, 1890-07-31
GROW CLUTCHING.
The Novel Way the Hoosier Farmer
Has of Trapping the BIRD.

GROW CLUTCHING.
The Novel Way the Hooster Farmer
Has of Trapping the bird.
[Richmond special to New York SUM-
Indiana farmers in the back dis
tricts have a novel and effective way
of trapping crows To trap In this
way the trapper must first catch u
crow alive, which Is generally done
by crippling one with u fine shot.
The live crow is the trap. He Is
placed on his back in tho field and
fastened i'm that position by driving
a forked stick deep in the ground
over each wing, near the
body. The crows feet have
free play, and there IL no EN-.
barge put on his lungs. Any
one who knows anything about
crows knows that the moment one
is hurt or in trouble 1t makes the
fact known by loud and peculiar
cries There may not have been
another crow seen or heard In the
locality for hours, but in less than
half u minute after tho injured crow
gives its cry of distress crows will
come scurrying In from all points of
the compass, answering the signals
of distress with emphatic and as
srring caws. The moment the dis
tressed crow Is discovered by the
others they swoop down upon it,
and, unless IL Is held in duress by
some trap or contrivance of the
enemy so 1t can't be removed, bear
it away to u place of safety,
where il Is nursed back to
soundness and health. Crows
are not often deluded into
falling into ordinary traps, but once
In while one will get his foot un-
awares into II steel trap set for some
thing else. In answer to his cries
his rescuing comrades have been
known to get enough of the fiock's
beaks and claws to bear on the trap
to carry it Off with its prisoner.
How they succeeded In releasing
him from the trap afterward no one
knows. The live crow fastened by
his wings on his back on the ground
becomes at once the only sure and
never-failing crow trap ever tried.
He sends forth the most dis
tressing of cries, and along
comes a flock of yelling crows In
response to them. They pounce
uoWIi uDOil tlit DlEu u
rescue him. The bound crows
the birds will. In his desperation
he clutches the first crow that
sweeps within his reach. He not
only clutches, but holds on like
grim death. Some one Is always In
hiding near by, and the moment
the decoy crow fustens on and
makes II victim OF the crow that
would befriend him the watcher
hurrlcs to the scene and captures
the captive's captive. This crow is
in turn made II decoy i'm another
part of the field, and he isn't long
i'll fastening on to victim from
his would-be rescuers. In ten
minutes after the first crow 10
set farmer has no difficulty
in getting halt dozen other
traps i'm operation, all doing steady
and infallible work on their excited
and philanthropic brethren. The
farmer may set rs many crows as he
likes, for after getting his first Que
the supply will last as long as there
is free crow in the neighborhood,
but half dozen of these yelling and
traps, well set, will depop-
ulate any average crow settlementin
the course of day or so. Cunning
as the crow Is, he throws his cum
ming all to the winds at sight of
comrade in distress, and even so far
loses his head under such circuin-
stances as to fly to the rescue of
crow in field after
having been made a trap of himself,
as n crow will sometimes manage to
work his fastenings loose in the
ground by his struggles and escape.
One farmer of this county says he
has with only five of these traps
caught ninety-six crows in hall u
day.
Some of the Hoosler small boys Of
the rural districts acquire such deX-
terity as crow clutchers that they
are able to earn big wages in their
efforts to make the big black bird
extinct. Their method is to lie
close along the side of log at the
edge of wood, covering all but
their eyes and one hand with leaves.
Then by n remarkably exact imita-
lion ofa wounded crow they soon
bring score or more of the excited
birds swooping about the log. A
smart boy can easily clutch u half u
dozen or more of tho crows before
they discover him, and they are
worth 10 cents apiece to him.