Adopted 
by a Grbu$e 
James C. Scott 
It was interesting to read in the November- 
December issue of Trail & Landscape about the peculiar 
behaviour of a male Ruffed Grouse, as told by Mrs. Mary 
Anne Phillips, and of the fondness of the grouse for 
human company. I would like to tell the story about a 
female Ruffed Grouse which displayed similar character¬ 
istics, so different from the usual evasive tactics of 
every wary grouse in its natural habitat frequented 
by man. 
In the summer of 1970 my wife and I drove four 
miles west from Cantley, just north of Ottawa, towards 
the Gatineau River to visit our friends. Dr. and Mrs. 
W.M. Connor. My wife got out of the car to open the 
private gate and suddenly froze as she whispered, 
"Don’t move; there’s a grouse standing and watching us 
by the roadside”. After several minutes of mutual 
admiration among the three of us, and with no sign of 
action on the part of the bird, my wife opened the gate. 
The bird then came over to the car, gave the rear tire 
a few pecks and stood watching as the car slowly passed 
through the gateway. The grouse followed the car for a 
few yards as we moved off, evidently quite unconcerned 
by the noise and movement of the car. 
When we told our friends about the unusual 
encounter, not fully expecting to be believed, we were 
greeted with: ”0h, that’s Harry’s tame partridge". 
Mr. Harry Trowse is their maintenance man and he takes 
care of the bush work on the 1200 acres, a private "No 
Hunting" reserve. Animals encountered there include deer, 
bear, fisher, wolf, bobcat and beaver. 
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