Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-02-25


As both the weasel and tbc ermiue |
are destructive TO poultr.. our pigeon
farmer imagined that he had idetitied |
Ills enemy and he now had recourse !
TO traps. Bur Il night or two later. |
during Il heavy snowfall, Otis was led |
to change his mind again. -Four pigeons |
We're taken from the cote that night. |
\ few feathers were found in the snow
on The top of the cote the next morn
| ing. A weasel or an ermine would
merely have eaten the brain and the
blood of the birds. and Otis now re-
| turned to the OWL theory
BY this time. too, lie had taken note
of the circumstance that his losses oc-
| Cured only during snowstorlns
/ Determined not to be outwitted. Otis
| now resolved to lie in wait amony his
! pigeons on stormy nights inside the
cote itself. and he made Il small trap
| door about two feet square i'll the roof
of the cote large enough to thrust his
arm through
Otis is an ingenious fellow. and he
T, improved on his stratagem by setting
4 fox trap OH the roof Of the cote. and
by exposing there a rat one of the
many which they were constantly
catching in the mill.
He set the trap and made the chain
fast. but merely tied the dead rat 10
the trap with bit Of stout twine He
| knew that the owl. if indeed it We're
one sometimes alighted on the roof Of
the cote for the feathers Of the doves
lay there in the snow: ana he surmiSed
that II the rat were made fast there.
the bird of prey would pounce upon it
and try TO pull it out of the trap.
His scheme then was 10 thrust up a
well-glOved hand suddenly through the
hole and seize the bird by the legs.
His father and other had told him that
it was, beyond doubt a small ''screech-
owl" common in the woods Of Maine.
Otis plan worked well-too we'll.
The treSpasSer made an appearance Oh
tile first SNOWY night that he watched
for it. In fact, it was hardly more
than s o'clock. and he had been con-
caalcd in the cote for less t.aa al
hour: when he heard ghostly futter
Of wings and Il low. chuckling wnOop
on the roof of the cofc. The trap c.sain
ratified.
Raising the trapGoor. Otis made 4
grab. and clutched something which.
in turn. clutched his gloved hand vigoT-
| ously He held fast, however. and
throwing back the trapdoor with the
other hand, jerked his catch down into
the cote
1t came only after good deal OF re-
sistancc however. and Otis was at
once aware that he had captured some
; thing larger than he had expected.
He let the door fall back and, although
his assailant might be able to see, Otis
could rot.
1t WAS dark as q pocket inside the
: cote: and the first thing that made the
boy aware that his catch had taken the
initiative was feeling something like
: red-hot iron hooks grasp him by the
nose and cheek! Hc tore away. shrek
ing from pain. and tried to dash his
winged adversary down and tread on
it. But instantly he felt his wrist
grasped by the same sharp hooks.
while another chuckling whoop burst
forth close at his ear
| Otis passes among his fellows for a
fought hard. striking and lunging to
!, free himself. But another savage dab
i'll the face well-nigh broke his courage
BloOd-his Own-WaS flowing fast: his
anita gOniat appeared to be all sharp
II talOns and baaks: and it was at this
y stage Of the fray thar his father and
II mother at the house. seventy Or eighty
yards from the mill heard his out
cries.
His father at once lighted lantern
: and hastened to the scene Of conflict.
: What he saw. by lantern light. on as
cending to the cote. may be best de-
/ scribed in his own words to the writer.
: Il found Otis having it hot and tight
with a great white-winged thing with
eyes like q catamountr' he said. Both
Of them were getting pretty bloody, and
y they We're all mixed Zip with about fifty
L doves that were fiying~every which
way at once"
Il But the lantern appeared 70 daze the
D. robber: and Mr.. Billings succeeded in
e giving it Il knock OH the head with 2
piece of scantling, which turned the
: scale Of battle in favor of Iii: son.
e The boy had received several wounds.
II aud will evidently carry the scars of
J. them for years.
y Instead of "screeh-owl," what he
bad captured was fierce snowy owl.
$ Nyctea nyctea. numbers of which came
l. southward into Maine during the ex-
u tremely cold weather last winter.
e This was very large individual of
IS it's species. for it is stated to have
weighed fully five pounds and it's long.
l. sharp. hooked talons and dagger beal
Is looked capable of doing all the damage
: that Otis appearance evidenced.
II The boys only salve for his suffer
II ings has been the safety Of his pigeons
1t and the five dollars which a Bangor
taxidermist paid for the considerably
1t injured body Of his antagonist AS
l. finally prepared and ''sct up'' il
'e brought thirty, and is now to be seen
4 in the hall of Portland merchant
10 Youths Companion.