The Arizona sentinel., 1891-04-18
STORIES OF ANIMALS.
Qneer Creatures of Diferent Species Nal
 Things Lively in Connecticut.

Qneer Creatures of Different Species Make
 Things Lively In Connecticut.
 Edwin Casswell, 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 black fox
 was ever killed in Connecticut before,
 and black foxes are said to be very
 rare. even in theregions in which they
 are indtgenous-the northern part of
 America and northern Asia The fox had silky black hair. Casswell had to use much care in approaching 1t, al-
 though its'leg was held in 6 big steel
 trap. Itleaped furiously at the hun ter, growing and snapping like a dog, while the iron trap ciattered, against the swamp tussochs. Mr. Cass- well killed the animal with club.
 A'curiosity attracts great attention in Webster It looks like fresh water sunfsh, but it is not that, for it Is gelatinous mass that shakes like custard. It was taken from David Wellington's ice pond in Ferryville, and is about eight inches in diame- ter. F. P Baker show it in his drug store window
 In Newinton muskrats will not allow MT. Samuel H. Kilbourne to raise many pond-lily blossoms in his private pond Usually he has acres of the fragrant floating blossoms, but as fast oc ha fhic hn rats eat them. The cultivation of good lilies brings in quite revenue to Con- necticut farmers. They sell the flow CTS to boys, who find a lucrative mar ketfor them at the railroad stations and in villages and cities. If some one will tell how muskrat5 may be ex- terminated, hly-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 banks, interlace each other hundred differ ent times, and usually lead under sweet-apple tree or in a field 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 score have been killed in Connecticut this season. At Middletown hunter makes money at catching the reptiles and selling the hides, and he extracts the oil and sells that, too. Not few persons have nar- Eowly escaped being bitten by rattlers this year.
 Mrs Elizabeth Porter and daughter | had perilous adventure while sitting | under a large oak near the Highlands. They were startled by a whirring | sound directly behind them and not far away, but a moments reflection con- vinced them that it was only the buz- | zing of an insect. But the sound was re- 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 a deadly spring. Mrs. Porter was bold. She darted away, caught up dried | tree bough, and, running back, hit the rattler a powerful blow. At the same ] instant the serpent sprang at her, but the stick repelled his advances, and, with an angry ratCle, he glided of into the thick grass. Both ladies screamed and ran.
 At Bristol a 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 the f1aring flame. The old bird makes a long day of it, and both she and the little ones are well kept All day until nine or ten o'clock at night she wheels about the white light, dashing up and down in pursuit of the train of insects that ceaselessly revolve beneath the iron hood. AS fast as she catches an insect she is back in the nest, and the 1-o,,por hirdc ca5ah71fo aocb ooD4,,-a 1