The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1890-12-27
CROW CLUTCHENG q
A NOVEL WAY OF TRAPPING rMF
CUNNING BIRD.

N0NEL WAT VI lhAfFING llif
CUNNING BIRD.
Eheir Loyalty 20 One Another Proves
rhoir Downfnli--Tbe Deooy Grow Makes
Victim OF the One who Would Be
friend Him--Dextority Of the Small Boy,
who Makes Ten Cents on Every Grow
Caught.
Indiana farmers ia the back districts
have q novel and effective way Of trap
ping crows. To trap Ia this way the
trapper must first catch a crow alive,
which is generally done by orippling one
with fne shot. The live crow Is the
trap. He ls placed on his back in the
hed and fastened in that position by
driving forked stick deep In the ground
over each wing, near the body The
0roW's feet have free play, and there is
no embargo put on hls lungs. ANY one
who knows anything about crows knows
that the moment 'one Is hurt or in
trouble Il 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 a
minute after the injured crow gives its
org Of distress crows will come scurry-
ing IN from all points Of the compass,
answering the signals Of distress with
emphatic and assuring caws Tho mo-
ment the distressed crow is discovered
BY the others they swoop down upon It,
and, unless It Is held In duress by some
trap or contrivance Of the enemy so II
can't be removed, bear 1t away TO place
OF safety, where It Is nursed back TO
ooundness and health. Crows are not
often deluded into falling into ordinary
traps, but once In while one will get
his foot unaWares into a steel trap set
for something else. In answer to hie
cries his rescuing comrades have been
known 70 get enough Of the fock's heska
and claws to bear on the trap to carry ii
OF with It's prisoner, How they have
succeeded in releasing him from this
trap efterward no one knows.
The live crow fastened by his wings on
his back on the ground becomes at once
the only sure and never-faiIing crow
trap ever tried. He sends forth the
most distressing Of cries, and along
comes flock OF yelling crows IN response
70 them. They pounce down upon the
| progtrate bird to rescue him. The bound
crows claws and legs are free to play al
the birds will. In his desperation he
clutches the first crow that sweeps within
his reach. He not only clutches, but he
holds on like grim death. Some one is
always In hiding near by, and the moment
the decoy crow fastens on and makes g
victim OF the crow that would befrlend
him the watcher hurries to the scene and
captures the oaptlve's captive. This
crow is In turn made decoy In another
part OF the field, and he isn't long ir
fastening on 20 Victim from among his
would-be rescuers. In ten minutes aftel
the first crow is set a farmer has nc
difficulty In getting half dozen Other
traps in operation, all doing steady and
infallible work on their excited anC
philanthropio brethren. The farmer may
set as many crows as he likes, for after
getting his fret one the supply will last
as long as there is a free crow in the
neighborhood, but half dozen Of these
yelling and clutching traps, we'll set, will
depopulate any average crow settlement
IN the course of a day or 80. Cunning al
the crow is, he throws his cunning all IL
the winds at sight Of oomrade In dis
tress, and even so far loses his heaC
under such circumstances as to fly to the
rescue Of wing-bound GROW In a fec
after having been made trap of himself
as . crow will sometimes manage t.
work his fastenlngs loose in the grounC
b. his struggles and escape. One farme
Of Indiana says he has, with only five o
these traps, caught ninety-six crows II
half day.
Some Of the Hoosier small boys of tn,
rural districts acquire such dexterity a
CROW ciutohers that they are able to carr
big wages In their efforts to make th
big black bird extinct. Their method 4
to lie close along the side of some oil,
log at the edge of a wood, covering al
but their eyes and ono hand with leaves
Then, by remarkably exact imitation
Of o wounded crow, they soon bring
SCORE or more of the excited birds swoop
Ing about the log. A smart boy oal
easily clutch half dozen or more OF th
) crows before they discover him, and the
are worth ten cents apiece to him,