Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1889-10-21
STORIES OF ANIMALS


Things Lively In COoncOtlcut
Edwin Casswell, q veteran otter and
fox hunter OF Exeter and Lebanon,
gained distinction the other day by
trapping an eighteen-pound black
fox. It is not known that u black fox
was ever killed in Connecticut before.
and black foxes are said to be very
rare. even in the regions in which they
are indigenous-the northern part of
America and northern Asia The fox
had silky black hair. Casswell had to
use much care In approaching it, nj
though its leg was held in a big steel
trap. 1t leaped furious:y at the hun
ter, growing and swapping like a
dog, while the iron trap clattered
against the swamp tussocks. Mr.. Cass-
we'll killed the animal with a club.
A curiosity attracts great attention
in Webster. 1t looks like q fresh
water sunfsh, but it is not that, for it
Is a gelatinous mass that shakes like
custard. It was taken from David
Wellington's ice pond in Ferryville,
and is about eight inches in dame
ter. F. P. Baker show it in his drug
store window.
In Newinton musk-ats will not allow
Mr. Samuel H Kilbourne to raise
many pond-lily blossoms in his private
pond Usually no has acres of the
fragrant floating blossoms. but as fast
as tho cups open this year tho water
Eats eat them. The cultivation of good
lilies briIfgs in quite a revenue to Con-
necticut farmers. They sell the flow
ers to boys. who find n lucrative mar
ket for them at the raj road stations
and in villages and cities. II some
one will tell how muskrats may be ex-
terminated, lily-raisers will pay him
we'll for the receipt A steel trap can't
do much destruction amid the host OF
water rats. Along many brooks they
make hard-beaten paths for nocturnal
travel, which diverge from the bank =.
interlace each other hundred differ
ent times, and usually lead under n
swect-apple tree or in a fed of rye.
oats or corn. The rats burrow along
the stream, undermine its banks, and
are a nuisance in every way.
Rattlesnakes steadily increase in
Connecticut A few years ago it was
rarely that one was killed in the State,
but no less than a score have been
killed in Connecticut this season. At
Middletown hunter makes money at
catching the reptiles 1an1 selling the
3ides, and he extracts the oil and sells
! that, too. Not a few persons have mar
rowly escaped being bitten by rattlerA
this year.
Mrs: Elizabeth Porter and daughter.
had perilous adventu e while sitting
under large oak near the Highlands.
; They were startled by a whirring
: sound directly behind them and not far
! AWAY, but moments reflection con-
; WINGED them that it was only the buzz
: ling of an insect. But the sound was ro-
peated many times. and it seemed to
grow louder They arose and discov-
cred a monster rattlesnake coiled In
the grass few feet from them that
! evidently was making ready for q
! deadly spring. Mrs Porter was bold.
+: She darted away, caught up dried
tree Dough, and, running back, hit the
rattler a powerful blow. At TIE same
instant the serpent sprang ut her, but
the stick repealed his advances, and,
with an angry rattle, he glided off into
the thick grass. Both ladies screamed
and ran.
At Bristol bird has built its nest
in the top OF the hood over the electric
light on Main and Summer streets and
Is raising brood, which is fed with
the flies and other insects that are
lured to and that fit and tumble about
.l.1he flaring flare. The old bird makes
long day Of it, and both she and the
little ones are we'll kept All day until
nine or ten clock at eight she wheels
about the white light, dashing up and
down in pu suit OF the train OF insects
that ceaselessly revolve beneath the
iron hood. As fast as she catches an
insect she is baek In the nest, and the
young birds celebrate each capture
with noisy chirpings. IN. Y. Sun.