9 6 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 21, 1906. 
President Brewster told me this week that a 
large buck was recently seen on his place in 
Concord. At the rate reports of deer being seen 
are coining in, we are forced to conclude the 
woods of our State are full of them. 
H. H. Kimball. 
Maine Sportsmen’s Association. 
The meeting of the Maine Sportsmen’s Asso¬ 
ciation at Kineo proved an event of much interest 
last week, and the attendance was fully as large 
as in previous years. The rifle shoot took place 
in the afternoon of the fourth. In the early 
evening, there was a fine display of fireworks 
contributed by the management of the hotel and 
Mr. J. W. Lassell of Whitinsville, Mass., after 
which was a dance in the hotel parlors, the occas¬ 
ion being graced by the presence of Governor and 
Mrs. Wm. T. Cobb. The special event of Thurs¬ 
day was. the single canoe race for guides, ar¬ 
ranged by the committee of which the leading 
spirits were Messrs. W. E. Hawkins of New 
York and V. L. Kerens of St. Louis. The win¬ 
ner was Mr. Charles Nilson. 
In the pistol match in the afternoon for 
novices, Mr. George E. Marens of New York 
secured the trophy. For the fly-casting tourna¬ 
ment on Friday, Mr. George H. Burtis of Wor¬ 
cester contributed the trophies. With a cast of 
72 feet, Mr. F. E. Thompson of New York led 
the field and Mr. J. F. Adams of Milwaukee 
stood second with a cast of 69 feet. 
On Saturday many of the visitors were out on 
the lake with rod and reel, or went to some dis¬ 
tant point to lunch, making the trip by canoe. 
Among the delegation from Bangor, were Gen. 
Supt. William Brown of the Bangor & Aroos¬ 
took and family, Gen. Passenger Agent C. C. 
Brown and Mrs. Brown, Gen. A. B. Farnham, 
Editor Kelley of the Commercial, Mr. and Mrs. 
E. M. Bland'ing and Mr. Herbert W. Rowe and 
children. The gathering included many men of 
prominence iii political and business circles from 
all parts of the State, who, together with the 
recent influx of guests from without the State 
completely filled the spacious hotel. The doors 
of the Kineo Club were opened on Tuesday, 
nearly a month earlier than usual. Mr. W. E. 
Hawkins and Mr. F. W. Tufts of New \ork 
have been particularly successful in taking large 
catches of trout and salmon. One advantage 
Moosehead holds for mid-summer anglers, is the 
deep-water fishing for lakers which is available 
when the more alluring sport of fly-fishing drops 
off. Sport of some sort is to be had all summer 
fram May to October. 
The June fishing on the upper lake, Rangeley, 
is reported to have surpassed that of any previous 
year, and the records of fish taken, as entered 
at the hotels, far in excess of average seasons. 
Dr. C. W. Packard of New York, recently took 
a 3V2 and a 5 pound salmon, J. W. Duncklee of 
Boston, a 4V2 pounder. H. C. Denison of New 
Bedford, one of .3 and one of 5 pounds, Gen. 
Kearnev of Washington, D. C., one of 5 pounds. 
H. H. Kimball. 
Singing to a Mountain Lion all Night. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
A recent communication addressed to a daily 
paper gives an account of a woman who was 
attacked and thrown to the ground by a cougar, 
being held there a prisoner, while she enter¬ 
tained her captor with her vocal accomplishments 
and thereby saved her life. The animal appeared 
so pleased with the performance that she felt 
compelled to keep it up all night. Attracted by 
the singing, the husband of the woman directed 
his course to the spot and shot the beast. It 
would seem from the above account that some 
one in the lion—(be careful how you spell it) — 
business is a howling success. The only instance 
I can recall of melody excercPing any influence 
over the dumb creatures is the familiar one of 
the cobra, which is fascinated by the flute of the 
Indian conjurer. The reptile raises itself half 
its length, apparently charmed with the music, 
and sways its neck and body about in accom¬ 
paniment to the strain. 
It seems altogether wanton and unnecessary to 
slay an animal which had such a fine appre¬ 
ciation of vocal talent as did this mountain lion. 
Undoubtedly the lady was very much fatigued 
after singing all night to the cougar, but it is 
not altogether certain that her captor insisted 
upon it, and it is possible he might have left after 
one or two encores had she discontinued the per¬ 
formance. Under the circumstances it seems 
that the big cat was rather harshly and incon¬ 
siderately dealt with. Is it not about time that 
your correspondent from Saginaw, who criti¬ 
cised me for shooting an eagle, should declare 
himself on this subject? The wicked and wanton 
outrage of slaying such a noble beast must stir 
his soul to righteous indignation. 
E. F. Randolph. 
An Anti-Toxin for Snake Bite. 
Dr. Chas. J. McClintocic, chief chemist of the 
Parke Davis Company of Detroit, writes to Mr. 
C. H. Stokes, of Mohawk, Fla.: 
“I note in Forest and Stream your report of 
Geo. Harding’s case of snake bite. Give George 
my congratulations on his escape. It may in¬ 
terest you to know that we are just getting ready 
to start to make an antitoxin for snake bite. It 
may also interest you to know that the first anti¬ 
toxin ever made was at the University of Mich¬ 
igan, by Prof. Sewall against rattlesnake venom. 
Dr. Weir Mitchell of Philadelphia has worked 
on the subject a good deal, as well as Fraser, of 
Great Britain. From Fraser’s work, an effective 
antitoxin was made for the cobra bite. 
