Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-10
AN INTERESTINGLY
DEER DRIVING IN THE SNOW AT
coRBIN PARK.
Herding the Animals Into the Traps
How the blockade is Formed
The Leap to Liberty.

Written for The Star.
| As explained in recent article OF this
series many deer are shipped alive from
Corbin Park every year, to stock other game
preserves public or private. OF COURSE be-
| fore they can be shipped they must be
| caught. and as they have a range OF about
forty square miles the catching OF them In
wolves some preparation and good deal OF
work. 1t Is done by driving" that is. q
great number of men surround section
of the park. and. by marching forward at
once, drive all the deer In that section into
q smaller incIosure called a trap whence
they may be driven into smaller traps and
caught they are needed. A deer drive"
is always more or less of an event here
abouts. and as 1t is usually an interesting
one. try to make point of attending.
The last drive I took part in occurred
about two weeks ago The superintendent
called me up on the telephone the day before
and told me that he intended to drive deer
in the morning. So made ready my cam
era, got out my snowshoes and, along in
the afternoon. set cut eff for g. ten-mile
walk across Croydon mountain to Central
Station, the, point at which the deer drfv-
ers usually meet. The Snow was deep, sort
and unbroken. and consequently the snow
shooting was very heavy and fatfgufng. For
tunately. there was plenty of tirne-hurry-
Ing was quite out of the qnestion-and |
plodded Slowly along, stopping now and
then to examine the tracks of animals or
to watch the movements of some woodland
creature. When night came the tempera-
tnre quickly fell to zero, but did not feet
the cold for snowshoeing Is warm work.
especially for one who happens to be car
ryIng good-sized camera and dozen
| loaded piatehoders.
Cold Night at Central Station"
Central Station" my objective point, is
practically a small farm inside the main
preserve, from which it is separated by a.
fence. here there Is a neat house where
many of the workmen live. numerous barns
and other outbuildings for the accommoda-
ton of animals wild and domestic and
series of great yards where the buffaees
are kept during the winter months I ar
rived about { o'clock and after supper at
the farm house went to bed. I shall never
forget that bed room as long as L live. It
was so cold that when l cracked an inch
of lee on tho pitcher and took my sponge
bath the water felt warm by comparison
with the air. Every drop that fell was ice
the moment it touched the floor. and Ii L
remember right some of it clattered on the
boards in the form Of hail. THIS may have
| been imagination, of course, but the sheets
were a cold reality and getting into bed
WIS like jumping into snowdrift in ones
night clothes. But IN ten minutes / was
warm and comfortable, and never slept bet
ter in my life.
Everybody was up early in the morning
and when | reached the breakfast room
half dozen men were putting on moccasins
or low rubber boots or examining the straps
OF their SnowShoes.
These were men regularly employed about
the place, but presently there began to ar
| rive those who had been engaged for the
occasion. All the available men for miles
around had been pressed into service as
deer drivers, and they came in all manner
OF sleighs, from modern cutters to the Old
fashioned high-baelsed affairs, with sport
Ing scenes painted on the woodwork.
Before the Drive
After putting up their horses they as
sembled in a long building known as the
dog house. from the fact that, many
years ago, 1t had been fitted up for the ac-
commodation of hunting dogs. Here there
was large stove, the men smoked and
talked and discussed the respective merits
Of different makes of snowshoes until the
arrival of the superintendent, when every
one prepared to start Two great sIeds,
each having platform capable OF holding
perhaps thirty men and drawn by team
CT powerful gray horses, stopped just long
enough to allow all to pile on to them
and then the whole party was on Its way
to the starting point
The sleds left the park entirely and were
driven around by the country roads to the
east pass gate, where the men jumped OF
and adjusted their snow shoes. This gate
is about mile north Of Central Station, and
through the park from fence to fence
Through the gate the men were marched
and then the superintendent began to string
them out along the road, stationing a man
every hundred feet, until the line stretched
away for nearly mile. They were asked to
count and beginning with the man first sta
toned they began to call "Onei" "TwoW
Three" -Four etc, in voice loud enough
to be heard for some distance. MY own
number was thirty-six. and there were sew
eral beyond me. Then they received the
word. which was passed along from man
to man, and the entire line was soon march
ing steadily southwark toward Central Sta
ton, eombing the woodland as they went
And that they might keep their spaces fairly
even, and that none might advance too fast
or fall behind the line. the calling Of the
number was repeated at frequent intervals.
Running the Blockade
Incidentally, this shouting doubtless tend
ed to keep the deer In front of US, for they
were less likely to attempt to break through
a line OF noisy men than q line of quiet
ones Now and then however, series OF
loud shouts Of 'tHi. hf' or Look out. look
outP' to my right or left would tell me
that something was trying to run the block
ade, and the strength or faintness OF the
sounds would Indicate against what part or
the line the attempt was being made.
Now and then I would catch a glimpse OF
q deer or perhaps of two or three of them
leaping through the snow ahead of me, and
once plainly saw a moose, swinging rapid
ly off on his stilt-iike legs. We had gone
about half a mile, when I heard cries OF
Look outP from the men on my left and
I saw big doe bounding directly toward
US. We closed in little and shouted loudly
to make her turn, but though she swerved
trife In her course she seemed to have
made up her mind to pass us. She selected
the opening between the second and third
men on my left and went at It like a, thor
ougilbred. These men were separated by
a stream which was not frozen and as the
doe came to this she gave a splendid leap,
clearing the water In a graceful curve, and
the next instant she was behind the line
and at liberty.
ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES.
Deep Breathing.