9 G 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July i< 5 , 1910. 
and the chasing of nesting fowl with launches 
and large sailboats. 
Fourth—The setting aside of one or two days 
in each week on which no shooting should be 
allowed. 
With these provisions it would be safe to 
allow duck shooting up to March 1 for all time, 
save perhaps in the Southern States. 
As for geese and swans this is a very difficult 
question, as prohibition of spring shooting means 
in many districts prohibition of all killing, as 
there are many places where, vast numbers are 
seen in the spring which choose another flight 
line in the fall, or else pass over without alight¬ 
ing. 
These birds pair for life, but if one of the 
pair is shot, the survivor soon finds another 
mate from the flocks of unmated birds, as they 
do not pair until they are two or three years 
old in a wild state. I know of many favorite 
resorts for geese that are now deserted, or 
nearly so, and this when not one per cent, of 
the birds were killed. Geese and swans even 
more than ducks are extremely sensitive to 
being disturbed when nesting. The tyro out for 
the day with two or three boxes of shells which 
must be banged off will do more damage, even 
if he never kills a bird, than the craftiest wild- 
fowler with a big kill to his credit. The former 
will scare the birds clean out of the country by 
his ceaseless banging and long range bombard¬ 
ment, while the latter shoots only at what comes 
past his stand, and usually refrains from useless 
long range shots. 
A very potent factor in the wildfowl supply 
are the conditions in the far North. Unusual 
floods will destroy millions of nests, or a short¬ 
age in the fish supply will send thousands of 
Arctic foxes and husky dogs out to forage the 
whole country. 
These sledge dogs turned out to rustle for 
themselves through the whole summer destroy 
an enormous quantity of game, and the intro¬ 
duction of reindeer to take their place will have 
a very beneficial result to the wildfowl crop. 
In conclusion I want to say that what is wanted 
is not stricter laws, but the rigid enforcement 
of those already existing in all matters pertain¬ 
ing to game protection. Allan Brooks. 
Victoria, B. C., May 27.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: No spring shooting of waterfowl or 
any other birds is permitted here, or ever has 
been. It is very difficult for anyone out here to 
understand how any sane person can advocate 
spring shooting anywhere. I have never even 
heard anyone on this coast advocate spring shoot¬ 
ing. Jno. P. Babcock, 
Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries. 
Deer in Connecticut. 
Packerville, Conn., July 6.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have lived in this State but three 
years, but in that time have seen at least thirty 
wild deer, unless the same individuals have ap¬ 
peared on more than one occasion, which is not 
at all unlikely. 
Once when walking alone on the road I met 
three full grown deer at the top of a hill. They 
did not see me until I was within about fifteen 
yards of them, when they turned, one jumping 
over the wall on my right, the others on the 
left, the first stopping within thirty yards and 
permitting me to walk by in plain view within 
a dozen yards. The two ran about a hundred 
yards in the field and stopped near the road 
until I walked near them, when they walked 
probably forty yards from the road and stood 
watching me and the deer they had left behind. 
I watched them until I was tired, when I bleated, 
then spoke loudly, and finally clapped my hands, 
but they would not run, and I walked on, leav¬ 
ing them standing in the open field. 
Again when walking along a road with many 
bushes at the roadside, I heard a slight rustle, 
stopped and looked carefully in the bushes, and 
within twenty feet stood a deer looking at me. 
1 watched it for some time, changed my position 
slightly once or twice to get a better view, when 
a friend came along in a buggy. Without speak¬ 
ing I pointed toward the deer. He asked loudly 
as he stopped by me what I had treed, then said, 
“Well, if it isn’t a deer! - ’ Then seeing another 
lying on the ground, said : “I see another one.” 
After talking a few minutes I moved two or 
three steps toward the deer, shook a bush, and 
over the wall jumped three deer only slightly 
frightened. 
