islands. I do not wish td decry the 
young man’s prowess as ‘an angler, 
but if he caught the fish he certainly 
did not catch it where he says he did. 
I write this in the interest of truth 
and accuracy. 
JOHN C. SPENCER, M.D., 
San Francisco, California. 
Commenting on the .410 Bore 
DEAR FOREST AND STREAM: 
FTER reading “Possibilities of the 
.410 Bore Shotgun” in the June 
and July issues of ForEST AND STREAM, 
I should like to tell of my experience 
with the ultra-small bore. I have ac- 
cepted the statements therein con- 
tained, though it seems almost miracu- 
lous that %¢ of an ounce of shot should 
give such startling results. 
I have experimented with two .410 
guns, but not in the fields. One was a 
Winchester single shot which I received 
as a prize for winning the 100 bird 
handicap at the Rumson County Club. 
After trying it out with considerable 
satisfaction I gave it to a boy friend. 
The other is an H. & R. which I bought 
to shoot wild cockerels for family use. 
Neither would be of any use to me in 
the fields. 
I am just wasting time and effort if 
I use anything less than % oz. shot 
which I do in a light 28 bore. I had 
this gun made about ten years ago for 
rail shooting and found it so satisfac- 
tory that I use it also for quail and 
snipe, usually in preference to my 20 
gauge guns or my light 12 gauge. Of 
course, it is not so effective as my 20 
gauge, but it is handier and faster. 
Photo courtesy of Northern Pacific Ry. 
My way of boring, or rather rebor- 
ing, a small gauge gun is to get a 
uniform distribution of the pellets over 
a 24 in¢h circle at from 25 to 35 yards, 
not a thick center and scattering out- 
skirts which most full choke 28 bores 
give. % of an ounce of shot has 
too few pellets to waste one-half of 
them on non-effective edges or out- 
skirts. 
I should judge that Dr. Vance would 
be real handy in the fields with a .22 
calibre pump or automatic. 
I expect to get and try one of the 20 
gauge 20 inch barrel Maximin guns 
made by Davis-Warner Co. Mr. F. B. 
Warner says they are great shooters. 
THOMAS H. GRANT, Red Bank, N. J. 
The Popular Enmity Toward 
| Snakes 
DEAR FOREST AND STREAM: 
| HAVE had the pleasure of reading 
Dr. Masson’s article on “Hunting 
Copperhead Snakes” in the July issue 
of your magazine. I would like to add 
to his arguments about the enmity of 
most people towards snakes. I have 
caught quite a few snakes, although 
none poisonous, and have had them at 
home for pets. The mere mentioning 
of the name snake to some people 
makes them shudder. I asked a friend 
once why he disliked snakes and he re- 
plied he hated anything that crawls. 
The answer to this argument is that 
God in His wisdom saw fit to make the 
snake’s means of locomotion a crawl- 
ing movement. 
The snake makes a very agreeable 
pet if correctly handled. It is easily 

The protection that the Yellowstone offers the thousands of deer within its 
boundaries has made them fearless. 
seem to know when the ranger’s brea 
left over pancakes. 
They are very fond of flapjacks and 
kfast is over and expect to share the 
The fawns are timid and remain at a distance, A 
mother deer will often carry a flapjack to her little one, 

aye j 
Photo by K. McAadam 
Mountain sheep on a ranger’s cabin. 
fed and I have even gotten a small 
ground snake to drink milk from a 
medicine dropper. I happened to be 
giving some American chameleons a 
drink, using this method, and while 
holding the snake I tried the dropper 
on the snake. The snake retains the 
milk unless handled after drinking it. 
Dr. Masson’s means of catching cop- 
perheads is a good method. I used it 
with a friend of mine to catch water 
snakes sunning themselves on logs. I 
might add that Dr. Masson would find 
that using enameled fish line is an 
easier method of making a snake stick. 
CHESTER O. FRENCH, JR., 
New Rochelle, N. Y. 
Raising Fur-Bearing Animals 
By HArpDISON PATTON 
In an exhaustive volume of 446 pages 
the author has written what proves to 
be the most complete book on fur rais- 
ing we have yet seen. The information 
is compiled from thirty years of actual 
experience in the field and in handling 
fur-bearing animals. There are chap- 
ters on fur animals in general, den 
construction and various animals such 
as the muskrat, fox, mink, raccoon, 
otter, marten, fisher, weasel, ermine, 
beaver, opossum, skunk and _ rabbit. 
There is also a chapter on killing and 
pelting fur bearers, and the methods 
described enable the rancher to get top 
prices for his product. This book is 
well illustrated with pen drawings by 
the author and may be obtained from 
FOREST AND STREAM Book Department 
for $6.00, postpaid. 
607 
