May 8, 1909 ] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
735 
A Wyoming Mix Up. 
Cheyenne, Wyo., April 28.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: It is unlawful for anyone to kill 
elk, antelope, moose or mountain sheep within 
the State of Wyoming. During the revision of 
the State game laws in the last Legislature some 
one blundered, and as a result a provision was 
inserted in house bill 131 that absolutely pro¬ 
hibits the shooting of elk and mountain sheep 
in addition to the other game animals mentioned 
above. • 
Wyoming’s best game asset are elk, there 
being about 35,000 live elk in the State which 
have been increasing during recent years, until 
they have now become almost a burden upon 
the State during the hard winters. The last 
Legislature appropriated $5,000 for . feeding 
them, in order to save them from starvation dur¬ 
ing the worst part of the winter. The State has 
derived a large revenue from the sale of resi¬ 
dent and non-resident game licenses, and as a 
result of the prohibitive clause unintentionally 
inserted in the game laws the State will be the 
loser of thousands of dollars, for few non¬ 
resident hunters would care to pay the $50 
license simply for the privilege of shooting two 
deer, which are now the only large game open 
for shooting in Wyoming during the game sea¬ 
son. Settlers and guides in several sections of 
the State, who have annually reaped a good in¬ 
come from the influx of wealthy elk hunters, 
are also greatly wrought up over the fact that 
elk and mountain sheep have been placed on 
the protected list of big game. 
The objectionable clause as it appears in the 
new game laws reads as follows: 
'“Section 25. It shall be unlawful for any 
person or persons to kill any antelope until the 
open season for other game animals in 1915, 
when only one antelope may be killed by any 
one person hunting legally, or to kill any moose, 
elk, or mountain sheep until the open season for 
other game animals, in 1912, when only one male 
moose may be killed by any one person hunt¬ 
ing legally, or to kill any elk or mountain sheep 
in any part of this State except in Fremont 
county, Uinta county. Carbon county, and that 
part of Big Horn county and Park county west 
of the Big Horn River until the open season 
on game animals in 1915. Any person con¬ 
victed of violation of the provisions of this sec¬ 
tion shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor 
and shall be punished by a fine of not less than 
one hundred .dollars nor more than three hun¬ 
dred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county 
jail for not less than thirty days nor more than 
six months or by both such fine and imprison¬ 
ment.” 
An effort is being made by the State officers 
to correct the error. The proceedings through 
w'hich the law passed have been looked up in 
an endeavor to find a discrepancy by which the 
error can be corrected, but as the bill was prop¬ 
erly engrossed and signed by the executives, of 
both Houses, and by the governor in its present 
condition, there seems to be no legal method of 
deciding the question outside of a test case be¬ 
fore the supreme court, which could not be tried 
until after the game season is legally open this 
fall. 
There seems to be a difference of opinion as 
to how the error crept into the new law, and 
was passed unobserved by those who were in¬ 
terested. The law was drafted and introduced 
in the House by a joint committee of the game 
committees of both Houses. There was a fight 
on the antelope clause in both Blouses, and sev¬ 
eral amendments were made. A joint confer¬ 
ence was held between representatives of both 
Blouses over the antelope clause, at which the de¬ 
mands of the game committee for the protection 
of 'antelope were allowed to stand. It is said 
that during the frequent amendments to this 
section it was purposely or accidentally made 
to exclude the killing of elk and mountain sheep 
as well as antelope and moose. 
Conflicting statements appear in this section 
in regard to dates, the first prohibiting the kill¬ 
ing until 1912, and the 'next until 1915. 
Section 26, defining the big game season, pro¬ 
vides that ‘‘it shall be unlawful for any person 
or persons to hunt, pursue or kill any elk, deer, 
or mountain sheep except from Sept. 25 to Nov. 
30 of each year.” Section 28, defining the limit 
on big game, provides that “it shall be unlaw.- 
ful for any person to kill more than two elk, 
two deer and one mountain sheep in any one 
year, and the limit herein specified shall apply 
only to persons hunting legally.” It is thought 
by some that these provisions, clearly setting 
forth the intention of the law to allow the 
shooting of elk and mountain sheep, may be 
used to alleviate the situation if a general under¬ 
standing can be reached between the State au¬ 
thorities, game wardens and hunters not to 
prosecute hunters shooting elk according to 
these regulations. But at all events such action 
would weaken the wffiole law and might lead to 
difficulty in convicting those w'ho wantonly dis¬ 
regard other sections of the same law. 
