Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-06-05
A WOODLANDS TALK.
Observations Made by a Well
Known Blue Mountain Hunter.
Curious Things That He Has Seen and
done or That He Says He Has-Hab-
its of the Skunk, the Rabbit, the
Coon, the SquirreI and the Owl.

done or That He Says He Has-Hab-
( its of the Skunk, the Rabbit, the
Coon, the SquirreI and the Owl.
ga person who has tramped about in the
woods for thirty years, as have, may learn
good many curious things if he keeps his
/ eyes open," said George Washington Bear,
/ OF Lebo, Pa, who, according to a correspond
+ ent OF the New York Press, has trapped and
! hunted almost the entire length of the Blue
Mountains ever since he was boy.
! "And he won't find all the curious things
In the woods continued the old hunter
The fields and swamps show ND their
snare. Now, who ever read in any book
that the mink, which popularity supposed
to be an animal that gets its living entirely
from the water, will sit all night, if neces-
sary, in the nest of the gray rabbit and nab
unsuspecting bunny when he comes hop
ping homel And the nest of the rabbit NAV
DE miles away from any stream, at that
know the mink will do this, for have shot
scores Of them as they crouched beneath a
b1sh or high tuft of weeds where some
rabbit had his cozy form. The skunk will
DO the same thing, and so will the weasel
When say these animals will take possess
sion OF rabbits nest to catch him when he
comes home am not stating fact exactly,
either. We have no rabbits in this country
What are known everywhere on this CONT
nent as rabbits are hares. Rabbits live in
burrows that they dig themselves Our
miscalled rabbit does not, but passes his
LIE on the surfacein brush piles, stone piles
and other hiding places Our rabbit is a
true hare and one of the best of the family.
Il wonder if any veterinary surgeon ever
knew that the inner skin of mink dried
and ground into powder is the best thing in
the world for founder in horses? never
heard of one who did
"a skunk is by general acceptance in this
country believed to be identical with the
poie-cat and is known as the pole-cat ex-
cluSively in some regions. Yet the fact is
that the skunk is no more a pole-cat than a
bear is fox. There is no such thing in the
United States as a pole-cat, which is true
weasel, common only in England The oil
that can be dried from skunk's fat is an in
comparable remedy for Group sore throat.
asthmt and kindred diseases. This is known
well in the Juniata valley, and | have sold
in my time the oil of 5000 skunks at the
rate of 81 an ounce. 1t is the most penetrat-
ing ointment l ever knew
II have learned by observation that owls
meyer build nests. They lay two big eggs
and will deposit them in squirrels nests,
hawks nests, or any similar receptacle
They never make nests of their own.
found curious nest once on Pisgah hill.
There were ten eggs in it of different sizes,
some of them very large. took them home
and set them under a hen. They all hatched
out but two, but at different times. The re-
suit was screech owl, four pheasants, two
wild turkeys, and a wood duck and raised
tnem all. l found out afterward that what
had supposed was Il nest was not a nest at
all but place where an egg collector
named Zebedec Giles had deposited some of
his spoils one day while he went in search
for more
Bears grease has from time out of
mind been considered the best of all bases
for hair oil. Thst may be, if only dressing
is wanted. Bears grease has no medicinal
properties. On the contrary, coon's oil not
only makes the best of hair dressing but |
the person who uses it will never be
troubled with dandrutf or badness. 1t may
be known, but l doubt it, that a coon, no I
matter how near starvation he NAV be will /
not eat the choicest morsel if he can't get
ID water to wash it first The coon bears
its young only every two years, and the |
mother coon keeps one family of young
about her up to the very day that she
brings forth another. When female coon
is with young she leaves no scent that dog |
can follow
Wherever there are many red SQUIRRELS, |
gray and black squarrels will be extremely |
scarce. The little red squirrel is the i'm i
placable enemy Of both the other kind and |
he has way OF mutilating them so that re-
production OF their species is impossible |
There are no black squirrels in the Blue
Mountains, but there is specie half-black
and half-gray that | never heard of any-
where else. | once shot curiosity in the |
way of a squirrel. Half of it was a bright
red and the other half as white as snow 1t
had black eyes.
Two or three years ago the clearings
along the Blue Mountains were terrorized
by some unknown animal 1t was never
seen, but its cries were the most frightful
that could be imagined. / had never heard
any thing like it, and l used all my skill
for months to trap or kill it, but without
success. One night while was coon-hunt-
ing the unknown animals awful cry rose
from clump of bushes only few feet
from where was standing. could see
nothing, but fired both barrels into the
bushes. There was thrashing about in
the bushes for few seconds and then all
was quiet. l went to the spot. and found
the animal dead 1t was about the size of
an ordinary dog. / carried it home and
found that it was nothing but common
red fox. 1t had been shot or hurt in some
way IN the throat, and its vocal chords had
been injured so that when the poor beast
attempted to bark the fearful cries that
had made it such terror came forth in
stead
The woodpecker can climb up the trunk
of tree like flash, but he can't climb
down the trunk to save his life. The little
sap sucker of the same family can do both.
The kingfsher dives under the water and
catches his fish in his mouth The crane
stands in the water and fishes, and spears
his prey with his long, sharp bill, as YOU
would spear an eel with your gig lie rises
with the fish impaled on his bin and flies
away home. / shot SIX foot crane once. on
the wing, that had d three pound trout ia.
paied IN way 4