The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1885-05-29
HUNTING THE CONDOR.
NOVEL WAR DECLARED By CHrL1Axs
The Governments ORers a Reward rov
the Heads OF the vuItures-A
wonderful Bird

The Government ORers a Reward roV
the Heads OF the vulIures-A
wonderful Bird.
q The ChiIian government has declared
and IS carrying a novel war" said
Cornelius w. Ryersun. of New York. whe
arrived home from South America re-
Gently. " and that is a war of extermina-
ton against the gigantic vulture of the
Andes, the condor. The government
issued proclamation last year declaring
the birds 70 be enemy of the republic
Condors have increased so rapidl-- ~ithin
the past few years all along the tern
| slope OF the great mountain chat. which
Is their habitat that they have become by
their foul habits scourge that has in
! creased the already sufficiently unwhole-
some character OF the country. With the
| hope OF exterminRtiEg them or greatly
decreasing their numbers. the government
In Its proclamation, offered a bounty of IS
for every condor killed. A friend of mine
| who lives in Chilli wrote to me that he be-
Ieved there was a chance to make a great
deal OF money by engaging in condor hunt
ing and as had several years eXperiencein
mountain climbing and hunting ali sorts
Of wild beasts and birds both in this and
other countries. | went down there last
fall to see what there might be in this con
dor hunting. Well. | was there five
months. and after a-persistent campaign
against the condor with guns and traps l
made up my mind that mau has got to
be 100 per cent smarter than | am il he
ever gets rich on condor bounties, and that
II the Chilian government expects to rid
itself Of its big winged outlaw it will have
10 detail every man, woman and child
In the country to take up arms against
it.
:" The hunting of condors has been a
regular business In the Andes mountains
for MANY years and the natives have
made some money by It, but like all the
vulture family the condor grows sus-
+ picious and wary from contact with man
kind. and u has grown TO know and fear
gun so that 1t is next 70 impossible TO lfat
within gunshot OF one. lSnares are now
the only means by which condors may be
taken with any certainty, and they have
learned to be on the lookout for them
These birds have the most wonderful
powers OF vision and flight OF any living
creature OF the air. Perched on mountain
peaks above the clouds. they watch the
trails which mules and lRmas follow with
their burdens thousands Of feet below
them, and II an animal dies and is left on
the plain, these monster vultures see it.
and although no human sight can dis
cover the presence OF single bird, in few
seconds time they will be seen dropping
down from the clouds like thunderbults
Formerly the hunter look advantage OF
this SwoOping down upon the carcAsses Of
dead animals by hiding within gunshot
and picking of one or TWO cOndors before
they could rise out OF range. Traps were
also set beside dead bodies of mules aud
other ANNALS But this can rarely be
done successfully now. SO wary has the
condor become The same wonderful
eyes that keep the trailing caravan in view
or discover the carcass left lying for its
use, notes also the hunter hiding with his
gun, or the trnpper arranging his snare by
the CARCASS. and the bird -a'ss o ,s.-i<--s..C-
~ on It's perch. To shoot Ii on the wis
unless yOu are fortunate enough to lie
secTeted near some lofty peak when the
bird comes sailing through the clouds TO
seek it for perch, Is entirely out Of the
question, for it flies at attitudes such as
no other bird attains. This lying IN wait
however, far above the snow line for
chance to put ball through condor is
something that requires more grit aud
nerve than the average hunter can boast,
and consequently there are not many con
dors killed on the wing. These birds
hatch their young among the suow-cover-
ed crags of the Andes. sometimes 1900
feet above the sea, and the bird has been
seen at an altitude of q, 600 feet. Once in
a great while you may hear OF some hun
ter bold enough to Chamber to the nesting
places among these crags in search of con
dor nests, as the capture OF the young or
the eggs is as profitable as killing grown
bird, but such exploits are few and far
between. There are always two eggs in a
nest, and as there is nothing that ventures
to makes the condor its prey except the
hunter, when condor makes Its nestSjt
does so with more certainty that there
will be more OF its kind added to the farni-
ly in the course of time than does auy
other bird or beast. Traps are set rs high
among these nesting places as the hunter
can dare to venture, and many of the .
birds are captured in that way.
:" There is no more startling sight than
from some snowy rock so high in the
mountains that the clouds hide the world
from your view to see one of these i'm
mense birds break suddenly through the
dense yapor below you and sail upward
with the broad sweep of its ponderons
wings into the haunts where it dwells
alone in the solitude. 1t seems like some
winged demon daring to seek the realms
OF temperature beyond which human eX-
among the snowy peaks of Chill and Peru
as well as upon the burning sands of
Patagonia. With sweep OF wing twelve
feet in extent the swiftness of condor's
fight is such that it viii sail out of sight, Z
Notwithstanding its great size, within the
space Of g very few minutes. IL may with
ease eat its breakfast IN the northern /
roost among the peaks of the southern sea
coast. ~ .a.E-u .-.1HrT'l
g If it were possible to get at the nests
OF the condor so that its eggs might be 1
destroyed, there might be some chance !
that the outlawed bird would in time be
exterminated, but the systematic scaling
OF icy peaks to the hight of anyw here from
$4,000 to 5000 feet above the ocean for the
purpose OF bird-neSting, even at - nest,
Is not likely to ever come to pass. Poison l
ing OF the birds might be made effectual, I
but unless some poison can be made so
deadly that II will Kill the bird as it stands
over the carcase it is dovouring. that
means of determination cannot be made 4
practical The hunter must produce the
evidence that he has killed q. condor be-
fore he can secure the bounty. That evil
dence is the birds head. A poisoned bird
would carry that evidence with him and i
die with it among inaccessible peaks. The \
poisoning OF condors has been tried and
was not satisfactory to the hunters. I am /
of the opinion that this bird has the
quality OF self-preseyation developed too
largely to make its annihilation even re
motsly probable. When the last South
American dies there will be plenty Of
candors ready to devour his body if they
have the opportunity"
what She Sang.
1ss-.