The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1891-02-26
CRONER'S TRAP.
Il Disables Hawks and Owls While Offe
ing Them Friendly Perch.

Although the legislature of Pennsyl-
'ania two years ago officially recorded
Its belief in the theory that the owl and
the hawk are friends and not enemies
of the farmer by repeating the law that
placed a bounty on the scalps of these
birds, there is at least one rock-ribbed
old farmer in the state who still holds
tn the belief of the fathers that hawks
and owls are pestiferous and destrGct-
i've enemies of the agriculturist. says
a Harrisburg letter to the \. Y. San,
and he has adopted novel and by no
means humane way of making them
less. or at least of destroying their
power for charm, bounty or no bounty.
This farmer is Benjamin Groner OF
the Pine creek region. His study of
the habits of both hawks and owls led
him years ago to the discovery that
they always perch on the branch of
some tree or high fence post or other
good point of observation near Il
poultry yard before swooping down
upon the contents of the yard. This
set Farmer Groner TO thinking and he
thought ont a contrivancc which he be-
lieyed would be the ruination of every
Ha" anu owl iuttl Jip"l leu diOuuu MS
premises.
He took a scythe blade made of the
finest stuff he could buy. He ground
aRd whetted the edge of this blade
until it was keen as keen could be.
Then he fastened the butt end of the
blade with bolts fast to Il long pole
near the top. The blade was fastened
to the pole edge up and at IN angle of
forty-iive degrees. The pole hc then
set in the ground few rods from his
poultry yard, on the edge of wood
lot. For several days an immense hen
hawk had been sailing around near the
premises, and from perch on the
dead limb of a tree near the spot where
the farmer set his pole in the ground
had swooped down OH q number of
Groner's fattest chickens. The farmer
chopped the dead limb of the tree away
after setting his pole and scythe blade
aud waited the result of the experiment
he was trying.
In the afternoon of the same day the
hawk came sailing along over the tops
OF the trees. Farmer Groner saw the
hawk from his barn and cautiously
watched it. The big bird sailed down
to the tree where it had always made
its perch but not finding the dead limb
clrcled around few times and then
dropped down on the outstretched
scythe blade, which appeared rs con-
veuient place of observation. The in
slant the hawk lit it began to slid down
the steep and smooth slant of the blade,
and sliced its claws off as quickly
and neatly as meat cutter slices
smoked beef. The bird futtered to
the ground, but as its wings were still
at its command it flew away and never
came back to the Groner farm again.
Tl,c farmer went out and found the
bleeding talons of the crippled bird,
aud knew that his experiment was
success. The next morning he found
a couple of sets of owl toes on the
80 SSFssst! ander the scytiie blade.
Ever since then one of these traps
has been on duty near his poultry
yard, and the frequent finding of owl
and hawk claws beneath it and a steady
increase in his poultry llocks are in
controvertible proof that it is doing
well the work it was planned to do. An
owl or hawk that lights on that terri
BILE perch is forever after untitled for
stealing chickens, for both birds cap
ture their prey with their talous.