The Cairo bulletin., 1907-01-13
FOLLY OF The
WILD GOOSE
aorn Foolish, u Gets Worse
Yearly. Says a Maine Hunter.

"mebbe, wise Creator may have
made some Kind OF bird or animal
that Is a bigger fool than a wild goose,
but II so He never made enough to
cause people to worry any.
"Not only Is a wild goose a blamed
fool from birth, out II grows fooler
and fOoler as II gets older. 1t is the
only crltter that refuses to learn
sense from age and experience,
1T is scared half TO death by a
| bleatlng calf tied out to crOwbar in
AL open field, but a whole flock Of
geese will SIT ont in the middle Of
| Coldsueam lake and let an otter swim
| up undeH water and drag the mem
| bers 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 flock
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 the
group and pick out the latest one
and not goose will show signs Of
fright until the one which has been
captured let's ont a squawll when 1t
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 and
fishermen hereabouts have a saying
that when the bulfrogs go into the
mud for the winter they never dig
deeper than the length Of goose
from the tip Of its bill to its breast
bone, which Is just 81 u inches for
every goose that lives.
"No matter what kind of soil It is,
and no matter how hard or how easy
the digging is, every frog in New Eng
land makes 1t rule to burrow 2li2
inches and then turn around head to
the outside and settle down for its
winter nap. No matter how hungry
q goose may be or how soft the mud
Is, no goose was ever known to dig
an inch with its shovel bill for the
sake of getting frog to eat though
all geese will peck their way into half
frozen ground when they want a mess
Of raw turnips for breakfast
Because they know to the fraction
of an inch how deep the frogs bur
row in winter aud because they know
the length of a goose's neck. the boys
have made a contrivance for catching
wild geese that works every time.
First off the boys spear a number
of fat bulfrogs from their winter
apartments, taking pains 10 drag the
bodies Of the frogs across the surface
OF the meadows where the geese feed.
Later they make round holes In the
mud that are about two feet In
depth, after which they bait a strong
hook with a live frog and attach II 70
a stake, ting top of which must be
driven until 1t is 2l13 inches below
the surface of the ground.
The rest is easy, The geese smell
the frog odOr about the field and fol
low it up until they come 10 one of
the holes, when they reach down The (
regulation distance, find the frog with /
a nook in it, swallow the whole out I
At and are anchored until the bows
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 set less 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, II might stay there all
winter and not a goose would look
At II.
In fast the length of goose's
neck when stretched out straight has
become a standard of measurement in
several Of the up river towns. When
I fisherman goes TO a blacksmith 10
order new eel spear OF frog spear
ne specifies that the total length Of
he iron from tip OF spear 10 the be-
ginning Of the wooden handle shall
De lie inches. no more and no less
Again, when the length of a bows leg
caches gooseneck altitude. measur-
ng 2ll2 inches from hip TO heel. he
las passed from the period OF boy.
lOOd and puts on trousers"