When he approached the ground I took hold of 
the thread near the creature and held it aloft ;_ he con- 
tinued to spin his thread and descend ; again I lifted him 
up, and he kept on spinning for a while, when he stopped. 
He had evidently exhausted the material of which he 
made the thread. I found that in all he had spun a 
length of IS or 16 feet at the rate of about 5 feet in a 
minute. This seems to me a very rapid rate of produc- 
tion, if, indeed, anything in the way of production were 
done more than to allow the mass of gluten within the 
caterpillar to be drawn out by the weight of the descend- 
ing body. 
Perhaps no one has ever determined the physical 
strength of an insect as shown by the length of time that 
it may continue on the wing, yet I made a little observa- 
tion one afternoon that interested me. I was in a skiff 
fishing on Lake Michigan just off the mouth of Black 
River, a quarter of a mile from the shore, when I noticed 
a small yellow butterfly winging its way across the wa- 
ter. It came almost straight toward me. It passed close 
by my boat, and I thought it meant to stop with me, but 
it went on, and I wondered how far it could fly. How- 
ever, it went but a few rods further when its flight be- 
came feeble, and soon it fell upon the surface, only to be 
snapped up by a hungry fish. I presume the insect had 
been fluttering about all that summer day, but resting 
much of the time on the flowers. I doubt if it could fly 
a mile at one effort.' T. J. Chapman. 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., 
New York, and aot to any individual connected with the paper. 
nni^ §Hg md 0m 
The Antelope's Sight* 
In your paper of June 6 you express a hope that those 
who have made observations about antelope will give 
their opinions as to the power of scent possessed by those 
animals. 
Judging from my own experience, and that published 
by other sportsmen, I believe that the species of antelope 
which have for ages lived on open plains, have acquired 
the habit of trusting for safety to their eyes, and either 
have feeble powers of smell or else pay no attention to 
the scent of their enemies. 
The species which live either in thick jungles or on 
mountains where the inequalities of the ground enable 
their enemies to creep close to them, possess a good 
power of scenting — but also depend greatly upon sight, 
their vision being remarkably acute. 
When stalking the black buck antelope (A. hezoartica) 
I am certain, from the experience of some years, that no 
trouble need be taken by the hunter to prevent them 
smelling him, but in places where they have often been 
shot at, everyone must be taken to avoid being seen, even 
when they are hundreds of yards distant. 
I have observed the same facts with regard to the 
Gasella hennetti. Although the writer of "A Manual of 
Indian Sport" states that gazelles have a "very keen_ sense 
of smell," I have lain behind a bush or rock within loo 
yards of a herd, when a gentle breeze was blowing direct- 
ly toward them, and they have taken no notice whatever. 
On the other hand, I have seen them watching me from 
a distance of 700 or 800 yards, and they_ have run away 
the instant I have turned in their direction. 
The four-horned antelope (Tetraceras quadncornis) 
always lives in thick jungle, and has, I believe, a good 
sense of smell as well as sight, but trusts very much to 
evade his enemies by lying liidden, and is usually killed 
by, snapshots when rushing through bushes within 20 or 
30 yards. 
The nilgao {Portax pictus) has excellent sight, and 
in places where he is hunted, becomes very wary. I can- 
not speak from experience as to his power of smelling, 
because at the time when I shot some I imagined that 
it was like that of the deer tribe, so was always careful 
to approach up wind. Probably it is good, for Sir Sam- 
uel Baker states that he found them more difficult to 
stalk than Sambhur deer, which will scent a man half a 
mile away. 
Mr. Baillie Grohman, who has had great experience in 
hunting chamois, describes them as having remarkably 
acute smell as well as sight. During the late discussion 
in Forest and Stream about protective coloring, I do 
not think that attention was drawn to the fact of this 
being chiefly adapted to the times and places where it 
is most needed. The cheetul deer, for instance, {Axis 
maculatus) is easily seen in open places, where he can 
also see and smell his enemies; but when feeding, as is 
his common habit, in bushy jungle, the coat blends so ex- 
actly with the bright light upon the leaves, and the dark 
shadows under them, that I have looked intently from 
a distance of about thirty yards, at a place where I knew 
two or three deer were standing, and have been unable 
to distinguish them from the foliage until they ran away. 
