East Cleveland leader. [volume] (East Cleveland, Ohio) 1942-1970, 1963-02-28
Idle
Thoughts
by Ruth KlimOwski
Girl Reporter
Visits Great
White Hunter

WhIfe HUnfer
If you were lucky enough t
be able to leave town abou
now, can you imagine anythin,
more exciting than an Africal
safari? If nothing else, it.
warm there!
Everytime another handful O
rock salt is tossed out onto ou,
front sidewalk, as tribute to ou.
"old : fashioned" winter, m,
thoughts return to my recen
conversation with Lee Birch
local professional hunter ane
taxidermist.
1t was a cold, snowy day al
the end of January when
stopped in at Artistic Taxi
dermy Studio, 1875 Euclid ave
There, surrounded on all sides
by magnificent mounted heads
of big game he has bagged
Lee Birch informed me casually
that he was leaving for Africa
in two days.
This 60-day trip will in
clude 21 days on safari, lion
hunting near Arusha, Tan
ganyika; sightseeing up the
western part of Africa; and
eliminate with an exciting Is
days of tiger-hunting (shikar)
in Central India. There are
five men in the party, includ-
ing Birch as guide, and
transportation there and back
is by air.
The present-day Africa that
we hear mentioned on news
flashes seems hardly the place
to visit. Contrary to this idea,
Lee assured me that Tanganyika
is still an excellent place in
which to hunt. Kenya, while
establishing itself politically, is
only uncomfortable" Rocks
hidden in roadbeds create haz-
ards to hunters driving over
them unknowingly; this ap-
peared to be the extent of his
concern.
Similarly, the border war
fare in Northern India will have
had no effect on the central
area where he will hunt. He
suggested that local citizenry
in this region might not know
as much about the skirmishes as
we do in this country.
Fifteen years of around-the-
world hunting, and almost a life
time of pursuing game animals
On the North American con-
,inent have given Lee Birch a
tremendous knowledge of geog-
'aphy, zoology, and just plain
interesting information. From
his, his scope has widened to
include the television showing
If some of his filmed trips.
Photography has always been
/ prime factor in his interest
n outdoor life.
At his suggestion. the
whole family watched "Ad-
venture Road" on Channel
8, the following Saturday
night after our interview.
Through the magic of tape,
we viewed his Alaskan moose
hunt, but what really made us
enviOus was the knowledge
that Birch was arriving in the
Congo at the very same time!
Some recent magazine re-
'orts have been made to the eff
ect that game is disappearing
n Africa. When asked about
his, Lee assured me that this
S not so. agriculture has
'ushed the game back, but it's
till there. It's just harder to
ind"
In the studio that afternoon
vas Mrs. Lee Birch. When
sked about how long she had
cen a "safari widow" she
aid, "Twenty-four and a half
ears" But in her calm-man-
cred way, she volunteered that
yhile she would like to see
he countries her husband visits,
he never really wanted to go
uniting at all.
Mrs. Birch also confessed
that it is always exciting
to await the arrival of pack
ages from overseas. How
many of us can boast of such
exotic gifts as ivory and jade
jewelry, silk saris from India,
and pearls from Tokyo? Be-
side the mail, unexpected tele-
phone calls from far-away
places such as Brazil and
Africa help to pass the time
when her husband is gone.
Lee Birch firmly refuses to
AXE females on his hunting
rips. The closest we women folk
hight come to real lion, then,
; a rug. Something like twelve
eet of hide, black name, and
pen mouth to put in front of a
REPLACE.