September, 1921 
FOREST AND STREAM 
407 
legs, seemingly paralyzed, slither from 
beneath him and in an instant he was 
lying stark and stiff on the ice. The 
other two wolves kept right on without 
slacking their pace or turning their 
heads to glance at their companion. 
Needless to say the hunters lowered 
their guns and stood watching the 
scene with keenest interest. 
The raven, evidently more interested 
in the still form lying on the ice than 
in his departing brothers, alighted at 
a little distance, after circling a few 
times above the prostrate animal. He 
hopped and pecked at the wolf and the 
next peck would probably have been at 
the wolf’s eye, but with a swift move- 
ment of the head the cruel jaws of the 
waiting wolf snapped upon the hapless 
raven and he was killed. 
This story gives rise in my mind to 
many questions. Were the three wolves 
in collusion over this little ruse and if 
so how did they communicate their plan 
to each other? Again, why was the 
raven following the wolves? He could 
never hope that the wolves would be- 
come his prey, but did he expect good 
picking from the leavings of the prey 
which the wolves were no doubt in search 
of? Should we ascribe the conduct of 
the wolves and the raven to clear logi- 
cal reasoning on their part, or were they 
actuated by blind instinct? 
E. Haslam, B. C. 
required to keep his hands from the 
hot surface. 
It is true that a dog has at times 
an almost uncanny insight of danger, 
and through this tendency many peo- 
ple owe their lives Whether that is 
caused through thought, as we know 
it, or is purely instinctive, I would like 
to have another reader’s opinion. 
L. S. Beers, Michigan. 
TARPON FISHING AND WATER- 
SPOUTS 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
H AVE just returned home from my 
annual fishing trip to Florida. 
Had a glorious time. Each year the 
sport seems to be the best ever, and 
this year could not be surpassed. 
Caught forty-one tarpon ranging in 
weight from 40 pounds to 163 pounds, 
and a long list of other varieties of 
fish also. 
CANINE INTELLIGENCE 
To the Editor or Forest and Stream: 
I WOULD like to ask the readers of 
Forest and Stream their opinion as 
to the amount of intelligence a dog may 
possess. 
That question, if asked of almost 
anyone casually would be answered with 
qualifications, i .e. that they do have 
the power to think but that it is not 
thought that prompts the dog to obey 
a command, regardless of how long it 
has taken to teach him the meaning 
of that command, but rather that it is 
instinct keenly developed. 
We know that in order to have mem- 
ory in the human mind there must be 
a healthy brain to register it, yet the 
dog will remember a blow received for 
a misconduct until his last breath. 
Again we hear, or have perhaps ob- 
served ourselves, of some feat a dog 
has accomplished, such as walking a 
slack wire, and various other tricks, 
all products of a patient human tutor, 
yet there are bounds that hold the dog 
to a very limited amount of learning 
capacity. 
Now then, does he think in a crude 
sort of way, or is it but instinct that 
is apparent to his nerve centers so 
keenly that it serves him better than 
were he possessed with the power to 
think as we do? 
The puppy, when he comes in con- 
tact with fire, never forgets its burn, 
the infant also remembers the sting of 
a hot stove until reason becomes ap- 
parent as he grows older, yet the in- 
stinctive fear of fire will be as strong 
at that age as when first he burned him- 
self, and no amount of reasoning is 
Mr. Stray and his 163 lb. tarpon 
I stopped at Tarpon Inn, Useppa 
Island, until the Inn closed for the 
season on May 31st. My traps were 
then removed to Boca Grande City (the 
inhabitants number about 150 souls, in- 
cluding both whites and negroes) and 
I chartered a 30-foot motor cruiser 
that contained two bunks and was 
equipped with a toilet, galley with two- 
burner stove and small ice box; the ac- 
commodations were just sufficient for 
my guide and myself. Breakfast, eaten 
in the boat, consisted usually of grape 
fruit, fresh eggs from the hens, grid- 
dle cakes, bread, butter and coffee. 
Supper, also eaten on the boat, of grape 
fruit, beans or steamed clams or clam 
fritters or shrimp salad, or a bit of 
ham or bacon; jam, bread, butter and 
iced tea. Dinner, the mid-day meal, 
was eaten on the beach after being 
cooked over a hard wood campfire ; 
this was the substantial meal of the 
day and consisted usually of grape 
fruit, boiled pompano or mackerel or 
sheepshead or sea trout or small red 
fish or mango snappers or young 
chicken, or even grouper, with sweet 
or white potatoes baked in the ashes, 
scallions or fried onions, ripe toma- 
toes and coffee from a thermos bottle. 
We kept a box of ripe, delicious grape 
fruit on the boat and not only ate 
of these at every meal, but also when 
thirsty we would suck a grape fruit as 
the natives do; this sweet and juicy 
fruit was always eaten without sugar. 
Until Friday, June 10th, nothing of 
unusual moment occurred, but on that 
day a black squall passed over the 
southern part of Charlotte harbor and 
five water-spouts formed, one after 
the other, over a shoal near Mundongo 
Island. Because the shoal limited the 
volume of water that could be sucked 
up, each spout broke in about five min- 
utes. Our boat could do about four- 
teen miles on a pinch, and we trav- 
eled at utmost speed, running at right 
angles to the spouts, the third of which 
was so close that the violent agitation 
at the base was seen plainly and the 
suction caused by the whirling cyclone 
cloud could be distinctly felt; it seemed 
about 200 yards distant. 
The rapid rotation of the cloud and 
the rush of water combined to cause- 
such a roar that words shouted could 
not be heard. The fifth spout was the 
largest, because the whirlwind cloud 
was then passing over a channel where 
the water was quite deep and the 
water column seemed to be about six 
feet in diameter. The whirling air, 
the violent agitation of the water, 
caused by the suction at the base of 
the spout made an awful noise, really 
terrifying, and when the column 
reached the shoal at the edge of the 
channel the upper part traveled right 
along, while the progress of the base 
was retarded by the shallowness of 
the water. The spout became more 
and more attenuated, drawn out, about 
half way up, and finally broke. A feel- 
ing of great relief was experienced 
when it was noted that no more water 
spouts would develop. 
In some sections the mosquitoes were 
quite numerous and bothersome, but 
a stout mosquito bar, made of cheese 
cloth instead of the mosquito netting 
generally used, afforded such complete 
protection at night that sleep was 
never disturbed by mosquitoes. 
Fresh meat (lamb, pork or beef) 
was unknown and was not missed. A 
hawk’s bill turtle was taken with a 
turtle peg and the meat was run 
through a food chopper and mixed 
with suet, bread crumbs, onions, poul- 
try seasoning, pepper, salt and two 
well beaten eggs stirred in for a binder, 
then formed into a loaf and cooked 
in a reflecting baker. When done it 
was served in slices with a rich brown 
gravy made in the pan the turtle loaf 
was baked in, and was very good food 
indeed. 
The ice came by rail from Arcadia, 
fifty-two miles away, and the bakers’ 
bread came by rail from Lakeland, 115 
miles distant. If the purveyors of 
either were negligent, met with unex- 
pected delay and failed to meet the 
train, we went without ice or bread, 
or perhaps both, as the case might be; 
existence was as simple as that. 
