The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-04-01
KNOWING WILD DUCKS.
Seem to Feel quite Safe When with
in the Busy Haunts of Men.
From the Milwaukee (Wis) sentine

In the Busy Haunts of Men.
From the Milwaukee (Wis) Sentinel.
1t is one of the peculiarltes of the wild
game fowl that when we meet them,
shotgun in hand, out on the waters of the
inland lakes of the state, we have to make
use of all manner of trckery to get near
enough to them to secure a shot!
Thus spoke an old sportsman. standing
on Grand Avenue bridge and pointing
with an index finger to a little patch of
open water in the rear of store on West
Water street. where a pair of wild ducks
We're swimming about as unconcerned as
if they were in the wooded Businesses of
Northern Wisconsin instead of in the
midst of a city of 10000 inhabitants.
How do you account for the difference
between the wild duck in the wilderness
and the wild duck in the midst of civiliza-
tion?" the sportsman was asked.
Il don't account for it. l only know
that If you try TO get near those two ducks
swimming over there, if they were out
on the Horizon marsh, for example, you
would have to rig up lot of bushes in the
bow of your boat and paddle with the
greatest care in order 70 get within gun
shot, and even then the chances would be
against you. 1t may be instinct that Is
the cause of their being SO brave right
here in the midst of a teeming population
We cannot suppose they are familiar with
the city ordinances and that they know
the policemen are under instructions to
arrest any one who fires gun in the
city. They don't even know that the
law against shooting ducks in the state is
in force, for they would still fly away if
they were on Pewaukee lake instead of
Milwaukee river.
Il know an enthusiastic Nimrod who
who went down on the government break
water the other morning to look at a boat
he was TO buy. As he was passing along
the shore end of the little enamel cut
through between the two piers at the
flushing tunnel works he saw a large
flock of ducks swimming around in there.
1t was the only open water in sight. The
ice had crowded into this shore and the
ducks had to take to this spot or go hun
CRY. There were among the birds teal.
redheads, and mallards. My friend had
not lived in Wisconsin long enough TO be-
come familiar with the game laws, and
the next morning he was down there
bright and early. He told me that he hao
duck for supper that night, and was in
cined to pride himself upon his new
found hunting grounds, when l gave him
a tip the law and he shut up like an
oyster and has not had a word to say on
the subject since.
The rough weather sometimes drives
the duck up into Milwaukee river. For
example, this was the case last week,
when the ice came over to this shore.
You see, II Is just NlllS way. Inc VIII
duck lives on fish and worms, and unless
he takes a journey to his winter resort
in the South ne has to depend on the lake
for his fOragng during the real cold
weather when all the interior lakes and
marshes are frozen up solid. He cannot
dig worms out of the frozen ground, can
he? No Then he has to dive down into
the bottom of the lake for them with an
opportunity to capture a small fish on his
downward journey. When the ice comes
10 this shore and extends way out into
deep water his little game is blocked,
as he cannot go down far enough to reach
his diet of worms. In that case he is
forced to appeaee his hunger in the rivers
that run through the city, which are kept
open by the fire tugs and other boats,
which give him an opportunity for salts
flying the inner duck. But whether his
duckship has been driven to the necessity
of foragng in the river so often that he
knows it to be safe, or whether his hun
ger has led him to take desperate
chances, l do not know
Some Of the fishermen who drop their
nets down sixty and seventy feet out i'm
the lake tell me il is not an uncommon.
thing to catch wild geese in them The
geese go down to a great depth after
worms and walk on the bottom searching
for them. A duck, when il Is wounded,
viii also go down to the bottom of the
lake and travel for some distance before
| II Will come 10 the surface. l have lost
many a duck that 1 have wounded
through this popularity.
"Of course, what ] say about the ducks
coming into Milwaukee river does not
apply to the bay inside the government
breakwater, They make that favorite
resort late in the spring ana early In the
fall when there is still plenty of open
water in the interior of the state. as well
as in the winter when everything else is
frozen up. They seem to know from intu-
! ition that they are safe there so long as
| the people keep posted on the laws of the
| state IL may be instinct that controls
| them We know that birds are nearly in
fallible in some things. For example, be-
| fore any of our scientific appliances have
warned us Of the approach OF a winter
storm, a flock Of birds will concentrate in
a treetop, chatter away for an hour or
two then rise up in a body and fly away
| South to a more congenial cline, and in a
| day or two there will come a killing
| frost and a snowstorm, and old winter
| Will place his grip on the region and hold
| it until the following spring, when with
| the first bud OF the vernal season the birds
| Will be back again with their songs"