The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-18

Old Jed Darling Of Maine Has Experience
to Back Up His Assertion-wIld Beasts
TAKE Advantage % ITS ways and so
Do thei boys % COadstream Lake
ENFIELD, Ne, Nov. I7.--Mebbe." said
old jed Daring. -mebbe, a wise Creator
may nave made some kind of bird or animal
hat 10 a bigger fool than a wild goose, but
IL 90 He never made enough to aus people
to worry any!
" Not ohly In q Wild goose a blamed fool
from birth, but II grows. fooler and fooler
as il gets older. 1t p the only critter that
refuses 10 learn sense from g and ex-
perence.
1T Is scared half TO- death by a bleating
calf tied out to a crowbar in an open field,
but a whole dock Of geese will sit out in
the middle OF Coldetream Lake and let an
otter swim up under water and drag the
members down one after another, and not
a goose In the bunch will have sense enough
to get scared and fly away.
Il have seen a flock of geese get scared
and fly clear out Of the State because a
playful fox terrier ran along the edge Of
the lake. but when a flock Of geese is feed
ing on the roots Of new clover q fox or q
raccoon can roll over and over and pitch
somersaults right into the middle OF the
group and pick out the latest one and not
q goose will shov signs of fright until the
one which has been captured let's out a
squawk when Il is bitten to death.
The way the boys nave been killing wild
geese along the shores Of Coldstream Lake
| this fall 10 something scandalous. The old
| hunters and fishermen hereabouts have a
saying that when the bullfrogs &c into the
mud for the winter they never dig deeper
than the length Of a goose from the tip OF It's
bill to its breast bone, which Is just 2l9s
inches for every goose that lives.
mo matter What kind Of soil it is, and no
| matter how hard or how easy the digging is,
every frog In New England makes It a rule
to burroW 2ils inches and then turn around
head to the outside and settle down for its
winter nap. No matter how hungry a goose
may he or how soft the mud 10, no goose
was ever known odig an inch with its shovel
bill for the sake OF getting a frog to eat,
though all geese will peck their way into
half frozen ground when they want a mess
OF raw tuSnips for breakfast.
"Because they know to the fraction Of an
inch how deep the frogs burrow in winter,
and because they know the length OF AZ
goose's neck, the boys have made a con-
| trivance for catching wild geese that works
First on the boys spear a number OF
fat bullfrogs from their winter apartments,
taking pains TO drag the bodies OF the frogs
across the surface Of the where
the geese feed. Later they make round
I holes in the mud that are about two feet
in depth, after which they bait a strong
| hook with a live frog and attach it to a
| stake, the top of which must be driven
until it is ak inches below the surface OF
the ground.
The rest is easy. The geese smell the
frog odor about the field and follow it up
! until they come to one OF the holes, when
they reach down the regulation distance,
find the frog with a hook in it, swallow the
whole outfit and are anchored until the boys
come along and kill them and set the trap
again.
The strangest thing about it is that no
goose will ever negotiate frog bait that is
act lees than the regulation depth under
ground. II a baited hook were left on top
OF the ground, or ten inches below The
surface or even 20 inches down; IL might
| stay there all winter and not a goose would
look at il.
Elm fact, the length Of a goose's neck
| when stretched o straight has become, a
standard of measurement in several Of the
up river owns. When a fisherman goes to
a blacksmith to order a new eel spear or
frog spear he specifies that the total length
OF the iron from tip Of spear to the be-
ginning Of the Wooden handle shall be 2l11
inches, no more and no less. Again, when
the length Of a boys leg reaches gooseneck
altitude. measuring 2i11 inches from hip TO
heel, he has passed from the period OF boy
hood and puts on trousers.