852 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 3, 1911. 
hunting for them. On the other hand it may 
well be that mice are always so abundant that 
it is easier for the fox to catch (hem than to 
spend his time hunting for birds' eggs. 
In the Middle West it is well known that the 
coyote at times is very troublesome to the poul¬ 
try raiser, but it is usually true that when a 
coyote gets at poultry at night, it is because the 
door of the fowl house has been left open. 
The coyote makes a business of hunting ground 
squirrels and prairie dogs, and by his destruc¬ 
tion of these little rodents does much to help 
the farmer. On the other hand he unquestion¬ 
ably kills a great number of birds, more so in 
proportion we are disposed to believe than does 
the fox, because the coyote often inhahits a 
country where there is no timber and where the 
birds must necessarily roost on the ground, and 
so within reach of the little wolf’s powerful 
spring. Coyotes, too, are very destructive of 
young lambs and of new born pigs, and the 
same crime is chnrsred sometimes to the fox. 
Weasels genera ly, including minks, are too 
se’dom seen to be justly charged with great de¬ 
struction of game bird life. Skunks, which are 
much more common, have a bad name, not so 
much on account of the damage which they ac¬ 
tually do, as from that which they are supposed 
to do. Skunks prey largely on insects—grubs, 
beetles and gasshoppers—and anyone who lives 
in a skunk country may readily convince himself 
of this. No doubt also they eat mice and birds 
if they can get them, but they also feed on ber¬ 
ries, fruit and are much given to destroying 
corn when it is in the milk, climbing part way 
up the stalks, which their weight bends down, 
then gnawing off the ears below the cob, drag¬ 
ging them to the entrance of the burrow and 
there clawing away the husk until the soft and 
tender grains are exposed, when they wi’l in a 
short time gnaw a whole cob perfectly clean. 
All the ground-nesting birds are subject to 
the attacks of skunks, as they are to those of 
many other enemies. Rarely the skunk forms 
the chicken-eating habit, and may get in to the 
hen house where he proves very destructive, but 
here again it is the fau’t of the person who has 
charge of the chickens, who should have ar¬ 
ranged to keep the skunk out. 
[to p.e concluded.] 
Camping 
By WILLIAM 
V.—ON LOSING one's WAY. 
W E now had become so popular that many 
of our friends wished to go with us, and 
one year our party numbered eighteen. 
This we found to be too large. The cooking 
and supplies were too extensive and the fishing 
grounds were not adequate. In trout fishing on 
a river the same ground cannot be used with 
satisfaction for more than ten days. 
We would send one party down stream and 
one up stream, and if need be, another party 
further up and one further down, the party 
ahead to set a bush in the bank to indicate where 
fishing commenced, so that the party following 
would know why the trout were wary. As our 
river is sixty miles long, we sent parts of our 
party out for a week or ten days. On such 
trips your plans must be complete. Adequate 
supplies and utensils must be taken and you 
must provide so that you will keep warm and 
dry and have plenty to eat. A proportion of 
food—that is, the main dependencies—must be 
taken, based on your schedule for the trip. 
In going up river the sportsmen walk and the 
guides pole the loaded boats. In doing so your 
places for lunch and for camp must be deeded 
upon, or your guides must be directed to keep 
going until they find you on the river bank. 
You must also be sure that you know the trai's, 
as it is very easy to get lost. You must also 
observe the weather so as not to be caught in 
a shower, get wet and catch cold. If you do 
get wet, do not sit down or stop walking until 
your clothes are dry and change as soon as you 
can. Always have necessary medicines in your 
camp outfit. 
In going up river if you are not sure of your 
trails, stay in the boat. In going down river it 
is best to stay in the boat unless you wish to 
H. HOLDEN 
roam around in the woods and are quite fami.iar 
with the entire locality from start to finish. If 
you do get lost, there is only one way to get 
out of your trouble. You must stop, sit down 
and think. Trace your back course in your 
mind and try to locate yourself and the place 
you are bound for. Do not move until you are 
sure that you have become calmed and know 
what you are about. If you have a gun, a rifle 
or even a pistol, and have arranged with your 
guides, they will understand that three rapid 
shots mean that you want help at once. Do not 
use this signal until it is quite necessary, as 
otherwise it is apt to be disregarded, and then 
it is absolutely dangerous. 
