The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-02-28
STORIES OE The HAWKS.
Sharp Work of the Birds Among Annoying
Rats and Squirrels.

hdAlSIedu' Oh ElkIanu township, IA,
saw large white breasted hawk dart
into sashless window near the peak
OF wagon barn that he had finished
building few days before 1t flew out
in a moment with squealing rat in
each claw, and the interested farmer
watched it till it met another hawk in
midair The two circulated and undu-
lated side by side for a spell, when the
one with the rats resumed its flight to-
ward the forest. The other hawk inn
mediately pointed for the barn, shot
through the window. fitted out few
seconds later with a struggling rat in
each talon, and sailed off in the same di-
rection. Mr.. Hallstead started to tell
his wife about what he had seen, when
the hawks, or pair exactly like them,
flew into the barn window, and came
out shortly with their claws full of
squealing rats. There was no grain or
hay in the new barn, and the farmer
wondered where all the rats came from.
lie was also in a quandary as to how
the fierce forest birds knew where to
find rats under a roof
On going into the upper part of the
barn Mr.. nallstead saw scores of rats
scampering around on the floor, and
the mystery of their presence was
solved. Two nights before, day or SO
after the barn had been completed, the
young people of the township had a
ball on the upper floor. The jocund
rustics brought pecks of popcorn to
the party, and between the dances they
nd
munched it with their partners When
the ball broke up lots of the popcorn
was left, and the rural merrymakers
threw it at one another till the floor
was covered. The rats in the other
barns soon got scent of the fragrant
popcorn, and swarmed into the new
building after it; but how the hawks
aScertained that the rats were there in
large numbers none of the smart local
naturalists We're able to tell.
Mr.. Hallstead's dog pitched into the
four-footed corneaters, and the fierce
rats pOunced upon him, bit his nose
and ears till the blood ran, and sent him
yelping down the stairs. The farmer
went at the rats with a shovel, and
they ran uphis clothing and forced him
to clear out They bit him on the ears
and neck before he could shake them
off, and he decided to let them alone.
At dusk that might he saw two owls
fit through the window and sail out
with four rats. The hawks continued
to dart into the barn several times a
day, and they always steered for the
woods with their claws full. When the
useful birds of prey ceased to come not
rat was to be seen in the barn. al
though lot of the popcorn still re-
manned on the floor.
barn belonging to Edgar Putnam,
of Sugar Loaf Hill, burned in the fall,
and the next day an army of rats
focked into Mr. Putnam's house anu
attacked the baby in the cradle. Mrs.
Putnam was working in the buttery,
and the cries of the infant were so diff
ferent from what they generally were
that she rushed to it in great haste.
She found rats climbing and pushing
one another all over the cradle. A
tame hen hawk named Dick was doing
his best to protect the baby by catch
ing the rats right and left, giving each
a squeeze and then dropping it. Mrs.
Putnam seized her little one and
started for the next room The raw
enous rodents chung to her skirts, and
the hawk pulled them off and pinched
them fatally, working as though he
knew that the infant was in danger.
Dick tapped and hoped and flung the
rats around until Mrs. Putnam got out
of the room without any of them cling
ing to her clothing. The helpless little
child was badly bitten on the face and
hands. and Mrs. Putnam said after
ward that the bloodthirsty rats would
surely have killed the baby if the watch
full hawk had not sailed into them al
most as soon as they swarmed into the
house When Mrs. Putnam returned
to the room Dick was still killing rats,
and he didn't let up until more than
thirty lay dead on the floor.
When cold weather set in pair of
red squirrels took up their abode in
Erastus Felker's residence on Pleasant
stream. At times they made great
racket over the ceilings and between
the partitions, but the nimble little
fellows were nice to look at when they
skipped and chartered in the trees. so
the folks in the house decided to put
up with the annoyance through the
winter. Early this month one of the
family fell 81 ck, and the noise of the
playful squirrels made her very nervous
and wakeful every night, A pair of
black walnut trees in the front yard
had been the means of causing the
squirrels to settle in the house for the
winter. Mr.. Feller found more than a
bushel of the nuts under the second
story floor, and beneath plank walk
between the house and street the provi-
dent little animals had stored up a peck
or more. The neighborly squirrels were
not contented in any one part of the
dwelling They scampered all over the
house between the rooms, their nightly
capering and barking finally becoming
unbearable to the invalid, and Nh
Felker decided to sacrifice them for her
sake.
He set three traps in the garnet, but
the squirrels had SO much natural food
laid away that they wouldn't touch
any kind of bait The cats couldn't
get at the noisy little nut gatherers,
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