88 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 19, 1907. 
THE TOP RAIL. 
Did you ever notice what an attraction the 
top rail of an old worm fence seems to have for 
the small woods folk on winter days when the 
sun is out? If the fence divides wood and field 
one who, while resting on the top rail, will sit 
quietly and watch may see many things that 
will brighten his tramps homeward through the 
snow. Chipmunks and chickarees find the old 
fence a protected highway which they traverse 
frequently in their excursions to and from their 
storehouses. It is surprising how quickly a red 
squirrel can go from the woods to an orchard 
or field along these fences, although they must 
travel twice the actual distance in following the 
angular path. Hawks may see and try to catch 
them napping as they hop down from the fence 
here and there to examine stumps or logs where 
they may find a morsel forgotten another day, 
but if a shadow crosses their vision there is 
a flash of red and the old fence is sanctuary. 
The shadow may be that of a crow or jay, but 
no chances are taken, and' the red holds his 
breath until safely ensconced on the bole of a 
nearby hemlock, when he gives out his personal 
opinion of the disturber of his peace. 
It is the furry gray squirrel that I love to 
watch as he makes his way along the fence. 
He, too, is fond of sitting on the top rail and 
surveying his little world, but if anything dis¬ 
turbs him it is worth a long tramp to watch him 
as he zigzags back and forth, following the 
riders toward his home tree. If not suspicious, 
however, the gray skips along from rail to rail, 
turning back now and then to jump down and 
examine something on lower rails or on the 
ground. Often it is a nut that he thinks he 
buried in a certain clump of grass in a fence- 
corner. Frequently he is mistaken in the exact 
place, but he finds it further on and comes back 
to the rider to eat it. Watch him closely when 
he finally sees you blocking his way. He looks 
at you with his head turned sidewise and you 
wonder that he shows no surprise, and cannot 
make out whether he knew you were there all 
the time or is only bluffing. Now he turns 
back and traverses a few rails, gets down on the 
next one and makes a pretense of searching for 
something there, comes back to the rider again 
and feigns perfect composure, slips down to 
the ground while, as he seems to think, you 
have been thrown off your guard, and then 
makes his way, now slowly, now like a streak, 
to the shelter of the woods—just as though you 
did not sabe squirrel ways. 
r, 
I read the other day of an Englishman's 
method for keeping a fishing rod in good con¬ 
dition while it was not being used. He referred 
to an eighteen-foot greenheart salmon rod made 
in the style known in Ireland as the Shannon 
or Castleconnell rod, which consists of three 
pieces that must be spliced and the two joints 
made fast by winding with waxed tape. Be¬ 
cause of the time taken to splice the joints, he 
said it was desirable to put such a rod away 
fully mounted, but admitted the awkwardness of 
finding many places where this might be done 
so that inquisitive persons could not handle the 
rod while its owner was away. A good plan, 
he said, was to secure an iron pipe, cap or 
plug one end, and fit the other end with a hinged 
flap and a padlock. This could be supported 
by nails driven in the outside of a building. 
As an eighteen-foot Castleconnell rod weighs 
several pounds, it is to be assumed that if any 
of the neighbors sees four men lugging nineteen 
feet of two-inch iron pipe across country, he 
will think they are on their way to a natural gas 
well, and not suspect .them of walking off with 
a fishing rod. On second thought, remembering 
the old saying that no one steals things to work 
with—and to wield a salmon rod requires no 
little physical exertion—perhaps the scheme is 
a safe one. Any friend who has a supply of iron 
WINTER AS IT SHOULD BE—NOT AS IT IS. 
pipe is welcome to try it as a rod case. A few 
experiments in carrying it in subway trains will 
determine any objections there may be to its 
complete efficiency. 
8 * 
That story of Sky Pilot McAllister’s about 
the man who shot three pigeons at one shot—• 
one from the east, one from the west and the 
third an incomer—reminds me of three jack- 
rabbits I flushed one day when there was little 
fresh meat in camp and even jackrabbit would 
have, been welcome. I walked along a gmne 
trail that wound through sagebrush, rifle ready 
to fire. All at once three husky jacks 
burst out of the sagebrush about twelve 
feet in front of me. One followed the trail at 
first, and I aimed at him until the second one 
disturbed my nerves, when I swung on him, 
then for some unknown reason I turned to¬ 
ward the third rabbit, and by that time they 
were all kicking up didos in the way they have, 
and for the moment it seemed to me that rab¬ 
bits were bobbing up everywhere. I went back 
to camp and bacon. 
I thought the Russians were poor marksmen, 
but how about the two young Frenchmen who 
fought a duel the other day a la Americain.e? 
Each was supplied with a French army revolver 
and ten cartridges, and at the word “Trois,” he 
was by agreement entitled to use up all his 
ammunition. In the excitement of the moment 
the seconds neglected to count the number ot 
shots fired, but when the clouds of smoke drifted 
away they picked up the slain and found that 
he had sustained a flesh wound below the belt. 
It is not stated what sort of armor the witnesses 
wore, or if there were cyclone cellars on the 
field of honor, but I fancy the innovation will 
not become popular over there. I would not 
care to be a witness—would you? 
* 
Game birds illegally shipped are found in 
almost every curious receptacle imaginable, but 
it remained for a Texas commission house to 
make the champion blunder. A game warden in 
Los Angeles wondered ’ why consumers on the 
Pacific coast should order oysters sent out by 
express from El Paso, Tex., and- he followed 
this up by concluding that oysters did not fre¬ 
quent the Rio Grande, anyhow, as they were not 
in the habit of making overland journeys when 
they could help it. • One can contained six dozen 
teal ducks in ice with heads, legs and wings re¬ 
moved as further disguise; another contained 
Texas quail. It is believed the Texas “oyster 
beds” will be abandoned as unprofitable. 
J. H. Drake, of Gloversville, N. Y., sends me 
this: 
Last fall I was out for the day, hunting 
ruffed grouse and woodcock. I was working 
the edge of some large alders, and paying but 
little attention to the dog inside, when all at once 
I saw a partridge close to the edge of the brush. 
I fired at him and knocked him down. 
When I went inside to pick him up, I saw 
another kicking his last. Then the dog called 
my attention and I looked his way and saw 
another which he rounded up wing tipped. This 
made three full grown birds at one shot—seeing 
but one* when I fired. 
* 
A story comes from Coweta, Ind. Ter., re¬ 
lating that an eagle flew down where some 
children were at play, and picking up a five- 
year-old boy, tried to fly away with him, but 
failed. The child’s weight and his kicking 
were too . much for the big bird, and when 
finally droppped, the boy was not much hurt 
The story goes on to say that “this is the 
first time in the history of Indian Territory 
that a child has actually been picked up and 
carried by an eagle,” henoe the writer evi¬ 
dently believed it himself. Has any reader 
of Forest and Stream ever known of an authen¬ 
tic case of this sort? 
«? 
The bookkeeper of a sportsmen’s publication 
received a letter one day from an old subscriber, 
stating that he had long read it with interest 
and was aware that it was time to renew his 
subscription, but did not wish to do so, as he 
would not need it in the future. It was not 
* 
noticed that the postmark was that of a town 
in which a State prison is located, but the post¬ 
script was eloquent. It said: “P. S.: I am to 
be hung next week.” 
Grizzly King. 
