FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 7, 1908. 
73° 
I had a room to myself, and when bed time 
came hung my hammock, and the mosquito 
tent over it as a protection, though there were 
no mosquitoes. Then I opened the window to 
enjoy the cool mountain air while I slept. There 
was something in the strange situation which 
kept me awake, the spirit of the mountains was 
all pervading. At intervals a peculiar breeze 
blew past my mosquito tent, and then just as I 
was dozing off it seemed to become steady, and 
was apparently concentrated at one point near 
the calf of my leg, which lay exposed against 
the side of the mosquito tent. It seemed like 
a breeze blowing out of a funnel, but waver¬ 
ing about a little, and then came a cool sensa¬ 
tion of something soft settling against my leg, 
and that was all. I waited a little and then 
shook the mosquito tent. Immediately there 
was a soft fluttering; something had gone. 
“Vampires.” I said to myself; got up, lit a 
lantern and looked about, but nothing was 
there, nor was there any puncture in my leg. I 
was disappointed to think that if I had remained 
still, I might have learned how a vampire bat 
bites. Apparently no one is really sure how 
it is done, for the bats always wait till the 
victim is asleep, and then make their attacks. 
One vampire would not do much harm, but a 
number attacking at the same time would be 
dangerous, and might cause death. I thought 
of waiting awhile to see if they would come 
back, but remembering that I might fall asleep 
before they would return, and then become 
subject to a real danger, I closed my window, 
and sought my hammock, where I was soon 
asleep. 
Bogoslof Island. 
Most visitors to the Bering Sea have seen the 
extraordinary Bogoslof volcano, and those who 
have not seen it have heard of it. This island 
is only a little over one hundred years old, 
Bogoslof having risen to the surface of the sea 
in 1796. In 1884 new Bogoslof made its appear¬ 
ance, and soon the sea threw up sand bars which 
connected the two. Until recently the island con¬ 
sisted of four prominent peaks, of which old 
Bogoslof lay to the south, new Bogoslof to the 
northwest and McCulloch Peak and Metcalf 
Cone in between. 
In 1899 new Bogoslof was still steaming. The 
islands were then the resort of a great herd of 
sea lions and of millions of sea birds, chiefly 
murres. In September, 1907, McCulloch Peak 
exploded and disappeared. Recent reports from 
the Bering Sea indicate that there have been 
other changes, one navigator being reported to 
have said on his return to port that he had been 
unable to find the island. 
The later cones are produced by the slow 
pushing from beneath the waves of a mass of 
semi-solid lava which hardens as it rises, and 
as it hardens breaks off into blocks. There has 
probably never been so extraordinary a story of 
growth and change of an island in the sea as 
that of the. Bogoslof group. 
Small Mammals. 
The irrigation which is going on in many 
places in the West brings in great numbers of 
settlers to live on the reclaimed lands. The 
cultivation of the lands often makes food very 
abundant for certain noxious species of birds 
or mammals and may cause their rapid increase, 
to the great injury of the farmer. The Bureau 
of Biological Survey, whose province it is to 
watch such matters, from time to time issues 
Farmers’ Bulletins of useful information on 
various subjects, and one of these has just come 
to hand. It is from the pen of Vernon Bailey, 
the accomplished naturalist who. is in charge of 
Geographic Distribution in the Bureau, and 
deals with the harmful and beneficial mammals 
of the arid interior, with special reference to 
the Carson and Humboldt valleys, in Nevada. 
One of the first and most important problems 
confronting the settler has to do with the native 
mammals to agriculture. 
These mammals destroy live stock and poul¬ 
try, some farm crops and trees, others, by 
means of their burrows in the ground, ruin irri¬ 
gation ditches and in this way work great harm. 
The injurious mammals are chiefly rodents of 
one kind and another. Carnivorous mammals, 
such as foxes and bobcats,, may do great harm 
or great good, while a number of quite un¬ 
popular mammals, such as badgers, weasels, 
skunks of two sorts, grasshoppers, mice and 
several species of bats are wholly beneficial. 
Although the paper in question treats chiefly 
of the Carson Sink and Humboldt valleys, it is 
equally applicable to nearly the entire sage 
brush valley region of the Great Basin. 
Ground squirrels, chipmunks, meadow mice 
and most other mice may be destroyed by 
poison. Muskrats, which constitute a real 
danger to irrigation ditches, may be trapped. 
Gophers may be poisoned, as may also kanga¬ 
roo rats, though these last are not likely to do 
much harm. Against rabbits the shotgun and 
trap are recommended, or a rabbit-proof fence 
to keep them out of orchards. They can be 
poisoned, but it is not always safe. 
The bobcat eats many noxious rodents, but 
also destroys sheep and poultry, if these are 
left where he can get them. The desert fox— 
equivalent of the kit fox of the plains—does no 
harm but devours a multitude of mice. The 
coyote is destructive, but as shown in past pub¬ 
lications of the Survey, can be kept from 
poultry, sheep and other small live stock by a 
fence. The coyote eats mice, squirrels and 
prairie dogs, and so far is useful. 
Skunks devour mice and other small rodents 
and many insects. They will destroy poultry, of 
course, if allowed to get near it, but a fence of 
wire netting will keep them out. The badger 
lives exclusively on ground squirrels and prairie 
dogs, and kills many pocket gophers and a 
multitude of mice. A badger may sometimes 
take up his home on the edge of a prairie dog 
town and live there until the town is deserted, 
the inhabitants moving off to less dangerous 
quarters. All the weasels are beneficial, since 
they live almost exclusively on mice. They do 
occasionally catch chickens, to be sure, but 
their ravages in this direction are very incon¬ 
siderable compared with the services which 
they perform by killing mice. 
If the farmer is slow to learn that in destroy¬ 
ing many hawks and small mammals he is di¬ 
rectly contributing to swell the number of his 
enemies, the mice and the insects, he must pay 
the penalty. It is but a year and a half since 
in this same Carson valley a literal plague of 
mice followed the continued destruction of 
hawks, gulls and owls, which had gathered to 
prey upon the increasing mice. Mr. Bailey 
visited the place at the time and the conclusions 
that he drew from his observations were printed 
in Forest and Stream last autumn. 
The Bison Fund. 
Morristown, N. J., Oct. 23.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The appeal of William T. Hornaday, 
president of the American Bison Society, for 
subscriptions to the bison fund to raise a few 
thousand dollars required to purchase bison and 
stock the preserve provided by Congress, should 
interest every American citizen. The reasons 
for doing this are too well known and appre¬ 
ciated to require restatement. If the truth were 
known it would probably be discovered that too 
many have a false pride respecting small dona¬ 
tions to this patriotic cause. It would be far 
more creditable if the amount required to pro¬ 
vide the fund were raised by many small con¬ 
tributions than through the generosity of a few 
individuals. It should be borne in mind that 
the spirit in which the contribution is made 
counts for more than the amount, so that no 
one should be deterred from giving something 
because the donation happens to be small. 
I inclose $10, a subscription for this fund, and 
hope others will add to it. 
Edgar F. Randolph. 
WHERE QUALITY IS FIRST. 
Campers and sportsmen who demand the best 
should note that the equipment of every scientific 
and exploring expedition for the past fifty years 
has included a supply of Borden’s Eagle Brand 
Condensed Milk. Keeps in any climate and 
under all conditions. The original and leading 
brand since 1857.— Adv. 
