Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1894-05-18

serve owned ny l.. VI. uOughtOn III
HnlifaN---Cost Of the AnimRls--Gnth-
cred from Ten Different StRte~---Mr.
Houghton's plans for the Preserve.
Forv-three deer. four elk and three
Rocky Mountain goats comprised the con-
tents of q cattle car which arrived i'm Brat
tlebOro Monday morning These animals
were the first consignment for the deer
park which J.. NJ. HouChtun proposes to
establish in Halifax. They were taken to
the park Tuesday The deer and elk were
In small cages. with wooden frames cover
ed with wire netting, and canvas on the
outside The cages We're large enough for
the animals to be comfortable, but SO
small that il was impossible for them to
break away On account of the elasticity
of the wire and canvas there was little
danger that the future denizens of the
Halifax preserve would iniure themselves.
The news of the arrival OF the car
spread rapidly and many people went to
the station Monday and Tuesday to see
the beautiful animals
The deer were shipped from Sheffield,
H.. last week Wednesday. The car was
attached to an export cattle train and
came through on good time. Not an acct
dent of any kind occurred on the Journey.
charge of the car MI Humphrey has
! been collecting the deer at Sheffield since
/ last November Deer are now very scarce
| in almost all the western states, and it was
| difficult TO make the collection. The
/ cheapest animal in the lot cost SO, and the
/ prices ran as high as $50. They come from
! 10 different states and territories but the
| elk are from Montana. and "a large part of
! the deer from Oklahoma Several of the
| deer were picked up by settlers in the new
/ country and brought home. The ones Sc
cured in this way are tame. and show an
/ attectionate disposition In the lot are Sin
Old does and three Old bucks There are
| three or four young bucks. but most of the
deer are doe tawns
The largest elk, buck. is three years
old and weighs about 200 pounds He is
a vicious animal and had TO be thrown
| with a lasso before being Gagged for ship
| ment one of the Old deeIs. a buck. is a
man killer. He was brought to Sheffield
from Tennessee and his owner was very
| willing to part with him, as he had killed
two men. This buck had always been vi.
cious. but for some time had made no at
tacR and the keeper went into the ell
closure one morning TO feed the deer with
out a pitchtOrk. his usual weapon. The
buck charged upon him 1t was the sea
son when the antlers We're full grown and
very pointed The keeper was knocked
down and gored He shouted and his as
sistant ran to his aid. but before a large
force of men arrived the assistant wa,
dead and the keeper had sustained wound,
from which he died a week later Thi,
bucks antlers are now soft and yelvety
and he could do little execution with them
but his hoots would cut like a knife
MIR. Houghton, who is a native of Hall
fax. came Oh from Sheffield. where he i.
engaged in business. the latter part of last
week. He found everything at the 1000
acre preserve in good condition. The wire
fence, eight feet in height, is thought tC
be of sufficient strength. 1t contains y
strands OF wire and those near the grounC
are placed close together. so that dogs anC
foxes cannot enter the enclosure.
MI Houghtou expects to sell venisor
for market, when the park becomes fully
stocked. few years hence. At first only
the surplus bucks will be killed. The
herd is expected to increase rapidly, eacl
doe usually raising two fawns each season
The deer thrive in winter, especially il
deep snow. About One-haf of the pre-
serve is wooded, and the grass land vii
supply abundant feeding ground in tn,
summer Mr.. Houghton expects to carry
on sheep raising quite extensively in con
nectiOn with the raising of deer. He ha: