The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-08
THINGS A WOODSMAN SEES.
CURIOUS POINTS ABOUT THE HABITS
OF BIRD AND BEAST.
Minks in Rabbits Nests-OwIs Don't
Build Nests - The Queer Family
Raised From Ten Eggs-Uses of
skunk Oil.
FROM the New York Sun.

Aal>eu r rom rem ESEs-Ases VI
skunk Oil.
From the New York Sun.
Harrisburg, Pa, Nov. IA person
who has tramped about in the woods for
thirty years as I have DONE said George
Washington Bear of Nebo, in the Juniata
Valley. may learn a great many curious
things if he keeps his eyes open, and has
head enough 10 remember 'em all. have
hunted and trapped almost the entire
length of the Blue Mountain ridge ever
since 1 was a boy, and 1 have learned
great many things that some folks don't
know. And I haven't found all the Gu
rious things in the woods, either. The
fields and the swamps show up their
share.
Now. whoever read in any book that
the mink, which is popularity supposed to
be an animal that gets it living entirely
from the water, will sit all night if nee
essarv. in the nest of a rabbit, waiting to
rob the unsuspecting bunny Wheh ne
comes hopping homer And the nest OL
the rabbit may be miles from any sTSdh
at that l know the minkS VIII 90 TINS,
for 1 have shot scores OF them as lhey
crouched beneath a bush or hlsh luLt
OF weeds where some raDDll hdu lts Co9y
form The skunk will do the same thlhSL
and so will the weasel. BY the way,
wonder if any veterinary suIse9h EYER eyer
and groIInd into powder. is the best thing
in the world for fOundered horses!
never heard of one who did. -.,... .1..
Il have learned by observation that
owls never build nests. Ihey lay -
big eggs, and will deposit them in SOUR
REFS nest, hawks nest, or any ot her sun
lar receptacle, but they don make nests
of their own. The OWL bolts It's 1000, iuI'
feathers and all, and then sits on a hhp
while digestion proceeds. The feathers or
fur and bones of what the owl has par
taken are by some process separated from
the nutritive parts, ana Iormeu lIto
ball, which the owl elects from lts NOUN.
The hawk on the other hand. is nice
about its meal 1t Will pluck the chicken
or bird or skin its rabbit, before eat
ing il and remove the bones with sursl-
Il once found a curious nest on Pisgah
HILL There were ten eggs In II OF dlI-
ferent sizes, some of them very !aIse
! ones. l took them all home and put them
| under a hen. All but two of them hatched,
/ but after different periods or lncubd-
| ton The result was a screen Owl, Tour
| pheasants, two wild turkeys and wood
/ duck and / raised them all The spolied
/ eggs, l think, were night hawks ana a
| cranes. 1 found out afterWard that what
/ | thought was a nest was not at all, but
/ a place where an egg collector OF the 10
! caiity had deposited some of his spolls
one day while he went in search or more.
| wherever there are many red squirrels,
/ gray and black squirrels Will be scarce.
/ The little red squirrel Is the lmplacaDIe
! enemy of both the other kinds. Ihere are
/ no black squirrels in the Blue noun
tains. There is a species half black and
half gray that l never heard Of anywhere
! else. l once shot curiosity in the way
| of a squirrel Half of 1t was bright req
and the other half pure white. 1t mad
ss'The w1oudpecker can climb up the
stem of a tree like a flash, but ne can |
| climb down it to save his llte Inc niue
botb The kingdsher dives under the
I water and catches its fish in its mouth.
The crane stands in the water and nshes
bin as you might spear an eel with gig.
haS crane on Fii is B Sih and aes
away home. I shot siX-foot
crane once on the wing that had a two
pound trout impaled that way The fish
hawk drops into the water like plummet
and seizes it's fish in its talons.
Bears grease has, for time out of mind.
been considered the best of all bases for
hair oil. That may be, if only a hair
dressing is wanted. Bears grease has
no medicinal qualities. on the contrary,
coon's oil not only makes the best of
hair dressing, but the person who uses
badness 1t may be known, but l doubt
it, that the coon, no matter how near
starvation he may be, Will not eat the
choicest morsel if he can't get to water
and wash it first. The coon bears it young
every two years, and the mother coon
keeps one family of young about her to
the very day she brings forth another.
When the female coon is with young she
leaves no scent that a dog can follow.
"A skunk is by general acceptance in
this country believed to be the polecat,
and in some localities it is known by no
other. name. The fact is, the skunk Is
no more a polecat than bear is a fox.
States as a polecat, which is true
weasel common in England and other
| European countries. The oil that can be
fried from skunks fat is incompar-
able remedy for Group, sore throat, asth-
ma and kindred diseases, and have sold
in my time the oil of 5000 skunks at 81
an ounce. 1t is the most penetrating ONT
! ment l know of, and everybody in the
Juniata valley knows its value.
"A few years ago the clearings along
/, the Blue Mountain were terrorized by
, some unknown animal. 1t was never seen
but its cries were the most frightful that
could be imagined. had never heard
, | anything like 1t, and l used all my skill
for months to trap or kill it, but with
out success. One night while 1 was coor
hunting the unknown animals awful cry
rose from clump of bushes only a few
feet from where / was standing. l could
see nothing but fired both barrels into
the bushes There was a great thrashing
about for a few seconds and then all was
quiet. l went to the spot and found
= that it was nothing but common rec
fox, that had ben shot or hurt in some
way in the throat. and its vocal chords
| injured so that when the poor beast at
tempted to bark the horrible cries thai
; had made it such terror came forth in
stead
: A rattlesnake or any other venomou'
! snake, will go mile out of its way, il
it is necessary, to avoid a non-venomous
one. even if the latter is only a garter
snake. Nenomous snakes don't fear eacl
r other and never fight among themselves
but they're mortany afraid of the othel
: kind. A blacksnalIe will whip and kill
T rattlesnake in a very short time. A rattle
snake doesn't spring his rattle to war;
[ folks of his presence. only when he is tax
ing his ease and doesn't want to be dis
i turbed. The rattler is lazy, and hates L
move after he has settled down for
: bask in the sun, and he turns on his rat
I tie, hoping that it will keep intruderj
I away and save him the trouble of chang
! ing his position. When the RATHER wants
! to bite something ne doesn't betray hi
! presence by rafting. He knows bette
) fhar q do HAT -