Nov. 28, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
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a cross shot. As he was traveling, I led him a 
clear fifteen to eighteen feet and held about a 
yard high, scoring a clean kill, the bird being 
stone dead as I paced the distance to where it 
fell, making it eighty-seven yards; No. 6 chilled 
shot. The pacing is easily verified by the survey 
of the ponds which gives distances accurately. 
Now, although both of these in a measure were 
scratch shots, the fact remains that they got 
the birds, and that a lot of them can be killed 
over sixty yards if the gunner can properly 
gauge speed, wind, elevation, drift, angle, etc. 
With choke-bored guns and high velocity ammu¬ 
nition, I am convinced we all hide a good many 
misses behind the cloak of “too far.” It is 
nevertheless a fact that most gunners make a 
practice of shooting at birds they have no rea¬ 
sonable chance of killing. This is one reason 
why some men have such difficulty in learning 
to shoot ducks with any proficiency. They can¬ 
not judge distance and therefore do not know 
when they are missing, and when the shot is 
practically impossible even if they have held 
aright. When an expert misses a bird he gen¬ 
erally knows just why and just where the shot 
passed, so another time can correct his error. 
The tyro goes on emptying ammunition at ran- 
; dom and never realizes he is not leading enough 
until he finally bags some bird out of a bunch 
several feet behind the one he fired for, or on 
a long cross shot gets ducks a yard beneath the 
bird shot at. 
Teal are scarce and the spoonbills, which were 
present in force two weeks ago, have departed 
i! for the time being. A few jacksnipe are com¬ 
ing in. Very few geese have been bagged as 
yet. They are not much prized in this part of 
the country, although good on the northern grain 
fields. Here they are apt to be lean and tough. 
The duck disease, reported from the San 
Joaquin valley, proves to be Paris green poison¬ 
ing. Owing to the tendency of the wheat to 
rust from the effect of a fungoid parasite called 
the “must,” ranchers have been treating their 
| seed grain with a solution of arsenic which is 
said to be a preventive. The ducks have been 
feeding largely on the farmers’ fields, and har¬ 
vested enough of this poisoned seed to kill them 
I off in thousands. There is little use in a game 
law to keep sportsmen from slaughtering ducks 
when they are being poisoned wholesale, and the 
hing ought to be stopped. It is a misdemeanor 
I !o lay poison in most places, but in this State 
he farmers have been in the habit of putting 
i out wheat and barley so treated for years, aim- 
1 ng to destroy the squirrel pest, which sometimes 
vssumes serious proportions, the little rodents 
iterally honeycombing the fields so heavy imple- 
nents and machinery will crush into them. This 
nakes tilling the soil almost impossible, and in 
i he few sections where such conditions obtain, 
10 one can blame the ranchers for ridding 
hemselves of the pest by such means as they 
nay, but the general scattering of poisoned seed 
j vheat is certain to be put a stop to before long, 
lse there will be an end of the duck supply in 
"alifornia. 
; People in general are altogether too careless 
i laying poison, which is, at best, a clumsy and 
[^effectual way of dealing with pests, as well 
s barbarous. The regularity with which it de¬ 
troys valuable animals for which it was not 
, Tended is enough to condemn it. A number 
J f valuable dogs have been poisoned in this city 
lately under circumstances that suggest their 
having picked up meat intended for cats or curs, 
but poison is no respecter of the intentions of 
those who put it out. Sad to say, women are 
frequently offenders in this regard, perhaps 
oftener than men, whose chosen weapon gen¬ 
erally is a firearm, which has the advantage of 
getting what it is aimed it. 
Edwin L. Hedderly. 
Changes at Yellowstone Park. 
Lieut.-Gen. S. B. M. Young, retired, has re¬ 
signed as superintendent of the Yellowstone Na¬ 
tional Park. General Allen, Post Commander 
at Ft. Yellowstone, has been ordered to Fort 
Huachuca, Arizona. The Eighth Cavalry will be 
succeeded by four troops of the Fifth Cavalry, 
one troop of the latter regiment being now at 
Ft. Yellowstone. 
