The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-10-31
Edited by MARY MARSHALL
A Sportsman's
Paradise.
By Goi DON BoLEs.

Canada Is q land of lakes and rivers
The great chain OF lakes-viz: Lake su-
perior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake
st. Clair. Lake Erie. and, lastly. Lake
ontario-all connected by navigable
rivers. forms an immense bulk of water.
the whole of which, with the exception
Of Lake Ontario. creates the falls Of
Niagara. one OF the wonders of the world.
Now it Is obvious that these great
lakes. and the rivers feeding them. must
have, on their banks. large tracts OF
waste land. and it is this land that Dor
ders Lake st. Clair. the smallest by far
of all these lakes which i am going to
introduce you to in this article, though
in reality in speaking of one you do so to
a certain extent OF all. This marsh land,
dotted here and there with ponds sur
rounded by wild rice and cat-tail reeds
or bulrushes. are the homes of wild fowl
innumerable, also OF various kinds OF
reptiles and fish, for many of the latter
leave the deep water and make these
places their spawning ground.
In these marshes we find the heron;
the bittern also is very numerous. The
king rail and the coot are to be found
here In large numbers: and in the sum-
mer the common, as well as the sooty
tern, lay their eggs in the thick reeds on
the edge OF the water. The mallard.
dusky mallard, or black duck, the wood
duck. also the green and blue-wing teal.
make these marshes their breeding
places. and ! fear many of their young
fall victims to the swamper and black
snake. as well as to the swapping turtle
and bull frogs, TO say nothing of the
fisher mink and musk rat, that are al
ways on the lookout for them. though. to
give hinf credit, I do not thing the last
mentioned is quite as bad as. being
rodent. he Is chiefly a vegetable eater.
and only likes meat when IL can be OBJ
tanned easily.
Let US take a canoe and traverse these
marshes and see what We can, both of
animal and bird life. Not only is IL what
meets the eye that is interesting in these
marshes but the different sounds one
hears add to II in a great measure. Here
you will hear the chipping of hundreds
OF small frogs. whose voices seem to tell
you that the water Is only knee deep"
knee deep then Immediately the bull
frogs hoarse croak advises you to go
round" go round" The loud boomings
Of the heron and bittern can also be
heard. followed by the sharp call Of the
king rail, and the creek-a-creek-creek of
the coot. and the auacking in different
keys of the numerous varieties of wild
the vast quantity OF animated life that
surrounds one.
Before continuing. must tell you
frog story. which Is true. although
must confess Il sounds something Ike
a fairy tale. I was one day going shoot
ing with my French punter. when he
pointed out to me a small wild duck of
a late brood-it may have been. per-
haps, a couple Of days old. swimming
about. having apparently lost its mother
and other ducklings. I caught It. and.
for safe keeping, put 1t into box. in
tending. on my return home. to place
IL in my aviary. where I had wild duck
OF all kinds confined.
Shortly afterward | caught a bull frog.
which also placed in the same box,
intending that his destination should be
in my aquarium
Having now got them safely shut up,
I placed the box on the bottom of the
canoe. AT lunch time I opened it TO
have a look at my prisoners. when. to
my astonshment. the frog was the only
one there and he was about double the
size of what he was when I put him
in. To cut the story short. Mr.. Frog
had eaten the duck. of which ! after
ward had certain proof, as the water in
H.
which he had been unable to digest
Bull frogs are very voracious. ard DO I
an enormous amount of damage among
young waterfowl and fish by eating the ]
spawn of the latter. though they In /.
their turn. have to do their utmost 10
escape, should a heron. bittern, fisher or !
mink be about. for all these gentlemen |,
are partial to fat bull frogs: and so am |
to their legs IL properly cooked.
As our canoe glides through the tall |
rice and enters the open water. what |
beautiful sight the yellow and white |
water lilies present to our view! These /
flowers are highly priced by city peo-
pie for decorating their dinner tables, |
Then the arrowhead is growing here. |
there, and everywhere; IL is a simple lit !
tie white flower with leaf resembling in |
shape a barbed arrowhead. from whence
it takes its name: though insignificant as
a flower IL is very delicate and pretty.
The gentian, too, meets our eye-what
beautiful blue 1t IS. I think the exact
color can hardly be done justice to by the
artist
Over the bulrushes, whose cat-tail
cones wave to and fro in the wind. in
little flocks of six or seven. fit the tiny
humming birds. hardly to be distinguish
ed from the myriads OF dragon flies
which are darling here and there in pur-
Basking in the sun may be seen turtles
of various kinds, ugly both In appear
ance and his ways, for IL he once gets
hold OF anything in his razor-like Jaws
he will never loosen his grip until the
object is torn to pieces by his sharp
claws: the other kinds are not so ugly,
and are harmless, the soft-shelled va
-iety being perhaps most worthy of no.
ice. This variety attains often a great
'ize. and has a head in appearance some
hing like a duck, the mouth being
elongated; the shell is soft and Of a
gray color. dotted there and there with
black spots; the flesh is eatable. and is
considered a delicacy by many The
mapping turtle is also much priced as a {
'oup dish.
What shooting. too. boys. I could give
you in the autumn in these marshes!
we could kill a hundred ducks
| day each. to say nothing of snipe and
'lover. The ducks we would bag would
'e Of very mixed kind. such as the
omnon mallard, dusky mallard. pintail.
vood-duck, red-head, blue-bill, widgeon.
'olden eye. bufflehead, scooter (unft for
ood). green and blue-winged teal. with
! convas-back sometimes. though they
IRE getting scarce. The common and
Iooded mersanser also will be found in
ur bag, but their flesh is fishy: they are,
owever, very handsome. and are sought ,
fter much by taxidermists for setting
~ as fans, etc.
Copyright by the Associated Litersry PresLI
SA 49,