A few days since on returning from a neigh¬ 
bor’s, my five-year-old boy, walking with me, ex¬ 
claimed : “Oh, see that, papa!” At the moment 
I happened to be looking where I was stepping 
and saw nothing, but the boy said it was some¬ 
thing white, as large as one of our milch goat 
kids, and had run across the road from left to 
right about thirty yards ahead of us. On reach¬ 
ing the place where he said it had crossed, I 
looked on the right, which is a pasture with 
bushes, and there within thirty yards stood a 
large doe as still as a statue, looking at us. I 
showed her to the boy, stood watching her until 
tired, talking to the boy in my usual tone of 
voice, and could not see that she moved even 
an ear. Then I gave a low fawn bleat, and she 
immediately started toward us, coming slowly, 
turning around once or twice, and finally stop¬ 
ping within a dozen steps of us, just over the 
wall. She would look at us intently, turn around 
slowly, look again, walk away, turn around and 
come again, stamp her foot and we walked away 
leaving her there. We did not see the white 
object the boy had seen cross the road, but a 
neighbor to whom I related the occurrence told 
me he and members of his family had on several 
occasions seen white or albino deer, young and 
full grown. 
Quail and ruffed grouse seem unusually abund¬ 
ant, and the season has been favorable for their 
nesting and hatching, so prospects for shooting 
the coming autumn appear at this time very 
bright. E. P. Robinson. 
The Louisiana Merger. 
New Orleans, La., July g — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The Ventress game bill and the Hard- 
ner bill, merging the game and oyster commis¬ 
sions into one body, have finally passed both 
Houses of the Louisiana Legislature and will 
become law. The I-Iouse and Senate did not 
agree on these bills and a conference was held, 
and after considerable delay the Senate receded 
from its position and the House provisions were 
adopted. The market hunters’ license was at 
first placed at $15, but after a conference it was 
reduced to $10. The police juries of the several 
parishes will not have the right to regulate ship¬ 
ment of game out of their respective territory, 
as this power will be vested in the game com¬ 
mission, which will retain the right to appoint 
game wardens. Both of these bills have been 
amended and re-amended so many times that 
few of the members of the Legislature know 
just what is provided and the several regula¬ 
tions. The license for non-resident hunters will 
hereafter be only $15 instead of $25. The merg¬ 
ing of the game and oyster commissions were 
demanded by a number of the country members 
of the Legislature, and it is doubtful if a game 
bill could have passed without this merger at¬ 
tached. It is claimed that a good deal of money 
will be saved by the consolidation of the two 
boards. 
An effort was made to place the robin on the 
list of birds to be killed, taking them from the 
songsters or protected class, but this movement 
has met with decided public opposition, and it 
is not probable the robin will be slaughtered. 
The “New Orleans Item” has editorially pro¬ 
tested against the placing of the robin on the 
game list and strongly contends that this would 
be unjust to Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio 
and other Northern States where this bird goes 
in the early spring after wintering in Louisiana. 
This paper also claims that the robin, besides 
being a sweet singer, is also a destroyer of 
worms, insects and noxious weeds and saves the 
farmers thousands of dollars. It gives statistics 
showing that the redbreast lives mainly on weed 
seeds and bugs. 
It is stated by those familiar with conditions 
that the hunting season which will open this fall 
bids fair to be excellent. It is expected that 
there will be an increase in quail, doves, deer, 
rabbits, squirrels, ducks, brant, wild geese and 
fur-bearing animals. Muskrats have been some¬ 
what depleted on account of the value of their 
skins. During the past season more people have 
trapped them than ever before. The various 
levee boards are anxious to get rid of the musk¬ 
rats for the reason that they injure and destroy 
river and stream embankments and are regarded 
as a general nuisance. The game wardens be¬ 
lieve that extraordinary sport will be furnished 
the hunters in Louisiana this winter, especially 
quail, doves, larks and deer. 
The enforcement of the game law strictly in 
this State has had a good effect in the protec¬ 
tion of game of all kinds. The game commis¬ 
sion will extensively try the experiment of rais¬ 
ing diamond back terrapins at Queen Bess Island 
within the next several months. F. G. G. 
The Ferret Law. 
Canisteo, N. Y., July 3.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Can you inform a lot of disgusted 
hunters all over the State who is responsible for 
passing a law allowing ferrets to be used in 
hunting rabbits, calling the limit ten, which 
virtually allows them all they can kill and lug 
away? We were just getting fair rabbit hunt¬ 
ing again, and that is about all we have to hunt, 
anyway. I really cannot imagine such a lot of 
fools to pass such a law. I cannot imagine what 
they meet for, anyway, simply to repeal a law 
and make it worse by new laws. I did not ex¬ 
pect at this day and age a law allowing anyone 
to kill a single rabbit with ferrets. There ought 
to be a law fining a person having one in his 
possession. M. M. Burrell. 