Major Harry C. Benson, Fourteenth United 
A YELLOWSTONE PARK BEAR. 
States Cavalry, has been assigned to duty as 
acting superintendent of the park, and will also 
be in command of the troops at Ft. Yellow¬ 
stone. Major Benson left Washington Nov. 14 
on his way to the park, expecting to stop a day 
or tw r o en route, which should have brought 
him to the park about the end of last week. 
Major Benson is not new to park manage¬ 
ment, having been stationed for six years in 
the Yosemite National Park, two years as subor¬ 
dinate to the officer in charge there and four 
years himself in charge. He therefore comes 
to the Yellowstone Park with a wide experience 
in the management of such reservations, and 
under his management we may look for a con¬ 
tinuance of the well being of the Yellowstone 
Park. 
Vermont Deer. 
Hyde Park, Vt., Nov. 21 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The following, from the Burlington 
Free Press, relates to the deer season in this 
State: 
“The deer season which closed yesterday was 
the most successful ever known in this part of 
the State. There were at least 150 killed with¬ 
in a radius of ten miles of this city and four 
of the finest bucks were shot within two miles 
of the heart of the city. Old hunters, who esti¬ 
mate that the number killed in the State at large 
will reach 2,000, say that the unusual success 
this year is due to the fact that the open season 
came during the mating period when bucks are 
roaming everywhere and are less fearful of man 
than usual. 
Mendon was the banner town in western 
Vermont. There are already forty-four bucks 
and four does reported from the township.” 
H. A. N. 
Caging a Bear. 
Escapes of animals from their cages in 
zoological gardens and menageries are fortu¬ 
nately rare, says a writer in the London Field. 
When they do occur the work of recapture is 
set about in a business-like fashion and the 
prison breaker is generally captured before 
anything is known outside. 
In the periodical issued by the management 
of the Breslau garden an amusing story is told 
of an incident of this kind. Some years ago on 
a fine autumn morning just after the gates were 
opened there was a loud knocking at the pay 
window, and in reply to the inquiry of the 
money taker who presented himself, a man in 
a state of great excitement said that as be was 
walking on the Oder bank he had seen through 
the palisading a large bear loose in the grounds. 
“Greatly obliged to you, sir,” was the reply. 
“We know that already; that bear goes for a 
walk every morning and returns to its cage be¬ 
fore the visitors come in.” 
The man went away quite satisfied. The 
official, who knew the real state of affairs, at 
once ordered the gates to be closed, and the di¬ 
rector was at once informed that the bear was 
loose. It was a serious matter, for the animal 
had killed a keeper in a traveling menagerie 
and for that reason was sold to the zoological 
gardens. Moreover, when a mate had been put 
in with him she soon fell a victim to his bad 
temper. While the authorities were considering 
the best steps to take to recapture the bear— 
for they were loath to shoot such a fine animal 
—the keeper whose negligence in leaving a 
door unfastened had caused the trouble made 
his appearance. His only reply to the re¬ 
proaches of the director for allowing the bear 
to escape was, “Well, we shall have to get him 
in again.” 
He went off to the storeroom, filled his apron 
with carrots and bread and then sought the 
bear. When he saw the animal he called out 
to attract its attention and by throwing down 
food enticed it to the back of the bear dens. 
Here the man entered through a small door by 
which new arrivals are put into the cages. He 
was closely followed by the bear, but reached 
the middle of the cage before it had scrambled 
through the small opening. Then he dropped 
on the floor the rest of the food he had in his 
apron and made his way out of the cage, which 
was at once securely fastened in front and at the 
rear. Thus the incident, which might have had 
serious consequences, ended happily for those 
on whom the responsibility rested. 
Does Not Want to Miss an Issue. 
Essex, Conn .—Editor Forest and Stream: Please inform 
me when my subscription to Forest and Stream ex¬ 
pires. I have become much attached to it and look 
forward with a great deal of pleasure to its weekly visits, 
so do not want to lose a single number.—G. W. C. 
