Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-01-14
IRONTON. THURSDAY. JANUARY q
NUMBER %.

| for / think it was the next winter we
left the old home.
But to return. In these pine woods
was the home of the partridge. There
they made their nests and hatched out
great broods of young partridges, that
fed upon those berries. In the fall of
the year every boy that lived in the vi
cinity Of one of these forests of pine
would select piece of the woods to set
snares to catch those partridges; and
it was an unwritten law among them
that no one should encroach upon an
other ones territory. After a boy had
chosen his ground, he would cut large
armful of small sticks, about eigeteen
inches long. After the sticks were pre-
pared, he would begin by setting those
sticks in the ground, about three or
four inches apart, in pairs; about five
or six feet apart lengthwise. Then
wove in fine brush, so as to make a
tight hedge about eighteen incees high.
About every rod he would leave an
opening six or eight inches wide, where
he would set snare made of horsehair.
After the hedge and snare were all
right, he would scoop a path along
each side of the hedge. If a partridge
came along, he would always walk in
the path, and when he came to one of
those openings, walk right through,
and find he had run his head into the
snare.
If the country was infested with foxes,
they would set a twitchup. A twitchup
is made by bending over a small sap
ling, and fastening the snare to the end
of the spring, which is bent down to the
hedge and fastened with a notch cut in
one of the uprights of the opening in
the hedge. When the bird, or rabbit,
or, fox, or any animal, undertakes to
pass through, he runs his head into
the snare. AS he struggles to get free,
the spring becomes unfastened and
jerks the game away up into the air as
high as the sapling is.
In the morning, when the owner goes
out to see what he has caught in his
snares, it makes his heart go pit-a-pat
as he sees partridges and rabbits hang
ing by the neck. 1t is very exciting to
a boy at such a time, and how proud
he feels as he goes home with his hands
full of game! l can well remember
how it made me feel at such time.
In the fall, these partridges are very
nice to eat, but after the cold winter
set in they will eat the pine buds and
the binds of apple trees. have seen
those partridges, in the eaIly morning
and late in the evening, sitting in the
tops of the apple trees, shipping the
buds off the limbs. Next spring those
trees would have no blossoms, for the
birds had stripped the blossom buds all
off, and the pine and apple buds give
bad taste to the flesh of the bird.
Sometimes they are so tainted with
pine the flesh tastes like pitch and it is
untitled for food
I remember one Thanksgiving lot
of our boy cousins came to spend the
after-thanksgiving days, the greatest Of
the year. After we had played base
ball, and barn ball, and all the other
games we could think of, some one pro-
posed that we all go down to a piece of
pine woods called The Swamp Lot. :"
After loading up the old fowling-piece,
5he same one / had made over and
brought to this Valley, we all started.
Just as we entered the wood, what
should we see but large flock of par
ridges. The boy who happened to
nave the gun-for they had taken turns |
the old thing-as soon as he
saw them, fired away at the flock and |
killed two or three of them. Then the
Boys took turns at shooting, for the
birds did not seem to know what gun
vas, and did not try to get away until
We had killed about half the flock. AS
veil as | can remember, we got four
cen. 1t was talked about by all the
leighbors as something remarkable.
That night some more of the flock got
aught in the snares we had made,
which took the most of the flock.
L. 2. r.