Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1895-07-25
A Tame Sea Gull.

fritz Gritman rnises sea gulls on o
small stretch of barren sand off the
south coast of Long Island, and sells
their wings to millinery houses. In
speaking of his work and his expert
ences, the old man said in an inter.
view with New York Post represen.
tative:
81 took TO this work because
thought there was money in it. ]
never heard tell Of any suoh business,
but made up my mind that I could
breed gulls as fast as they could use
'om. don't do nothin' but give them
protection, and they breed md look
after themselves. We havo lots of
duck-gunners down here in the season,
but thoy never touch my birds.
They're only after game birds, an
they don't bother the gulls. 1 have
contracts with several largo dealers
who tako nil the wings I can get.
Moreover, I am now raising some Of
tho old birds for trap-shooting. They
are better for this work in some ways
than pigeons. They jump up quicker
and fly rapidly away from the trap, SO
that it hard work to shoot them. 1t is
better test of gun9er's elm to shoot
gulis from traps than pigeons. ! have
several orders to supply old gulls for
tho shooting clubs on the island, and
next fall after tho breeding season
shall ship them to tho parties of good
prices.
The gulls nre no good for eating,
They are tough, iishy birds. The car.
cnss is always thrown away, but the
soft breast-feathers make fine pillows,
1 have sold about 100 pounds of these
feathers, and find they are better
liked than duck feathers. But it takes
agreat many gulls to furnish one pound
of breast-feathers-a big pile of them.
II have some pet birds here that
should hate to kill. Ono gets
attached to the creatures just as much
as another man would to his dogs or
poultry. Now, here is Pete, the old
est gull have. He is the most intel
ligent fellow 1 ever met in feathers.
He will cheer mo on lonely days by
sitting on my knee and enting out OF
my hand. He is great fisher, too.
j can take him down to the surf or
bay, and teach him to bring up mess
of fish for mo- He always gets enough
to cat here, for mako it point to
catch net full of small minrows for
him before l start him in to fish for
me. he likes the small minrows bet
ter. When the small blueGsh, or
snappers, as we call them, aro in the
bay, send Pete down to catch some
for me. He will follow n school, and
dive down and bring up ono weighing
three-quarters of pound. Then he
will fly to tine shore and drop tho fish
Mt my feet and return. In half m
hour he will catch dozen fair-sized
snappers in this way. He rather en-.
joys his sport, and seems to know
that I will protect him if no will fish
for mo. 1 caught Pete two summers
ago while half killed with gunshot. I
dressed his wound and brought him
up as pet. He is now at the head of
my whole colony of gulls, and he
bosses the other birds around royalty.
Not one dare offer resistance to him,
for he is q great fighter when once
mad"
Pete is n great black backed gull,
and really belongs to the arctic re-
gions off tho Labrador coast, but no
spends his summon on Jones's Beach.
contenting himself to 60 north at
other seasons of the year. He is q
monster of his race, and measure near
ly three feet from tip to tip OF the
wings.