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Show Hot Enough Courtesy goes a long ways, where-ever where-ever it is applied, but there doesn't seem to be enough to go around. Constantly sportsmen in the field are reminded that the other fellow is more concerned with his own pleasure than the welfare of others. There's the hunter (at least one in every, party), who jumps the gun when quail are flushed. That same fellow most likely will claim as many birds as he can get away with, regardless of who fired the pellets that killed them. This fellow has lost sight of broader aspects of hunting. He belongs to the category of the game hog, forages through the fields for the amount of game he can get, rather than for the sport of the hunt. Then there is the constant joy rider on our rivers and lakes. That's tine sport. It's wonderful to get out on the lake and glide over the waters, but there also is always the other fellow to remember. He most likely is a fisherman. He may be casting the banks, or he may be I anchored and fishing with live bait. I He has as much right on the lake as does the joy rider, and the joy rider should stay away from him as much as possible. The waves interfere in-terfere with his fishing. Often we have seen the speed boat rider dash toward a fishing boat, cut sharply, to throw up huge waves, and then bounce around the bend, leaving behind a maniacal laughter and a fisherman battling tangled lines and cursing his tormentor. AAA Hawks Protected Hawks and owls have lots of friends in Connecticut, the National Audubon Society reports. That became apparent recently when Governor John Lodge signed a "model" bird protection bill that makes it unlawful to shoot any species spe-cies of hawk or owl in the Nutmeg State. Approval of this legislation, which had been passed unanimously by both houses of the Connecticut Legislature, Leg-islature, places the state among the leaders in bird conservation. A provision of the new law permits per-mits farmers to destroy those individual indi-vidual -hawks caught in the act of doing damage to poultry. Pointing Dut that only occasional hawks develop de-velop into poultry stealers, the National Na-tional Audubon Society said this provision will protect farmers and at the same time prevent misinformed misin-formed persons from meting out "vigilante justice" to all hawks and owls because of the misdeeds of a tew of them. A public hearing on the new bifd protection law, held before the Game and Fish Committees of the Legislature at Hartford, brought out nearly 50 representatives of state conservation organizations who testified to the value of predatory birds. No opposition was presented. AAA More Funds? A report from the National Wildlife Wild-life Federation states that the House Ways and Means Committee in executive session has hiked the excise tax on sport fishing tackle to 15 per cent from its original base of 10 per cent. This actually means that the revenues arising from this source will be 50 per cent greater than at present. This excise tax on rods, reels, and creels and on artificial arti-ficial baits, lures, and flies was earmarked for federal aid to state fishery restoration by the terms of the Dingell-Johnson Act of the last session of Congress. The increase will be greatly needed, as the tax paid into the earmarked fund has been relatively small. It was at first thought this tax on fishing tackle would produce about $3,000,-000. $3,000,-000. However, on the basis of the first few months, if it does not materially ma-terially increase, there would not be much more available this coming com-ing year for allocation to the states than a million and a half dollars. Sportsmen who pay this tax are generally in favor of the increase. On the basis of $1,500,000 earmarked ear-marked into the fund each one ol the 15 million licensed fishermen would pay on the average about four and three-quarters cents apiece during the year. That small sum is even less than chicken feed and will not cause a ripple of protest from anyone who replenishes his fishing fish-ing outfit or adds a lure or two to his tackle box. With the exception of a small amount for administration, the entire en-tire earmarked fund is turned over to the states to make better fishing. The states are required to pay 25 per cent of the cost of all fishery restoration projects which are approved ap-proved by the Fish and Wildlife Service. AAA The goatsucker, or nightjar, is 4 bird around which a number of old legends have been woven. The ancients an-cients believed it sucked goats al night, that the goats immediately "dried up" and lost their sight. AAA The narwhal is called the sea unicorn uni-corn because of the long, spiral and tapered tusk that grows from its up pet jaw. This is sometimes as long as ten feet. Its purpose has never been de lermined. Ironically, the tusk is often fashioned into a harpoon used in tht bunting of these sea animals. |