Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-04-10
HEWASHARDTOBEAT
A SLY OLD WOODCHUcK AND HIS
PERSISTENT ENEMY.

A Long Island Farmer Relates His Expert
ence with y Chuc,, That Had Bccon
Civilizations.
"Speakin Of woodchuoks, said al
old Long Island farmer the other day
reminds me of some curious incident:
with 'em. 'Twarn't nofe'n so year,
ago when they was thick as flies On t!ii:
/ island, al We ata them Instead Of rab
bits Ill made natTiers AID mi,tens Gu
OF their skins. They vas mighty warm
; too, those old wcodchuctl nIitters q,
nuflcrs. Whcr : man va.::el big fel
! low, lie On iy had to walk dorn into
the nearest field an take his pick GU:
of two or three. They was SO plentiful
| that it was 20 trouble to Kill 'e;n. Eut
| they have been killed OF royy so that
there amt mary mere roun. Onct il,
I awhile big fellow brings UP litter
, into the lever clover lot an We have to
root 'em cat.
ever hunt woodcfucl;s? Waal, it
, amt much If they be yourg ones. II
you wait long enough. You'll catch therl
rurnin acrosj the lOs il broad daylight.
/ If you are 4 good slot, you cal bring
one down. They re tough. an {; big feI-
low Will carry away :! big load Of shot
But if you get hold Of q big fellow, I'll
old veteran, SO to speak, You'll find IL
10 easy JOB to dislcIge hip:. Hes too
KNOWN cuss to live. He'll only eat
your clover at night, al. Lord. how
much ko can get away with in one
night. Ii the daytime le Eceps closc
into his !icio au laughs ct yea. Dig
hiri out: Waal, yes, yen CAL t-y it,
but he'll dig q good deal faster CT TIE
other end than you Will az lake it
easy at that. Hind yen, I'm talk,n OF
old ci.ss--thc2e L::ow ~ tie ticks OF
the business. The ~oodchuciss that 50.
find on LoGg Island 90 T!!::c- t,l:n tLose
host a.lywi.:=e else 'csase they l.-e t.
be ouupin al shrowd 10. to get Lille.
They 're SO close 10 civilization 4. hey
learn Few tTi,l3 all the time
~ few years ago n cuanin c!i FL
low took Up his homo il that cl.vcr
field just off tho lower ncdders, an wo
had the hardest time to kill him that
you can inIaginc. guess afore wo got
through with !:im he cost us boat SlG0
that IS, far u!ovcr destroyed al labor
at 81. 80 per day lost IN trying to oap-
tu-e him. 'Twarn't any uGc layin IL
wait fur him with ghotgun. lie Was
too wise to poke his nose out Of ths
hole. But every night he'd co,ae out
Gil eat clover fast enough. He brought
up seven itteTs Of Young chuchs III that
field, but wo killed EN- all except the
old che. He'd bring new mate with
him to his home every season, but she'd
be shot in tryin to save her young ones.
Bat we could never get shot at the
prime mover cf the whole trouble. We
waited fur him on moonlight nights an
did get a shot ct him onct. But guess
we Cniy crippled him, an he never VEN
tured cut again except ON dark nights.
We had 10 chance then. We tried to
dig him out, but after three days of
steady work VIC got tired. Then We
started to burn an smoke him out, but
IT amt no easy matter TO make smoke
go down hill an get into all of the holes
that e woqdchHck can make. Finally
We decided to drown the old critter oct.
Wo got together all the old pork an
oil barrels that wo could find an filed
them full of water Then when every
thing was ready ST an Jake, my two
SOILS, stood ready with q pitchiork al
shotgun while poured the water into
the hole.
"Waal, sir, that hole held more Wa
ter than any rlillpond. It took the hull
ten ba-relfuls to bring it up to tho eur
face, an then, jest IS 1 put i'll the last
pailful, that pesky cid chuck showed
his nose. 81 jabbed at him with tho
pitchforl5, an Jake shot the handle to
pieces as he banged away at tho critter.
But it warn't no use The water soaked
away rapidly, an the woodciluck went
down again, GRIMM at our failure
But we warn t so easily discouraged.
Next day We added five more barrels
an all tie tubs an pals round the
house. Then we began to food that hole
again. This time we had plenty of Wa
ter, but there was no woodchuck to ap-
pear. The water came up to the surface
an flowed out Of the hole, but no wood
chuck. We thought he had left his
home for good after his first duckin.
But no. He came out again that night,
an ate more clover than usual jest as if
to spite US. Waal, we found cut in time
that the cri:ter was SO wise that he had
dug his hole way up toward hill so
that he could sit up there an watch
Us pourin water in at the other end.
This PCT stop to any attempt to drown
him out.
at was ST that rigged up the trap !!
that finally caught the old fellow. He !
took big stone weight bout so pounds !
all suspended it right over the hole. |
Then he fixed a little stick down below
iist as he would set a rabbit trap. The
old muskrat couldn't get out of the hole
noway without hitting that stick, an
well, the thing happened two nights
later The first night the oritter didn't
venture out, but the second mornin the
stone was down, an the old fellow was
crushed beneath it. We amt had none
in the fields since then. New York
Post.
TEXAS HOOPSNAKES.
THEY HAVE HOOKS AND HOLES IN
THEIR LIPS AMI LIKE ELM