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Show TIGE'S WATERLOO Pet of Maine Man Learned a Few Things About Skunks by - Bitter Experience The Fretful Porcupine, "There's ono thing you don't wnnt to do when ou hunt porcupines," snld n Maine man who has boon here, "and that Is sic a green dog after ono of 'cm. Did It once myself during a period of excitcmont and lost ray dog. 'Twns this way: Another An-other fellow and I, nfter tho ennct-nient ennct-nient of tho law fixing n bounty sf 25 cents each on dead porcupines, started out lo gather In n few. Tigo, tho dog I lost, knew there was something some-thing In tho nlr when ho saw mo loading load-ing shells, and ho whlmpored his eagerness to bo away. "Now, Tlgo wasn't what you might eall a likely cnndldato for bench show purposes, nor would ho stand a bird In a woodcock cover, but all tho samo ho was a fnlr to middling nil-round, nil-round, overy-day dog. When it camo ..v V v Gazed Mournfully at the House, to woodchucks or coons ho was n howling blizzard and he would treo partridges, but ho had no uso for skunks. Onco In his younger days, boforo ho had become wiso to many things which puppies learn by experience, ex-perience, he descried In tho moonlight moon-light of a Juno evening a sleek little, plump llttlo black and whlto object thnt looked llko a cat. "Skunks novcr run from Impending Impend-ing danger. Neither do porcupines. Both nro well armed, and they seem to know that anything alive with sen3o enough to get from under when It rains ought to find It convenient to lot them alone. Tlgo was a frolicsome, frolic-some, callow pup. Having had lots of fun racing tho farm cats up an old butternut tree that stood In tho yard, ho seemed to think 'twould bo a high old Jublleo to mnko tho strange pussy In tlio moonlight tnko to tho timber. 'Ha-r-row,' ho mumrmurcd, and away ho wont. I yelled a call off after him, but 'twas no use. Ho was In to get all that was coming to him, and he did. "Johns netty, but that was a surprise sur-prise for tho pup! Ho lot loose a blnrt like a scared calf. Yes, 'twas a blart. Thero was no suggestion of bark or howl In Tlgo's voice when tho llttlo black and whlto thing In tho moonlight chocked his rush. It was n blart puro and simple, a blart all aqulvor with dire dread. Guoss Tlgo thought his tlmo had sure come, and ho looked to mo for succor. With tail tucked between his legs he shaped shap-ed a courso for master, and very naturally I took to my heols to got away from tho overpowering stench. 'Twas no use. Tlge was a sprinter, and fearing ho'd get closo and con-tnmtnnto con-tnmtnnto mo I began jerking stones and yelling for him to 'get out' and 'keep away.' "Tho jioor cuss scorned to think me ungrateful, nnd when later on the wholo household, Including tho family fam-ily cats, flagged him he looked llko ho felt meaner than watered milk. He was for a tlmo tht sickest pup 1 over saw. When tho perfume got good and next to him ho'd slide his head along tho grass, first ono side and then tho other. This skating on Ba-r-row," He Murmured, and Away He Went, his ear falling to banish the ovll os-sonco, os-sonco, ho'd root his noso into tho Bods, roll and tumblo In tho dust and grass, nnd '.hen sit down nt long dlstanco dls-tanco and gnzo mournfully at the houso, Iito which tho wholo family had fled for protection. Ho foamed nnd drooled nnd whined nnd was on bad terms with himself and tho world for thrco days. Ho was depcrntoly ashamed of his predicament, and for weeks after ho had nm cunfidenco to look any of us iKiparv In tho oyo. That ill-smelling liN((jit- put Tlgo wiso to strange bjj.