NOTES ON WINTER 
CAMPING 
Camping at this season of the year 
appeals perhaps only to the minority 
and it holds charms that attract only 
the more hardy and the true lovers of 
nature at all seasons and under all con- 
ditions. Camping in the winter calls 
into play all the resources and skill of 
the camper. It requires methods and 
equipment for securing shelter, warmth 
and food that milder weather conditions 
do not demand. The securing of these 
essentials during the midsummer 
months can be bungled through in some 
manner or other by the veriest tyro and 
with assurance of attaining these ele- 
mental comforts in some small degree 
at least. During the winter months, 
however, the man who cannot construct 
adequate shelter and build a good fire 
and cook the most essential foods in the 
right way is sure to suffer discomforts 
and privations that prove detrimental 
to physical and mental health and 
vigor. 
For a man of experience, however, 
there is a peculiar joy and satisfaction 
in having attained a mastery over the 
elements, and because of this the ac- 
tual benefits derived and appreciation | 
of nature fostered thereby is enhanced 
many times. 
The aspect of nature during the win- 
ter months has a forbidding air to many 
people. The landscape appears dull 
and dreary and devoid of interest. To 
others, again, there is a great charm 
and wealth of beauty in such a land- 
scape. The bare trees. silhouetted 
against a yellow sunset, the soft snow- 
flakes drifting quietly down the aisles 
of a forest solitude, the still, cold, brac- 
ing air all lend a zest and beauty to life 
in the open at this season of the year 
that to some is not approached at any 
other time of the year. 
Many of nature’s secrets, too, are best 
studied during the winter months, and 
a sympathetic attention to nature in her 
dormant state is conducive to a better 
understanding and a greater apprecia- 
tion of her wondrous processes as they 
gradually unfold themselves with the 
advent of warmer weather. Later than 
this, the maze of throbbing life is diffi- 
cult to entangle except for the most 
experienced naturalists. Every sight, 
sound and odor is elusive and seems 
capable of many solutions and inter- 
pretations. During the winter, how- 
ever, many of the habits of animals 
are readily disclosed by a study of the 
printed record in the snow; the vari- 
ous species of birds and their habits 
are easily studied because of their com- 
parative scarcity and the ease with 
which they may be seen; the trees stand 
naked and bare revealing their true 
forms and characteristics —each and 
Page 93 
every torm of plant and animal life 
seems as though it existed in its sim- 
plest and most primitive form and 
waiting to be born. 
An over emphasis upon the luxuries 
and comforts of present day civiliza- 
tion, especially in the larger cities, 
makes a more intimate contact of 
man and nature in her less hospit- 
able moments a great desirability if 
not almost a necessity. It makes a 
man’s pulse throb and his blood flow 
as is normal in perfect health; it fos- 
ters a wholesome and spiritual inter- 
pretation of the gospel of nature as 
revealed in its simplest form; above 
all it tends to develop a type of man- 
hood and womanhood that because of 
the enervating and softening influ- 
ences existing in the present day so- 
cial order is more in demand than 
ever before. Camp life in winter 
offers the most potent means of stim- 
ulating this intimate contact between 
man and nature. SENECA. 


A LUCKY HUNTER WITH A SILVER FOX. 
PHOTO SENT IN BY A CONTRIBUTOR 
ATTENTION 
Wie als. Ge OlCs ES 
DEAR FOREST AND STREAM: 
I WAS much interested in Mr. 
Hodges’ letter in the January num- 
ber and I have had the same experi- 
ence as he. I will attempt to explain 
what little I know regarding the inci- 
dent or similar incidents which I have 
watched. 
A few years ago I was called to 
South America and while there had a 
great many wonderful hunting trips. 
On one of these occasions my partner 
and I were tramping through a heavy 
woods when we were attracted by a 
large black snake coiled about a limb 
and lying as still as death. My part- 
ner bade me stand still and be quiet 
and I would witness an unusual sight. 
He then pointed out to me a little 
‘“pampas” squirrel about three feet 
away on the same limb. He was watch- 
ing Mr. Snake intently, but the snake 
seemed to have the better of the “Bat- 
tle of Eyes,” as the little squirrel ap- 
peared nervous. But still he did not 
move. Soon we could see that the 
snake was much closer to the squirrel 
than when we first noticed him, al- 
though to the naked eye he appeared 
not to be moving, and before many 
minutes he began drawing for the 
spring and soon was coiled about fif- 
teen inches from the squirrel. Then 
he struck. When they both hit the 
ground thirty feet below, the snake 
had made three or four complete coils 
about the little fellow, who was soon 
dead. 
After making sure he had killed his 
prey the snake started to crawl away. 
But I sent him an invitation from my 
Savage to halt, which he obeyed. I 
afterwards learned that this partic- 
ular snake feeds mostly on bird eggs 
and that his chief recreation is killing 
these little “balls of fur,’ which he 
does for no other reason than that he 
likes to. 
On two later occasions I watched 
the same process, always with the same 
result. And the snake always crawled 
away after the kill apparently satis- 
fied. The snake we killed measured 
6 ft. 8% in. long and 4% in. around 
his body. 
Now I would like to hear from some 
reader of this magazine through these 
columns something about hunting the 
now nearly extinct black goose. (I 
don’t know the book name.) 
I had the pleasure some time ago to 
take part in a black goose hunt while 
on a trip far into Canada, and had 
the extreme good fortune to “bag’’ one 
and a big fellow at that. 
At that time I had for a hunting 
mate a man well versed in the cus- 
toms of this particular wild fowl. 
Now before many months pass I 
plan to take another trip to that coun- 
try, and with a fellow who knows 
nothing of outdoor life or hunting. So 
any information any reader can give 
me about hunting the Canadian black 
goose will be very interesting to me. 
I love to shoot the two-barrel gun 
best of all. I have a special Parker 
12 bore and never use any other gun 
except on rare occasions a 20-gauge 
pump. 
A CONSTANT READER, 
Lincoln, Nebr. 