W. A. Bartlett. 
Another Fox Story. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The occurrence alluded to in my contribution 
entitled, “Fox Hunting on the Cape,” narrated 
by C. W. Webber, in his “Romance of Natural 
History,” is as follows: 
“There was a certain briery old field of great 
extent near the middle of which we could on 
any morning of the year start a gray fox. After 
a chase, of an hour or so, just enough to blow 
the dogs and horses well, we would invariably 
lose the fox at a given spot, the fence corner 
of a large plantation which was opened into a 
heavy forest on one side of this old field. The 
frequency of this eYent became the standing 
joke of the country. Fox hunters from other 
neighborhoods would bring their pack for miles 
to have a run out of this mysterious fox in the 
hopes of clearing up the mystery. They were 
all baffled alike. We often examined the ground 
to find out if possible the mode of escape, but 
could discover nothing that in any way ac¬ 
counted for it. That it did not fly was very 
sure, that it must escape along the fence in 
some way was equally so. 
“My first idea was that the animal, as is very 
common, had climbed upon the top rail of the 
fence and walked along it to such a distance 
before leaping off that the dogs were entirely 
thrown out. I accordingly followed the fence 
with the wliole pack about me clear round the 
plantation, but without striking the trail again 
or making any discovery. 
“The affair now became quite serious, the 
reputation of our hounds was suffering, and be¬ 
sides I found they were really losing confidence 
in themselves and would not run with half the 
staunch eagerness which had before character-’ 
ized them. Some of the neighbors had grown 
superstitious about it and vowed that this must 
be a weir fox who could make himself invisible 
when he pleased. 
“At last I determined to watch at the fence 
corner and see what became of. the fox. With¬ 
in the usual time we heard him heading toward 
the mysterious corner, as the voices of the pack 
clearly indicated. I almost held my breath in 
my concealment, while I watched for the ap¬ 
pearance of this extraordinary creature. In a 
little \yhile the fox made his appearance, com¬ 
ing on at quite a leisurely pace a little in ad¬ 
vance of the pack. When he reached the corner 
he climbed in a most unconcerned and deliberate 
way to the top rail of the fence and then walked 
along it, balancing himself as carefully as a 
rope dancer. He proceeded down the side of 
the fence next to the forest in which I was con¬ 
cealed. 
“I followed cautiously so as just to keep him 
in view. Before he had thus proceeded more 
than two hundred yards, the hounds came up 
to the corner and he very deliberately paused 
and looked back for a moment, then he hurried 
on along the fence some paces further, and when 
he came opposite a dead but leaning tree which 
stood inside the fence some twelve or sixteen 
feet distant, he stooped, made a high and long 
bound to a knot upon the side of its trunk, up 
which he ran, and entered a hollow in the top 
where it had been broken off near thirty feet 
from the ground, in some storm. I respected 
the acuteness of the trick too much to betray 
its author, since I was now personally satisfied, 
and he continued for a long time yet to be the 
wonder and the topic of neighboring fox hun¬ 
ters, until at last one of them happened to take 
the same idea into his head and found out the 
mystery. He avenged himself by cutting down 
the tree and capturing the smart fox. 
“The tree stood at such a distance from the 
fence that no one of us who had examined the 
ground ever dreamed of the possibility that the 
fox would leap to it. It seemed a physical im¬ 
possibility, but practice and the convenient knot 
had enabled cunning reynard to overcome it 
with assured ease.” 
I shall narrate one or two other incidents of 
a similar character in my next communication. 
Fox Hunter. 
Great Blue Heron. 
IMays, Ind., April 28.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I send you the picture of a bird I 
am in doubt about. I think it belongs to the 
heron family. The picture was taken in the 
vicinity of Raleigh, Ind., as the fowl was migrat¬ 
ing or had been blown out of its course. It is 
a waterfowl and feeds on fish, crawfish and 
other water products. I should like to know 
just what it is. Roy A. Mayse. 
[The bird is apparently a great blue heron 
(Ardea herodias). a species of general distribu¬ 
tion throughout North America.— Editor.] 
All tlie^ game laws of the United States and 
Ca 7 iada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
