The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1907-01-11
FOLLY OF The
WILD GOOSE
Born Foolish, It Gets Morse
Yearly, Says a Malne Hunter.

"Mebbe," said old Jed DarM1B'
''mebbe, wise Creator may have
made some kind of bird or animal
that is a bigger fool than wild goose
but If SO He never made enough to
cause people to worry any.
mot only is a wild goose a blamed
fool from birth, but it grows fooler
and fooler as it gets older. It Is the
only critter that refuses to learn
sense from age and experience.
1T is scared half to death BY q
bleating calf tied out to crowbar IN
an open field, but a whole flock oi
geese will sit out in the middle OF
Coldstream lake and let an otter swim
up under water and drag the mem'
bers down one after another and moi
a goose in the bunch will have sense
enough to get scared and fly away.
Il have seen a flock Of geese gel
scared and fly clear out Of the statq
because a playful fox terrier ran along
the edge Of the lake, but when iiocR
of geese is feeding on the roots Of
new clover a fox or a raccoon can
roll over and over and pitch somer'
saults right into the middle Of tho
group and pick out the fattest one
and not a goose will show signs OF
fright until the one which has been
captured lets out a squawk when Il
is bitten to death.
"The way the boys have been kill
ing wild geese along the shores Of
Coldstream lake this fall is something
scandalous. The old hunters ano
fishermen hereabouts have a sayine
that when the bullfrogs go into the
mud for the winter they never die
deeper than the length Of goose
from the tip Of its bin to its breast
bone, which is just 211s inches fol
every goose that lives.
"No matter what kind of soil it Is
and no matter how hard or how cas-
the digging is, every frog in New Eng
land makes 1t rule to burrow 21A
inches and then turn around head t
the outside and settle down for it
winter nap. No matter how hungr,
a goose may be or how soft the mu
is. no goose was ever known to di
an inch with its shovel bill for tn
sake Of getting a frog to eat, thoug
all geese will peck their way into hal
frozen ground when they wan mes
of raw turnips for breakfast.
/ Because they know to the fractio
of an inch how deep the frors bu
row in winter, and because they kno'
the length of a goose's neck, the boy
: have made contriyance for catchin
: wild geese that works every time.
First off the boys spear a numbe
Of fat bullfrogs from their wintt
s apartments, taking pains to drag ii
bodies of the frogs across the surfaC
Of the meadows where the geese fee
Later they make round holes in Il
mud that are about two feet
2 depth, after which they bait a stror
! hook with a live frog and attach 1t
a stake, the top of which must
driven until it is 2115 inches belo
n the surface of the ground
. "The rest is easy. The geese SIN,
= the frog odor ABOUT the field and f
low 1t up until they come to one
e the holes, when they reach down t
e regulation distance, find the frog wi
a hook in it, swallow the whole o.
n fit and are anchored until the bo
Is cone along and kill them and set t
trap again
Me strongest thing about It is IL
IL no goCse viii ever negotiate frog b
" that is set less than the regulati
= depth unGer ground. If a Daited no
= were left on top Of the ground, or I
"a inches below the surface or even
S. inches down, II might stay there
~ winter and not a goose would lc
= at It.
r in fact, the length Of a COOS
he neck when stretched out straight
become a standard of measurement
several Of the up river towns. WI
ac a fisherman goes to blacksmith
order a new eel spear or frog sp
no he specifies that the total length
the iron from tip Of spear to the
ae ginning Of the wooden handle 81
Id be 2llz inches, no more and no /,
Again, when the length Of boys
reaches gooseneck altitude, meai
ing 2l5 inches from hip TO heel,
has passed from the period Of |
q hood and puts on trousers"
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