The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-05-01
WILD THINGS IN NEW YORK.
Mink. HorOn. Eagle. Fox and Deer WITHIN
the City Limits.

: WILD THINGS IN NEW YORK.
Mink. HerOn. Eagle. Fox and Deer WITHIN
the City Limlts.
Both up and down the BrOnx River,
which Ia not the oleanest stream IN the
world. swim the mink says . writer In
tho Outlook. Probably tho hshing lan't
good. certainly their Eavorite trout ars
not plentiful; but the mink win eat any
thing. and nice tender Wild fowl. fAftsnod
by feeding in the 200. arc not 70 be spoEnsd
by mink or man.
so the mink centre IN upon the swampy
stretches Of the stream bordering the
roo and the hsmlock forest. AZ any raAs
they come 10 the Bronx PARA by night and
sometimes wipe out whole families Of
wild fowl before morning. Once one Of
them killed an entire flock Of guIls, six
or seven In number. which were sleeping
carelesSly on q miniature sandbar jutting
into the park lake. after their fAahiOn.
heedful only Of hunters.
The mink's track in the snow b unmIs-
taxable. because be digs In his claws
10 decisively. After q light fall. atfsad
down through the Bronx hemlocks on
the frozen leaf mould. you may track him
10 the streams edge and find psrhArs
tslltale feathers by the way.
But Il IA doubtful II you will ever Gee
his sleek. cautious muEzls nose up over
the bank. He Is fox Of the water. He
plays the craft Of the wilderness in the
heart Of town. He dArCs danger because
he has such an uncAhnily clever faculty
Of lodging Il.
only a year or two ago a red fox was
seen In New York city. not once hut SOW
eral times. He was seen by an artist who
has a little studio shack on the wooded
hillside sloping toward the Harlem River
az University Heights near the Hall Of
Fame. Perhaps the fOX wished 10 asceF-
tain II Poe's name had yet been PLACED
in that gallery.
He evidently came down trom Van
Cortlandt Park and was observed sew
eral times At daybreAk Looping along tow
ard the river Possibly he IVES quite safe.
for New Workers. even when they are out
of bed at 5 in the morning. arc not a.
rule armed for fox hunting: but Why be
had wandered thus far into civilization
Is a mystery.
If you will go up 70 the Bronx Park
roo early in the morning before the sun
is up (which you probably WON'T you
may sec herons walking over the top Of
the great flying cage with somothlng
comically akin 20 envy In their rustic
strut. Il IA exactly A. II tho poor Wild
things envled their cousins In cAptivity,
/ Just a. the countrymAn, in the freedom
Of his fields. envies his city fellow. coopsd
up in a fat with big salary 70 keep him
superhcially contentsd.
And once In a Shils an aArly Fiser
| in The Bronx nav go . black sDsok
circling overhead and winding down the
aerial spiral till Il disclosss the wing
spread Of an eagle. A white headsd eagle
actually spent some time two seasons
ago in a tree close 70 the cags Of his cap
tive brothers In the roo. Presently hS
scared away again into the Wilderness.
In that beautiful forest Of hemlooka
(there used 10 be chestnuts, too, but thsy
have died. which stretches through the
Bronx Park. doubly beautiful In winter
when tho paths are oblitsratod and the
trail Of man can be forgotten by . few
strides from the roadway. q European
fAlloW deer lived In q Wild state for two
winters.
Originally seventeen escaped from the
roo. All but two wore caught. Thsss
two were clever and eluded capture until
nature had taken its course. The buok
and the fawn were ultimately killed, but
the doe continued 70 live az liberty for as
least two winters. A friend Of mine
clcs met her almost face 70 face. To
come upon q Wild deer in the woods not
ten minutes walk from the subway u
something Of an adventursl
Other deer have besn met IN New
York which had not escaped from the
roo. One Of them indeed. q Whitehall
or Virginia deer. escaped into IL. He
was caught swimming the Hudson River
and IL a tug had not fished him out Of
midatream he would have landed Tin
doubtedlv on Manhattan Ialand.
He must have wandered. Il a ~.
roaad from the north Jeresy sre.s-tsit-
10 the edge Of the Palisades. Their ~
looked across az that strange specsscjs
Of piled up buildinEs. railways on gtIIts
| iewelled hghts and plumes Of amoks and
started over 90 investigated Another
whitetail deer vas captured u YSUk@Ts.
close 70 tho New YORK line. as he Wa
/ heading for Van COrtlandt Park.
An Old gentleman who died only last
winter used 20 describe % me with great
uIssO his first hunting expedition 10 New
| Hork. His father gave him a gun and
he went from his homo In 0repnwioh
village. near the present Cunard docka.
over 20 the woods ct the had % the
| BOwery and shot a quail The hcad q,
| the BOwsry 10 now far downtown, miles
south Of the centre % population; but
| In those days 0reenwich village Was
connected with New York proper by
stage coach. and between we're cOuntFv
estates. Il seems quite inconceivablo.
Yet I to-day can leave my house naaF
Washington square after hnch. take 3
ferryboat 20 staten Island and q Rich
mond trolley there. walk . mile % the
end Of tho line. stand IN the woods out ~
sight Of houses and hear the guna crach
out on the Fresh Kill marshes. Than I
can come leisuraly home ana have plenty
OF time % draga Tor dinner. and / ahml
ngs n4Ee ben outside The boundagia8 q