When resting during the heat of the day these animals 
usually lie down in grass so thick and tall that they 
cannot be seen, even frorti the back of an elephant, until 
almost trodden upon. 
The' zebra generally frequents open plains where pro- 
tective coloring is not needed in the day time, but is in 
danger chiefly at night, when approaching pools of water 
to drink. 
Mr. Francis Galton, in the account of his journey to 
Damaraland, says: "No more conspicuous animal can. 
well be conceived, according to common ideas, than a 
zebra, but on a bright starlight night the breathing of 
one may be heard close by you and yet you will be posi- 
tively unable to see the animal. If the black stripes were 
more numerous, he would be seen as a black mass ; if the 
white, as a white one; but their proportion is such as ex- 
actly to match the pale tint which arid ground possesses 
by moonlight." 
It would naturally be thought that such a large am- 
mal as a giraffe can be easily seen, but Gordon Gum- 
ming stated that they are "invariably met with among 
venerable forests, where innumerable blasted and 
weather-beaten trunks occur," and adds that he frequent- 
ly could not distinguish them without the help of a tele- 
scope; both his savage attendants and himself being liable 
to mistake a trunk of a dead tree for a giraffe, or vice 
versa. 
Siberian Aims. 
It would greatly interest the numerous readers of 
Forest and Stream, who are devoted to woodcraft, if 
3'our correspondent, L. Lodian, would kindly add to his 
very instructive descriptions of Siberia, some account of 
the guns and methods of trapping employed by the fur- 
hunters of that great country. The rifles used there dur- 
ing the first half of the nineteenth century appear to have 
resembled, in many respects, those of the early back- 
woodsmen in America, being heavy in the barrel, but stiJI 
smaller in the bore, owing to the high cost of ammuni- 
tion and difficulty of carrying sufficient for a long resi- 
dence in the forests. I have read of fur-hunters at the 
annual fair of Nijni Novgorod, whose rifles carried balls 
weighing only 400 to the pound. In a book called "Recol- 
lections of Siberia in 1840-41," by an Englishman named 
Cottrell, the following description is given: "The com- 
mon rifle barrels are made at Tobolsk, are very heavy 
and have a very small bore. The grooves are round, in- 
stead of perpendicular, and the ball, which is cut instead 
of cast, is forced in, and the edges rounded off in ram- 
ming down. The lock is large and awkward-looking, the 
springs on the outside, that of the cock clumpy and not 
tempered. The whole machine works so slowly that you 
may see the trigger stop and move on again during the 
progress of the cock toward the pan. The charge does 
not contain 50 grains of powder. In the event of a 
spring breaking, the chasseur readily replaces tt by one of 
wood, generally of larch, which answers his purpose 
equally well, and he is thus independent of the gun- 
maker. With all these imperfections, as we have said be- 
fore, they rarely or never miss, and always hit an ani- 
mal whose fur is precious through tiie nuKzle. Rifles of 
this sort cost here twenty-five roubles; powder is five 
roubles a pound, and lead is also dear." 
Within a few years afterward the flint lock was re- 
placed in Siberia, by the percu.ssion, the rifles maintain- 
ing their high character for accuracy. An English artist 
named Atkinson, who had traveled there, wrote a work 
called "Oriental and Western Siberia," published in 1858. 
He there states "The barrels are bored out of the solid 
metal and rifled with five grooves, having one and a 
quarter turn in the length of the barrel; they are usually 
made very heavy. The stocks are of birchwood, the locks 
obtained from Nijni Novgorod and are exceedingly 
rough; nevertheless this is a most deadly weapon. No 
rifle made by Purdey will carry its ball with more cer- 
tainty than these. Each is sold for 31s. 8d. Two were 
manufactured especially for me by order of the director, 
with more care than is usually bestowed on them, and 
the barrels were made lighter and better stocked. One 
was a small bore, carrying balls, 64 to the pound; this 
was for feathered game and small animals ; the other 
was a large bore, carrying 32 to the pound, for deer, 
stags, elks, wolves, bears or even the tiger. With both 
of these I could shoot with perfect accuracy, and I sel- 
dom failed procuring game for a dinner when once with- 
in range of bird or beast. These rifles cost complete, 
with cases and all the necessary apparatus, £4 iSs. 
