Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-02-01


Twas consequently in an excellent stu
a.ion for heavily-charged gun to take
deliberate and malicious advantage of me,
which it instinctively seemed to under
stand, and kicked me over backwards.
Result-my feet slipped from under me,
and | slid about twenty feet into the creek,
completely submerging myself. 1t is
superhuous to add that the coon escaped
the chicken escaped, the writer escaped
and the "cuss words escaped.
MORE TRAPPING.
Can anyone now wonder at the deep
damnation of this coon's doom? After
experiencing my first success in the line of
trapping, / was much encouraged, and
have had all the fun wanted ever since I;
having procured other traps and laid them
in various ways, sometimes concealing
them in the grass with birds hanging
above them from twigs, or lying near at
hand, so that the providers would step into
them, and sometimes adopting other
methods. 1t is always advisable to scat
ter other bait in the vicinity of the traps,
and frequently in advance of them. The
common steel-trap is undoubtedly the
best, and may be procured of every size /;
though the well-known "6gure-four" may
be resorted to, it being placed under a log
or heavy box, the log crushing, the box
imprisonings but an ounce of experience
is worth a pound Of preaching, especially
in the profession of trapping as the man
said about the advertisements, they work
while you are asleep, and cost very little.
THE PREY
The next morning after putting out four
traps one stormy night, found large
coon's toe in one of them, a beautiful skunk
of large size in another, great horned
owl in another, and jack-rabbit in an
other The jack-rabbit | smote with my
gunstock, as he was about to get away,
having broken his leg and almost twisted
it off in his efforts to escape; and1 stripped
him of his Jacket. The horned owl | at
first took to be bear, but gathering cour-
age, I soon found out the facts of the case,
and sharpening a willow rod about four
feet long and one inch in diameter, ran
him through with it under the wings;
watched his big round black and yellow
eyes until they blinked for the last time,
sprung the trap, and removing the slightly
injured leg, laid him out to await my re-
turn from visiting the other traps.
With the coon's toe / was at loss to
know what to do, but was soon relieved of
the matter by losing it in the grass. This
coon had evidently climbed the tree to
which the trap was attached, tangled up
the wire and chain among the lower
branches of the tree, and hung by his toe
until it came off, leaving the trap dangling
in the air. He viii probably be more care
full in the future, but may be known by
his tracks. In this connection would
state that it is advisable to fasten the trap
to clog, so that the trap may be able to
move about with it.
A PICNIC.
With the skunk had ''picnic.n What
a magnificent creature it was, skunk or no
skunk A beautiful, broad milk-white
band ran from behind the ears to the mid
die of the shoulders, where it forked like
the tongue of a rattlesnake and extended
to the root of the tail, contrasting per-
fectly with the tarry darkness of the fur
on either side, while the elevated bushy
tail, showing principally white, gave him
the appearance Of being as big as a polar
bear.
Drawing within respectable inspection
range of the brute, on the windward side,
let it be understood, [ paused to "size the
animal up" so to speak. For all the tran
scendental beauty of his apparel, he was
only skunk, after all. The small, black,
beadlike sunken eyes, the narrow pointed
skull, the short, fat legs, and general con-
tour of the beast, impressed me about the
same as human being of similar makeup
would.
EFFECTS OF MUSIC.
Yet when l thought of certain expert
ences that had with the latter species, l
honestly believe that | could have passed
over to the lee side Of that big chaparral
skunk and sat down and imagined that /
was in Paradise inhaling the first delicate
perfumes of the apple blossoms. However,
| finally came to the conclusion that the
creatures life had to be taken some way or
other, but how? Methought the inno-
cent thing is too genteel and handsome to
be shot; but just then a happy thought
struck me; was feeling pretty well any
way over my success that morning, and |
said to myself, 81 wonder what effect lit
tie music will have on the brute? FL
try Verdi on him, and, if he survives,
Donizetti" So, choosing tenor cavatina
from "Ernani," / broke vigorously forth
into a bold, bad baritone Of ice, as fol-
lows:
Come r-r-rugiada alcespite
Dun appassito ior-r-re, etc.
But had only let go two lines upon the
affrighted air when the beast actually be-
gun to dig hole IN the ground. | saw at
once that the music was having a very bad
effect on the skunk, and accordingly
"corked" up, deeming hint of that
character entirely sufficient; but, as a mat
ter of fact, / was very much enraged al the
"varmint's" colossal impudenee, and with
out warning blazed away at vital por
ton of his "corporosity" with my rusty
muzzle loader. It is unnecessary to inform
my readers that the beast received NOR
tai wound, albeit death did not Immediately
ensue. Blood soon flowed from the pointed
nose, however, while some hard breathing
and other favorable symptoms told me that
might approach and strike him over the
head, which l did, and shortly observed
all motions cease, save, perhaps, the vibra-
tons of the animals fur produced by the
balmy zephyrs blowing.
NOW, you brute, Salu aloud, Il think
l can sing without being interrupted, and
so I'll let you have death hymn from
Lucia Di Lammermoor:
"'Now thy fight to heaven winging.
Beauteous soul by love enehanted-'p
"GGrrgh! gurrghr' growled the skunk,
interrupting a second time. [ beat the
brute on the head over and over again,
knocking the life completely out of him,
and into the kingdom come, winding up
from Bellini, with:
sAI lost now
Oh, for thee loves sun is set forever,
This poor heart in future never
Not one hope, no, Of bliss can know"
Procuring a wire and making a running
loop in it, passed it over the skunk's
head and fore legs, drew up the loop, and
carried him on the leeward cautiously and
carefully homeward, also taking up the
owl on the way.