332 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Aug. 29, 1908. 
rapidly and seemed strong and hearty. Un¬ 
fortunately, however, the kitten, its foster 
brother, also did well and grew strong and fero¬ 
cious, and one day was detected in mauling the 
little rabbit, which it had injured so badly that 
it could not be saved. 
In hay meadows at the edge of swamps and 
woods little rabbits are often found by the hay 
makers. Only a year or two ago three or four 
were found nestled in the grass, brought to the 
house, fed up on milk until they were pretty 
strong and hearty, and then were turned loose 
in a little piece of woods back of the house, 
which has had a stock of rabbits ever since. 
The accompanying photograph will give you 
an idea of how these little fellows look during 
the early days of their existence. The small size 
Leatherback Turtle in Maine. 
Bath, Me., Aug. 19. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Last Sunday two fishermen in a wide 
gasolene boat sighted a large turtle about fifteen 
miles southeast of Seguin Island, which is near 
the mouth of the Kennebec River. They 
waited their chance and when the monster came 
up to breathe they threw what they call a sword¬ 
fish iron—a sort of harpoon—into the back of 
its neck, just behind the hard shell. The iron 
did not go very deep, but held firmly under the 
skin. 
The turtle towed the boat with reversed en¬ 
gine for some minutes before tiring. Then the 
men put a slip noose about the reptile’s neck, 
and when it tried to dive choked it into such a 
LEATHERBACK TURTLE. 
and short ears are the only important differences 
between them and their parents. 
I do not happen ever to have seen the jack 
rabbit of the Western plains at this age, though 
when half grown they are familiar. No doubt 
there is a great similarity in the breeding habits 
of all the great hare group which is so well de¬ 
veloped in North America. Ramon. 
Wapiti. 
Pasadena, Cal., Aug. n .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: What is the eastern limit that elk 
(wapiti) have been known to have inhabited? 
Is there any proof that they were once found in 
the New England States? Please let us hear 
from those who are posted on this subject. 
Stanstead. 
The Forest and Stream may he obtained from 
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weak condition that they could bind it and tow 
it ashore. Once there, they hoisted it out of thc 
water and into their launch. It has been on ex¬ 
hibition at “10c. a look” ever since, and is still 
in the launch. 
The fishermen who captured this specimen call 
it a black, hunch-backed sea turtle. They say 
it is a female and weighs 1,500 pounds. That 
is, they say that they have seen dead ones be¬ 
fore that when weighed tipped the scales at 
1,300, and that this is a great deal larger. With 
its head pretty well drawn in, the turtle seems 
to be easily about six or seven feet from nose 
to tip of its short, stubby tail. The shell is 
pure black except at the lower part where it 
curves under, and here are a few patches of 
white. Along the shell, from head to tail, are 
ridges about six or eight inches apart. Outside 
of these, the shell is perfectly smooth and looks 
like black leather. 
d he turtle has taken no food or drink since 
its capture and merely has a bucket of water 
thrown over it once in a while. There is a roue 1 
across its neck which holds its head down and 
probably makes it a little difficult for the turtle 
to breathe. The flippers, in the place of the 
ordinary land turtle’s hind feet, are about a 
yard long and a foot wide. The front flippers 
are not quite so wide, but are much longer and 
have another joint in them. The fishermen say 
that when stretched out these front flippers will 
measure thirteen feet from tip to tip. 
Last night the captors refused $200 for the 
beast, and prefer to show it along the summer 
resorts. They claim that there is more money 
in this, and that if the thing dies it can be 
mounted in a museum. They say that there is 
no such turtle in captivity anywhere, and that 
they have been unable to get any information 
as to how to feed and care for it. 
I tried to find out what had been done to pre- 1 
serve the brute and was told that they had ; 
telephoned to those who ought to know, but j 
got no information. The turtle seems to have 
lots of strength and the wound (which only bled 
a little) is apparently healing up. I tried to in¬ 
fluence the fishermen to get into communication 
with the Museum of Natural History or the 
Aquarium, but they are so busy taking in the j 
dimes that they have little ambition for anything \ 
else and do not seem to care what finally be- ® 
comes of the turtle. 
Forest and Stream readers may be interested 
in knowing of this. Frank Page. 
[The specimen above described is undoubtedly 
the leather back turtle ( Sphargis coriacea). 
1 hese are turtles of immense size, usually 
weighing 700 pounds, but perhaps never more 
than 800 pounds. They are found on our coast 
every summer as far north as Maine. They are 
quite frequently captured, but never live long 
and generally die during shipment. They do 
not feed in captivity.— ^Editor.] 
Rattlesnake Bite in Washington. 
On August 17, Rodney Rose, a keeper at the 
Washington Zoological Park, was bitten by a dia¬ 
mond rattlesnake in the middle finger of his left 
hand. Rose at once ran to the office of Dr. 
Frank Baker, the superintendent, who applied a 
tourniquet to the man’s wrist, but as he grew 
worse, the patient was transferred to the Emer¬ 
gency Hospital. On the suggestion of Dr. Stiles 
of the Government Hygienic Laboratory, the 
hospital authorities wired Raymond Ditmars of 
the New York Zoological Park for some anti- 
venine. This was promptly despatched, the mes- j 
senger just succeeding in catching the Congres¬ 
sional Limited from this city. It was at once 
applied, and on August 20 and 21 the patient was 
reported as practically out of danger and re¬ 
covering. 
The anti-venine which is reported to have 
done such good work is a preparation of the 
Pasteur Institute at Paris, and is thoroughly be¬ 
lieved in by Dr. Ditmars. It is everywhere ac¬ 
cessible to the keepers of the reptile house at the 
New York Zoological Park, and each keeper 
knows how to use it. No keeper there, we be¬ 
lieve, has ever been bitten by a venomous snake, 
and this seems to show that caution, discretion 
and judgment are used there in handling the 
snakes; for, as is well known, snakes very sel¬ 
dom bite except in self-defense. 
