FOREST AND STREAM. 
265 

Foe 8 Ws 
7 
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¢~ 
9 

THEY RE HERE! 
A Picture from Pinehurst. 
For days previous to the opening the sporting 
goods stores did a thriving business in guns and 
ammunition; and many dealers, although they 
had put in a larger line than ever, could not be- 
gin to supply the demand. During the brief 
time that the season lasted it seemed as if about 
every one who could carry a gun was in the 
woods. 
_ About the usual number of deer were brought 
in and of course here and there the farmer 
mourned the loss of a fine yearling or promising 
colt. Only two fatalities were reported, and tak- 
ing into consideration the promiscuous shooting 
of modern high-power rifles, in most cases in 
youthful or inexperienced hands, it is remark- 
able that the list was not larger. 
In the sparsely settled sections of the State 
bears have been quite numerous this fall and sev- 
eral large specimens were shot or trapped. It 
was reported that a timber wolf was killed in the 
eastern side of the State, but I am not able to 
verify the report. Bay lynx and Canada lynx are 
of not infrequent occurrence; two of the first- 
named variety having been killed very near the 
city within the past year. 
Foxes are fairly numerous; one local hunter 
has killed six in the past two weeks. Last week 
a trapper from an adjoining town brought in a 
fine silver gray fox, the value of which was vari- 
ously estimated as being from $100 to $200. 
Much sport was had with the ’coons here last 
fall, and though many hunt them each season, 
like their humble brother, the skunk, they seem 
Photo by courtesy of Leonard Tufts. 
to thrive on adversity, and the succeeding years 
witness no diminution of their numbers. Few 
animals offer better sport than the ’coon, for 
like his larger relative, the bear, he is a game 
fighter, as the scarred sides and tattered ears 
of many a hound attest. Then, too, a ’coon prop- 
erly baked is a most toothsome dish worthy to 
grace the table of an epicure. 
Rabbits are very plentful, as is generally the 
case, and afford good sport. Gray squirrels were 
more than usually abundant. A hunter may only, 
kill four of these little animals per day, whereas 
in past years the slaughter had no limit and few 
squirrels annually survived. 
Partridge were very numerous and many good 
bags were secured. Woodcock, snipe and plover 
fairly so. Duck shooting this past fall for the 
most part was a failure. The unusually high 
water in the lake, where most of the shooting 
is done, flooded the marshes and made feeding 
grounds that were hard to get at until their freez- 
ing obliged them to seek open water. The Eng- 
lish pheasants that were introduced here some 
years ago have thrived well in spite of the extreme 
cold of our northern winters, but the fact that 
they are not the wary wood-haunting bird like 
the partridge and are easier birds to shoot has so 
reduced their numbers that the last Legislature 
did a wise thing in prohibiting their capture until 
1909. Their showy plumage and large size makes 
them a welcome addition to our list of birds, and 
sportsmen are glad to see them given a chance 
of increase. 
Here in Burlington it is very gratifying to see 
the native birds on the increase. Gray squirrels 
are very common and they are in frequent evi- 
dence all about the city, and it is no uncommon 
sight to see two or three of them feeding from 
the hand of a passerby. Last summer was re- 
markable for the unusual number of birds that 
visited the city, particularly birds whose occur- 
rence in town is so rare as to occasion comment. 
The white-throated sparrow, a bird usually as- 
sociated with woods and streams remote from 
towns, was with us in May in considerable num- 
bers, and in the early morning, its song, that to 
my ear is one of the choicest bits of bird-music 
in the woodland category, was often heard. Cat- 
birds, hermit thrushes, scarlet tanagers and many 
of the wood-warblers were frequently seen, all 
of which goes to show that bird protection pays. 
The freedom from persecution that the squirrels 
and birds enjoy here in our city is largely due to 
the growing interest in the beautiful in nature 
that is fostered in the public schools. 
Ernest Thompson Seton: while here some 
months since remarked on the number of birds 
and squirrels that he saw about the city and as- 
cribed the circumstance to the interest taken in 
the schools and in the homes in the beauties of 
nature. Surely we cannot have too many birds 
or squirrels with us, as they go to make up the 
beauty and charm of the city as well as do the 
beds of bright flowers and the foliage of beau- 
tiful shrubbery in our public parks. 
VERMONTER. 
In North Carolina. 
RateicH, N. C., Feb. 5.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have been for nearly a month on a 
tour of eastern North Carolina, being alongside 
or upon the water much of the time. It was the 
warmest January weather to be continuous I can 
recall, and the shooting of the larger wildfowl 
was for that reason quite poor. I made a good 
many inquiries as to violations of the law and 
was told that in the waters around Roanoke Isl- 
and some fire-lighting for geese, ducks, brant, 
etc., was being done. The people who do this 
are known. Some of their friends claim that 
they go out to kill enough for themselves only, 
and maybe a few over, but this seems to be a 
very shallow statement indeed. Game Warden 
Upchurch, up on Currituck, has had a large terri- 
tory to cover, but the people on Roanoke declared 
there was very little shooting on Currituck 
Sound but that the Currituck people went down 
their way and on Pamlico Sound and shot by 
night. As to the truth of this I cannot say. 
Some months ago, directly after the shooting 
season opened, I ventured to say in the Forest 
AND STREAM that very good shooting would be 
found on the Seaboard Air Line Railway in sev- 
eral counties in this State, and I had some inter- 
esting letters from Mr. Arthur L. Walker, of 
Brookline, Mass., on this question, as a result of 
which he went to Robeson county and writes me 
as follows: “Having just returned from a visit 
to Gen. F. A. Bond’s, at Hunters’ Lodge, Moss 
Neck, Robeson county, I hasten to thank you for 
having put me in communication with that gen- 
tleman. It is certainly what you describe as a 
‘bonanza.’ ” 
I found the people on Roanoke Island devoting 
themselves very largely to the shooting of robins, 
which are there in great numbers and which | 
observe on my return to Raleigh to be rather 
numerous here. Robins are now but little shot in 
this section of the State. 
Sportsmen hereabouts say that they really think 
the February shooting of partridges to be the 
best. Some of the best shots I know hold this 
view. One thing is very certain in this section 
and that is that the birds are getting “wise.” 
They have learned many things and the mother 
birds are telling their little ones when they hear 
a gun fire to take to the trees, and the youngsters 
are heeding mama’s advice. 
There is considerable shooting of snipe along 
the coast. It is noticeable that more and more 
attention is paid each year to the shooting of 
snipe around Raleigh and perhaps around other 
points in the interior by the town sportsmen. 
Country people, who are, by the way, very clever 
shots, do not trouble the snipe. 
Frep, A. OLps. 