&k nnd whlto nocturnal noc-turnal animnls' nnd thereaftor he wns mighty careful about trying to put stray cats up a handy troo. It what he took to bo a cat In tho night refused to run when ho growled an' rushed; he'd sldostop tho proposition quicker than he could snap at tho bite of n flea. At such times ho seemed to remember tho hlgh-slenchlng dls-uster dls-uster of his puppy dnys, when a thing thnt looked like n cat put It all over him. "Tlgo know skunks, and after hln first catch-as-catch-cnn with ono of 'em ho seemed to hnvo mado up his mind thnt tho only safe way to fight them was to maneuver beyond tho danger lino and bark out a lot of sass and abuse. Ho had been bitten by coons an' woodchucks, and being an apt pup ho learned to run around his quarry, folnt for a draw-out and when opportunity oppor-tunity blossomed Jump In nnd get a j strangle hold. But porcupines wero V now to Tlgo. They aro no gooU as gamo and until tho enactment of tho 2fc bounty law thero was no Incentive In-centive to hunt them, but a wholo lot of It to let them alone. Their blamed quills aro llko a bad habit. Onco thoy get fleshed into man or beast they work deeper. Being barbed they pull out llko fishhooks. The kind of porcupines wo have In this part of tho country aro greedy bark caters, and it is tho lnsldo of tho bark that they prefer. Their front teeth aro llko those of Uio beaver, and they can strip tho big limbs of a treo In a short tlmo. Stripping tho bark from a treo will kill It, and It is to save tho spruce and hemlock of Mnlno that tho Incentive Incen-tive to exterminate tho animal has been mndo. "Porcupines aro fool animals. Their wils aro about as sharp as tho hind end of an nx, and llko tho skunk, they either don't know enough or don't caro a fig, to 'look out for tho engine when tho bell rings.' P'r'aps It's because, be-cause, llko tho skunk, they nro so well armed. Meet ono In tho road, and instead in-stead of taking to the weeds and tall grass, he'll Just drop his snout botween bo-tween his forelegs, lay his tall flat In the dust, liuucn his back, bring all of his quills to chnrgo bnyoncts, and await your pleasure. Ho cannot shoot my' YM "Shake 'em, Tlgel" I his quills, as some vivid imaginations 3 would havo tho children bollove, but a I bare touch Is sufflclont to fasten one I of them In a body's flesh. With his R tall, which will flow like a steol spring K whon ho Is touched, ho can drive K quills homo aa a shlnglcr drives nails, 3 and that's one of the things Tlge N learned about these thorny animals on m his last hunt 1 Somo of the fellows near whoro I W live had collected sufficient evidence lM In the way of t nouta and claws to con- vince the proper authorities that thoro I had boon a considerable falling oft M In tho porcuplno population of the ffl oountry. Thoy had gathorcd In enough fl com to mako something of a Jlngio In H tholr pockets, and tholr success some- jl what oxcltod tho neighborhood. Kv I orybody nil nt onco took a notion to EI go porcuplno hunting. My pup Tlgo, M a frlond with whom I havo hunted H coons, and myself wont out ono moon- 31 light night and bngged thrco boforo Tlgo met his Waterloo. Wo hnd put a big ono up a troo, nnd hnd qulto forgotten for-gotten Tlgo in our excitcmont. My frlond gavo old porky a load of sixes and down ho camo kor-thump. Tho Instant ho struck Tlgo was at him, and I, forjettlng 'twas porcupir.?! I.i-stead I.i-stead of coons, yollod: 'Shako 'em, boy I' "Poor Tlgo for tho moment typified tho follow In tho old song, 'Thoro Was a Man In Our Town.' Tho n,j tolls how tho mnn nicked a rod-hot Iron right up nnd laid It right down ngnln. Well It was Bomothitig llko that with Tlgo. Ho got a mouthful of porcuplno I boforo ho dlscoored what an undo- I sirnblo ult of chowing ho'd Btnckcd tip ngnlnst. His mouth nnd throat woro as full of quills ns n dres. mnkor's pin- cushion of pins. Ills wholo body wna M decorated with them. I mndo up my r fl mind then nnd thero that hunting por- S cuplnos for 2r cents n bond waa H hardly worth the effort." M |