Doubtless, breechloaders have long since been adopted, 
but as the necessity for economizing ammunition must 
still exist among the fur-hunters, a few details about the 
size of bore and charges of powder and lead would be in- 
teresting and also of service to those who intend explor- 
ing wild countries. Dr.^ Nansen, during his expedition 
toward the North Pole, used_ composite guns, having- a 
.20 bore shot barrel and .36 rifle, which proved very ef- 
fective. • J. J. Meyrtck. 
Devonshire, England. 
Preserves and Wild Lands. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The observations and contentions of Didymus and Mr. 
Raymond S. Spears, and the editorial in Forest and 
Stream of July 4 about the game preserve deal with some 
matters that ought to be settled after while. 
The property right in land cannot be questioned or 
meddled with without attacking the most fundamental 
privileges upheld by common law and the sentiments of 
civilized society. There cannot be much disagreement be- 
tween doctors upon this subject, and Forest and 
Stream's editorial, to be sound, had necessarily to trim 
the logic of two of its popular contributors. 
An individual, a club, a company, or a corporation, 
without any doubt, may own property. The ownership of 
land can no more be questioned or interfered with than 
any most simple and clear right of man under the laws 
most universally sanctioned by society. 
If an individual, a club or a corporation obtains legal 
title to a mountain or any other lot of land, trespassers 
upon that property are, and should be, subject^ to the 
same provisions that protect men in the occupation and 
use of any other private possession. 
Men buy, fence, improve, and occupy wild land with 
the object of securing for their own whatever they find 
upon it of value. They often seek title to it for no other 
advantages than its natural features. It is often secured 
legitimately and honestly for its woods and streams, and 
for whatever exists in them, particularly the fish _ and 
game. In this land of freedom there is no law limiting 
the acquisition of property. 
I agree with Didymus that no man or set of men 
should own more than S,ooo acres of wild, or any other 
kind of land, for that matter. I further agree with him, 
if he thinks so, that no man, or set of men, should own 
the railroads or more than a million dollars or so. If 
the latter provision could be arranged and legally en- 
forced we would all have access to almost any place of 
recreation in the world. 
With our constitutional rights and privileges as they 
are now, and as they have been since 1776, I am in favor 
of all the private preserves of wild land, and all the 
Government reservation of such land possible. When 
there is a better method of protecting some of the natural 
wilderness, and the fish and game of our country, I will 
be in favor of that. 
In the region I am most familiar with, I have noticed 
that the wild land (and much of it is as wild as any in 
this country) is very much in need of private preserva- 
tion or some other kind. With the vandalism of skin 
and pot-hunters and fishers, prospectors, miners, lumber 
and mill men, stockmen and campers upon Government 
lands, there is left upon them little susceptible of removal 
or destruction. A domain open to everybody is denuded 
of everything of value upon it just in proportion to the 
number of people that find it profitable to raid it. An 
area of wild or public land is denuded of its timber, its 
waters, and, of course, of its fish and game, just as soon 
as enough people have access to it. 
State game, fish and forest protection, in thickly settled 
localities, may retard, but it does not prevent, the ultimate 
denudation of all the accessible public land and the diver- 
sion of all available waters. In thinly settled and remote 
localities game, fish and forest protection is rarely ef- 
fected by State officials. California has a fish and game 
commission appointed by the Governor. Once in a while, 
it is alleged, it accomplishes the transplanting of some 
fish, or that it achieves the arrest of some conspicuous 
violator of the game laws in the cities. None of the 
waters of the State ever yield new fish, or an increased 
supply of native fishes, as far as is generally known, ex- 
cept that the lower portion of the Sacramento River and 
its sloughs have been enlivened with worthless carp and 
diminutive catfish not native to those waters. 
The best streams in this region are diverted, dammed 
and dynamited whenever and wherever people find it 
profitable or convenient to do these things. A few weeks 
ago men were arrested for "dynamiting" fish in the Sac- 
ramento River near Redding. According to the local 
press the culprits were discharged from custody ecause 
the State had no funds at the disposal of the cc ty for 
their prosecution. 
The longest stream of this county has forty miles of 
its length cut off from the Sacramento into wMch it 
empties, by a dam that diverts all its waters in the late 
