About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

46 Our Dumb Animals 1 (1913-1914)

handle is hein.journals/animals46 and id is 1 raw text is: U S Tado Mark, Regitd iN 18m, AND FOR FORTY-ONE Cr o Animals, The American Huzana S Z1 I would not enter on my list of friends, EIc Though graced with polished manners .. ' GLORY TO V and fine sense, o an o0 CD GOD A Yet wanting sensibility, the man PEACE CN EARTH, Who needlessly sets foot upon a wormT KIN RUSc TO -Cowper. y yE ACREATURE Vol. 46 Boston, June, 1913 No. 1 A Missouri Heronry By J. B. THOMPSON UT few persons have the least idea that the snowy heron ever existed in the middle states. And even the majority of faith- ful, scientific reports fail to reveal a single roost now exist- .................... ing in these states. Nct today there is a heronry that, speaking by the map, is only fifty miles from the Mississippi River in Missouri, just two miles east of Little Black River, in what is commonly known as the Little Black Overflow. There, in the swamp lands of Ripley county, will be found the birds, nesting and exhibiting their wonderful aigrettes to the eyes of mother nature, the last of the survivors in Missouri. Milady pays little attention to the blood slaughter that crowns her adornment with these exquisite plumes. Vaguely she may recall an allusion to some story about the difficulties surrounding its acquirement. She only knows that it will soon be next to impossible to obtain them; in her mind alligators, water moccasins and dank undergrowth are the associates of the snowy feathers. And an idea persists in her mind that the law has somehow interfered with her desires. Should, however, anyone tell her that once these birds had been distributed throughout the Middle West, and that Missouri was their last stand there, she would flout the statement as improbable. At one time this small heronry, now numbering a few hundred inmates, was of considerable importance. There is an interesting narrative connected with the efforts of the egrets to remain. It is associated with man's greed for money, and the survival of woman's innate love for finery. For many years, in these cypress and water-oak swamps, it seemed certain that nothing would happen to molest their summer home. The birds having but few natural enemies, throve undisturbed. They were too alert for the four-footed prowlers of the swamp, and the pirates of the air seldom made a dash into their midst. The gloomy sodden surroundings, and Readers will recall the article in February Our Dumb Animals on Feeding Quail in Winter, by Mr. Thompson, who is a deputy game commissioner residing in Doniphan, Missouri. He has made a study of the life history of bob- white which, under the title, The Tale of a Quail, will be published in this magazine beginning next month. the very air of the miasmic swamps appeared purified and brightened with the glistening sheen of their immaculate bodies. The inhabitants of the overflow observed the queer birds with indifference. They were of no use to them. Their presence was merely a continuous exhibition of the gorgeousness of bird life. Then, to disturb the serenity of the swamps, came the plume hunters-game law violators driven from the sunken lands to new unguarded fields. During their first spring's stay, they hap- pened to note the return of the egrets to their summer abiding place. It was an interesting sight to them, an easy solution of the problem of existence in warm spells without slaving toil at the near-by sawmills. A few weeks in the swamps, where egrets were in such unparalleled numbers, would earn them sufficient money to tide them over until trapping could be resumed. Birds were already scarce in their former stamp- ing grounds. The price of plumes had attained the highest mark. The slaughter began at the time of the egret's existence when it was of greatest service to man, the nesting time, when the aigrette plume is in all its glory. The scenes of butchery were glaringly distressing, the red water of the swamps reeking with the stench of their decaying bodies. It required a strong stomach to venture into their haunts. At the start the birds were woefully helpless. They had little fear of man, and fell an easy prey to the plume hunters. First, small-bore shotguns were used, then ones that handled heavier charges; and, finally, as the birds became more wary even on their nests, high-power rifles were brought into play. Plume hunters boasted of earning forty and fifty dollars a day, some even more. The natives, learning of this facile road to wealth, stopped field work, took down their guns from their supporting pegs, and assisted in the car- nage. With this element persisting from year to year in their plume hunts, the roosts became deserted. At last came the time when the egrets were seen no more; and it was believed that their extermination was complete. Two years passed. The plume hunter had departed for fresh grounds, the available timber was logged off, and only a few of the large inundated cypress breaks remained. The country resumed its former wild appearance, except that, from the amount of waste timber and profuse vigorous second growth, it was more difficult of access, and almost impos- sible to penetrate with a canoe. The heronry had regained its natural solitude. In the spring of 1900 a pair of birds, guided by the unerring hand of nature, returned, nested and reared their young. They had nothing to harass them. The resi- dents now in the swamps were of a different type -farmers who applied all their energies to coax- ing the soil for the production of wealth. They were successful. Making a living from the pursuit of wild creatures held no interest for them. Such associations insured rapid increase among the egrets. In a few more years they had established a large heronry, insignificant in comparison with that of former years, still there was the possibility in time of attaining their former greatness. But another obstacle intervened-the building of the railroad from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to Hoxie, Arkansas. It brought a number of hands to construct the earthworks and in a short time the swamps shone with canvas houses. Then many boarding camps established by contractors needed fresh meat; therefore hunters were hired. Game was still abundant, chiefly squirrels, turkeys and deer. It was not much trouble to keep the camp supplied with wild meat. Among the invaders of the swamps were several track crews. These foreigners held themselves aloof, as far as their boarding camps were concerned, from other workmen. Neither so dainty of taste, nor possessed with excellent hunt- ers like other camps, they pressed into service the few of their nation that could handle a gun. No kind of wild life was eschewed by them. Everything existing in the overflow that could be brought to gun was declared delicious game. Among the feathered creatures, a large offal-fed buzzard, a bird exceedingly repulsive, even at a distance, to the average mortal, was devoured with relish. Q >

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most