Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1934-03-22
GETTING DOWN TO
"BRASS TACKS'
WILD GEESE
M n0~ AnndiaA

music III Tue Hi ~ Inc HcSsSAASA
and the pioneer the cry OF the gray
goose going north in spring is a call
to action. 1t is as though deep called
to deep. Restless legions. far off In
the blue up there. call to strong men
weary of the Inactivity which winter
brings. For them the bugling in the
blue is a note always welcome, for II
means that spring has come and 1t Is
time to be up and doing. There are
no transient relief camps for the
gray goose. He follows an instinc-
tive urge as he and hts kind have
from the beginning of time. Another
week and he will be in nesting and
feeding grounds far up around the
Hudsons' Bay country. The wild
goose has a plan of life. He follows
it with never varying regularity. Per
haps we humans would be better for
such a plan as methodically carried
out. Anyhow we envy him his re-
~sourcefulness, his romantic freedom.
When he calls, thousands Of us would
like to take wing and fly with him.
For ever to humankind the far away
fields seem green.
This year the biological survey is
watching the wild goose's northern
trek closely. We do not know as
much about him and his kind as We
would like to. Why does he choose
one path in the sky n year and an
other the next? Time was when
millions of geese fed and rested In
different parts OF Montana. Now the
annual migration takes less of fixed
directions than ono 1t did. The
trek at night lasts fewer days than
one 1t did.
Civilization is slowly and surely
killing off the wild waterfowl. 1t Is
not the hunter. SO much as the de-
struction of his one-time feeding and
resting grounds. Shoot into a flock
of geese resting at night on some
stretch OF water and according to
the legends, which may be just
legends, wild geese will not choose
that resting place again for years
And II you have eve seen q flock OF
geese circling over q feeding or rest
ing ground you will be sure the wild
goose knows his business. Necks out
stretched, there Is not n detail Of
the terrain the wild goose does mol
see. He estimates hazards carefully
and he never accepts one nonchal
antly. He has been hombarded and
slaughtered too much.
1t was not always like that. The
| early day hunters In many areas
killed geese with clubs. You can't dc
It now. Instinct has sharpened thu
wits OF the wild goose according K
his needs. But instinct Is not enough
to combat the new hazards that have
been created for him by this Trims
we call civilization.
"Wahkonda." is the Sioux term fol
wild goose. There is a lake by tha'
name In Kandiyohi county, MINI.
once famous as a resting place TO
! wild geese. There a few years agt
an aged Indian stood In pensiv.
mood by an old and well loved CAM
ground. "Wahkonda." he said, come
no more. Smart, but not smar
enough. Guns shoot too far. Wah
konda must 60 as did the buffalo.
The rice beds In Lake WahkOndi
are rich as ever. The shore line ha'
somewhat receded, but never to Thu
once great feeding ground and refug'
now a wild goose. They pas
high above 1t spring and autumn
They have learned that signs OF cul
tiyated land and farm houses meal
that the old feeding grounds are onl,
death traps. Only when hungry ant
flight-worn do they alight In civilizet
country and then only for brief inter
walls.
Last week we were a passenge
on a Burlington train which passe
along the great game refuge whic
is In the Mississippi valley and tn
neandered land between DubuQu
and Lacrosse, wis. There were thou.
ands OF wild ducks and geese restin
there. They came close to the littl
towns on the rivers edge in til
refuge country. They feared neithe
noise nor humans. 1t would be inte'
esting to know why. The feders
wardens In charge Of the refuge sa
they are returning every year In II
creasing numbers. 1t Is a great n;
tural feeding ground and 1t is steas
lily being replenished by the plantin
OF rice and bulbs which the gees
and ducks like for food.
Annually to Jack Miners 'famor
wild waterfowl refuge In the eai
come thousands OF wild geese. The
spend the summer there. He he
banded them and studied their ha
its. Never has a gun been fired G
the place. Miners wild geese wi
come when he calls. They accel
his friends as their friends. The
are unafraid. Perhaps the wild COOS
is much more intelligent than v
give him credit for being. W. ha,
known him for centuries, but aft,
all we do not know much about hir
Scientists have recently classifit
the lower forms of life according
their intelligence as 1t has bes
established by scientific experienc
The monkeys are called the mo
intelligent OF all animals. After the