"In the new Rockefeller Institute in New York, 
Dr. Flexner and a Japanese assistant have appar¬ 
ently worked out on goats a combined antitoxin, 
effective against the venom of the rattlesnake, 
the copperhead and the water-moccasin. 
"Dr. Mitchell has asked us to make this, and 
place it on the market, and while I do not be¬ 
lieve that it is of any commercial importance, 
from a humanitarian standpoint, it seems worth 
doing. I think we can put it up in a dry form, 
where it will keep indefinitely. For use, it will 
have to be dissolved in water and injected hypo¬ 
dermically.” 
Deer in British Columbia. 
Victoria, B. C .—Editor Forest and Stream: 
Mike’s “Camps of the Buckskin Club” is just set 
to a time to make my blood tingle again at the 
approach of it. In just less- than a couple of 
months, we buck hunters will be afoot again 
among the tall pines looking for the red coat of 
the white-tail. And his abundance is now as¬ 
sured since the market hunter has had his day 
and can no more pot for the game dealer. For 
two seasons deer have had no market in Vanvou- 
ver Island and their increase is already well 
marked. 
But tell me, Mike, where did that “.38-40 Win¬ 
chester hammerless automatic” creation of yours 
come from ? I can quite believe that the red buck 
took all the medicine you all gave him and a 
pretty big dose it was, but I hazard a guess that 
someone’s gun in that cannonade was misre- 
ported; it probably sounded as though a whole 
bunch of automatics were at it and big calibers 
at that. 
1 know how it is when a whole bunch of fel¬ 
lows round up the same deer—things are done 
that shouldn’t be—and you’re forgiven if you tell 
ns that it was a plain every day .38-40 that 
brother Sam handled, and not one of these latter 
day "hold up and wipe out” machines. 
Would like to hear from Mike, Mr. Editor, so 
please print this, will you? James Taylor. 
A Long Island Scare Deer. 
The residents of Oakdale are considerably an¬ 
noyed by deer invading their grain fields and gar¬ 
dens. The deer eat the young grain and early 
plants, and what they fail to eat they trample 
down with their sharp hoofs. 
Some time ago, Lucky Rhodes devised a plan 
for frightening off the deer from his garden, 
which had been greatly damaged, and his plan 
proved very effective. 
Farmer Rhodes set two poles in the ground 
in the middle of his garden, to- which he sus¬ 
pended a string of milk pans and a bell. From 
these he led a cord to his house and thence 
through his bedroom window, looping the end 
of the line over his bedpost. At intervals during 
the night, when the deer were on their rampages, 
farmer Rhodes would pull the cord which would 
rattle the tin pans and jingle the bell in the gar¬ 
den, causing the deer to flee in terror, and now 
but few deer venture within farmer Rhodes’ gar¬ 
den.—Brooklyn Eagle. 
Nature’s Mysteries. 
Nature has many mysteries, both in the animal 
and vegetable kingdom, that no student of nature 
or scientist has ever been able to intelligently 
explain secrets on which the door seems to have 
been locked and the key hidden. 
When I was a boy on the farm, my father 
bought a pig a few weeks old, bringing it home 
in a bag from a distance of about two miles. 
While taking it from the team, it escaped from 
the bag and at once started in a bee line for the 
place from which it came. Not by the road over 
which it had been brought, but across fields over 
two high hills, through a piece of woodland, across 
a wide brook that intervened, and in a few hours 
was back from where it was taken. 
What hidden hand guided it where none of the 
so-called higher animals could have found the 
way? Many of our migratory birds find their 
way across the trackless waters to the distant 
shores of South America and return each sea¬ 
son, and the guide that bids them forward go, 
never fails the way to show. 
Some would call that. guidle instinct, some 
would call it reason, others would say the sixth 
sense, direction. 
No one knows, it is simply one of nature’s 
mysteries. No scientist can tell you why nature’s 
law is reversed in the case of birds of prey, and 
the woodcock and snipe families, where the fe¬ 
males are larger than the males. 
Neither can they tell you why the hop vine 
climbs around the pole with the sun from east 
to south, while the bean vine climbs around in 
the opposite direction. Although scientists have 
demonstrated beyond a doubt that no animal 
on the face of the earth was created for its own 
benefit, from the tiniest insect up to man. 
Still they are unable to tell us what mission 
for good, or for whose benefit some of them were 
created. 
Nature never duplicates, either in man, beast, 
bird, fruit or flower. Though multiplied by 
millions, the result will be the same—each will 
have an individuality of its own. 
Such are nature’s mysteries which we find all 
through the animal and vegetable kingdom, and 
as such they will remain. Geo. L. Brown. 
Wildcat Meat. 
In the July Auk are some letters which passed 
between j. j. Audubon and S. F. Baird, under 
date of Feb. 8, 1842. 
Baird told Audubon of a wildcat killed in 
Pennsylvania, and a P. S. adds: "I forgot to 
say that I had a fine steak of the wildcat broiled, 
and it tasted like a tender piece of pork. I will 
certainly eat the whole of the next one obtained. 
I intend to taste all the quadrupeds inhabiting 
this part of the country.” 
Audubon replied, "I am glad that you find wild¬ 
cat meat pretty good, as it corroborates the say¬ 
ings of many others who pronounce it equal to 
young veal.” 
Vancouver Island. 
Cumberland, B. C.—The prospects are excel¬ 
lent for the coming grouse season, as reports of 
large coveys keep coming in from all districts in 
this vicinity, and if the recent rains have done no 
damage, the birds should be very plentiful this 
fall. . F. R. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
