The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-04-29
MISCELLANY.
Many Wild Beasts.

OF 10 or ~ miles, tnero may DC 1Ounu
within It's limits at least % different spe
oies Of wild animals, several Of them In
sufficient numbers to make their capture
for the sake of their skins profitable en-
ployment. The list consists Of the black
bear, the bay lynx or Wildcat, the gray
fox, the Virginia deer, the raoooon, the
possum, the gray rabbit, the swamp rab-
bit, the poleoat or skunk, the mink the
Canada otter, the fox squirrel (three va
rieties), the Carolina gray SQUIRREL the
flying squirrel, four species of rats, four
species of mice and three species Of ground
mole or shrews. All these are found in
considerable numbers, while some, even Of
the larger and more important, are very
abundant.
In addition to these the common seal Is
an occasional though rare visitor in the
harbor, while the panther, the beaver and
the wolf have become extinct in this cir
Quit within one or two generations, the
latter having been killed within 30 miles
of the oity In the memory of men now liv-
ing. II we extend our circle to include
the limits of the state, we must enlarge
our list by eight or ten more species, such
as the red fox, the woodohuok or ground
hog, the muskrat, the ground squirrel and
several others, while the panther, wolf and
beaver may possibly be still found very
rarely In the wild regions of the Blue Ridge.
OF all these unfamiliar neighbors the
black bear Is by far the most interesting.
Strange as 1t may seem, he Is not rare
survival or an occasional visitor, but a
constant inhabitant and quite as abundant
as any Of his family in any part Of the
world except the huge white seal hunting
savage Of the ice foes. Indeed he Is far
more abundant in some Of our near river
swamps than tho terrible silver tip" or
grizzly In any part Of the Rockies.
Deep In the reoesses Of the densest cane
brakes, beneath the shadows of the ances-
trail Expresses or under the roots Of some
fallen patriarch of the oak knobs, he
makes his lair as comfortably as in the
rock shelters of the Blue Ridge His tracks,
like huge, misshapen, human footmarks,
may be seen in the mud Of the creek banks
In the more secluded portions of the
swamps, together with those Of the 'pos
sum and the coon" the otter, squirrel,
deer and other jewellers under the cypress.
You may visit these gloomy haunts Of his
daily for years without seeing any more of
him, though no may often see you, for he
moves but shyly in daylight, little of
which at best pcnetrateS the dank and
moss hung gloom of his favorite resort.
To ride through the tangled mazes of
the swamps on an August day Is weird
and difficult experience, and you would
never dream of the varied and exuberant
life which teens around you. If the river
Is "down''--and only then can you ride at
all--you may leave the oak ridges and ven
ture, though not safely without guide,
through the narrow and tortuous trails
which lead through the cane your horse
fetlock deep in sticky mud, the rough and
| L.
your face, and myriads of mosquitoes,
huge, black and savagely blood thirsty, as
sailing you at every step. On every side
the spectral trunks of the cypress tower
above you, clothed in great twisted vines
and crowned 100 feet In the air with the
long, dropping festoons of the Spanish
moss, while impenetrable thiokets Of tan
gled briers forbid the least departure from
the path. In winter you would be almost
deafened by the quaoking of countless
multitudes of mallard ducks, but now not
sound Is to be heard save the droning Of
insects and the occasional offer of some in
visible warbler to sell you ticket to the
railroad cheap" And yet hundreds of keen
eyes are watching you.
Flat on the highest limb of some tall cy
press the gray squirrel Is peering at you
through the moss. So close that you have
almost ridden over him, orouched close to
the cool, damp leaves Of his bed, an old
buck has been Watching your every move
ment his velvet covered horns laid
back on his graceful neck. The great
liquid eyes of the woodoook are all about
you. A flock Of turkeys Is noiselessly scut-
thing away with dropping wings and necks
stretched out, while dozen or two Of
wood ibises, motionless as If carved In
white and black marble, are noting your
progress and guessing your purpose from
the limb of some dead giant far beyond
the range Of your rifle. And yet you think
yourself alone.
But the bear knows better, for he has
been watching you, too, and not liking
this human intrusion on his wild domain
he has dropped from his erect posture and
Is heavily ambling off through the thick
est underground to some more private
haunts, 1t may be ten miles away Sud
denly he stops and shifts the air, for he
has heard the grunting of pack of half
wild pigs, and he has Teutonic weakness
for raw ham, unrestricted by any fear of
trichinosis. If the hogs are down the
wind, he knows that they will soon catch
his scent, and continues on his way with
out further regarding them. But II they
are to windward he recognizes a chance,
and promptly takes 1t. Stretching his huge
black body on the ground, he lays his head
on his fore paws and awaits developments.
Nearer and nearer come the grunters, root
Ing as they go among the rustling dead
leaves and stopping from time to time to
munoh an acorn or crack half gnawed
hickory nut. Nearer and nearer they come,
their little slanting eyes too busily search
ing for toothsome morsels to notice the
shaggy mass which is almost hidden by
the dense underground, until one is with
In few feet Of the watohful gormand
There Is a sudden rush, long squeal OF
pain and terror, a chorus of frightened
grunts and pattering hoofs, and poor pig
gy lies crushed and bleeding under the
stroke of that remorseless paw.
} No doubt bruin catches even the wary
turkey by device that have known hin
to practice on domestic poultry when ven
turing too near his captive ohain-namely
scattering his food as bait and pretend
Ing sleep until they fed up within reach Of