A compass is of little use unless you know 
the relative direction of the places of the locality 
and know the direction you were taking when 
lost. If you are really lost and cannot decide 
calmly where you should go, stay where you are 
and prepare to make yourself comfortable and 
your guides will have less distance to go in 
looking for you. If you have to stay out all 
night, select a protected place where you can 
keep dry with a back log, build a fire and do 
not let it go out. It will keep you busy and 
warn and will aid those who may be looking 
for you. If you are very hungry and weak, 
Ioob out for a porcupine, kill him, burn off the 
quibs in the fire, clean, skin and roast him by 
the fii e on a stick or spindle and he will be good 
eati.ig. We never had to do this, but have 
tasted the food when prepared by our Indians 
and found it just like young pigs. 
You should, with maps, or otherwise, become 
acquainted with the landmarks of your locality 
and serious consequences cannot result from 
beirg lost. 
Many of our party have been lost, one of 
them not being found until 2 A. m., but nothing 
serious happened. We who were in camp were 
always able after comparing notes and duly con¬ 
sidering all the circumstances to send out a suc¬ 
cessful rescue party. One young man wandered 
seventeen miles just because when he found that 
he was lost he kept going instead of remaining 
where he was. He traveled probably twenty-five 
miles back and forth on unknown roads and 
finally found a lumber camp. 
One rescue party, sent out at midnight after 
all nearby places had been searched, met a man 
on horseback with a lantern coming from the 
lumber camp to tell us where the lost one was 
trying to rest up after a hearty meal. He had 
been out all day and had been lost from about 
g a. m., but w r e were able to locate him and send 
our party in the right direction. 
A lad was found wandering in a swamp, hav¬ 
ing lost the road. He had brushed off his hat 
getting through the alders, and after a while 
came upon it again, he having traveled in a 
circle. Knowing that he was lost at the river 
bank, a guide was sent to the locality in a boat, 
and by calling finally heard the answer off in 
the swamp. The boy undertook to take a short 
cut to camp, but could not get out of the swamp, 
and when he found the river could not tell 
whether he was above or below camp. If he 
had remained on the river bank he would have 
saved himself much anxiety and a tedious tramp. 
Two new members of our party undertook to 
go ahead of the teams, but overlooked the turn 
in the road and went on miles out of the way. 
They vveres overtaken by darkness, but finally 
found their way back and arrived at the life 
saving station at one the next morning, having 
been lost since ten in the preceding morning. 
When they failed to show up at dark, some of 
our party insisted on a hunt for them with lan¬ 
terns, but I refused. I figured that they would 
do just what they did do, and that if they did 
not get into camp that night they would come 
in next morning. I persuaded the party to post-, 
pone the search until 9 A. M. and within ten 
minutes of nine they appeared on the road in 
a buggy from the station. A search would have 
been useless and was only avoided by a study 
of all the circumstances and a knowledge of the 
locality. 
Sport in Austria. 
Manufacturers of sporting goods have a 
rapidly increasing market in Austria and especi¬ 
ally in western Bohemia, says Consul W. L. 
Lowrie. of Carlsbad. Within the last ten years 
there has developed a liking for out-of-door 
games which have been popular in other coun¬ 
tries for many years. In winter those who like 
the out-of-door life devote their spare time to 
ski running, coasting, and skating. Ten years 
ago skis were unknown in this part of the coun¬ 
try, while now there are hundreds of devotees 
of this fascinating sport. It frequently happens 
that more than a thousand ski runners assemble 
on the Keilberg, the highest mountain of the 
Erzgebirge and fourteen miles from Carlsbad, 
to enjoy the runs and jumps afforded by the 
steep slopes. 
Many of the cities have well-organized sport 
clubs which encourage all sports the year round. 
The one at Carlsbad is the most important in 
western Bohemia, and is called the Interna- 
tionalen Sport-Klub Karlsbad. 
