Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-05-07
AN OUTLANED BIRD.
Chill Offers Premium for the nigh'S
Condor, the Pest of Ihe Andes.

clared and is carrying out move
war saws Cornelius w. Ryerson tt
the New York Times, who arrived
here from South America recently
0And that is a war of determination
against the gigantic vulture OF the
Kndes. the condor. The government
issued a proclamation last year declar-
inc the bird TO be an enemy OF the
republic. Condors have increased SO
RAPIDLY within the last few years all
along the whole western slope OF the
oreat mountain chain which is their
Habitat that they have become by
their foul habits g scourge that has
increased the already sufficient I'M
wholesome character of the country.
With the hope of exterminatlng them,
or at least greatly decreasing Their
numbers. the government IN It's pro
clamation offered bounty OF 50 for
every condor killed. A friend OF
mine, who lives ia Chill, wrote TO me
that he believed there was a chance
to make great deal OF money by en-
gazing in condor hunting, and as 1
had several years experience inmoun-
tain-climbing and hunting all5 sorts
of wild beasts and birds both IN tins
other countries, went down there
last fall to see what there might be ia
this condor hunting. Well, l was
there FIVE months, and after a persist
ent campaign against the condor with
guns and traps, / made up my MIND
that a man has got to DO a hundred
per cent. smarter than / am II he ever
gets rich on condor bounties, and that
If the CHILEAN government expects TO
rid itself of its big winged outlaw, 1t
will have to detail every man, woman
and child in the country TO take up
arms against It.
1.-THE hunting Of condors has been
a regular business IN the Andes
mountain for many years, and the
natives have made some money at 1T,
but. like all the vulture family, the
condor grows suspicious and wary
from contact with mankind, and II
has grown to know and fear a gun so
that it is next to impossible to get
within a gun shot of one, Saares are
now the only means by which condors
may be taken with any certainly, and
they have learned to be on the look
out for them. These birds have the
most VOL derful powers Of vision and
flight of any living creature of the
air. Perehed on mountain peaks
above the clouds, they watch the
trails which mules and limas follow
with their burdens thousands of feet
below them, and if an animal
dies and is left on the plain these
monster vultures see it, and, although
no human sight can discover the
presence of q single bird, in lew
seconds time they will be seen drop
ping from the clouds like thunder
bolts. Formerly the hunter took ad-
vantage OF this swooplng down upon
the carcassts Of dead animals by hld-
ing within gunshot and picking OF
one or two condors before they could
rise out Of range. Traps We're also
set beside the dead bodies OF mules
and other animals. But this can
rarely be done successfully now, so
wary has the condor become. The
same wonderful eyes that keen the
trailing caravan in view or discover
the carcass left lying for its use
notes also the hunter hiding
with his gun, or the trapper
arranging his share by the carcass,
and the bird remains in safety On its
perch. To shoot it on the wing, un.
less you are fortunate enough to lie
secreted near some lofty peak
when the bird comes sailing through
the clouds to seek it for perch, is en-
tirely out of the question, for it flies
at attitudes such as no other bird at
tains. This lying III wait, however,
far above the snow line for a chance
to put a ball through q condor is
something that requires more grit and
nerve than the average hunter can
boast, and consequently there are not
many condors killed on the wing.
These birds hatch their young among
the snow covered crags of the Andes,
sometimes 70, COO feet above the sea,
and the bird has been seen at an al
titude of 20, 600 feet Once in a great
while you may hear of some hunter
bold enough to Chamber to the nesting
places among these crags IN search of
condor nests, as the capture of the
yeung or the eggs IS as profitable as
killing a grown bird, but such exploits
are few and far between. There are
always two eggs IN nest, and as there
is nothing that ventures tC make the
condor its prey except the hunter,
when a condor makes Its nest it does
so with more certainty that there will
be more Of its kind added TO the fam,
lily in the course of time than does
any pthpr bird on Np1et Trans 90 20