Introduction to some fish of the sea
FLOUNDER (SOLEA SOEL) It is a flat fish in the family Pleuronectidae with an elliptic body up to 40 cm long; its eyes are to the right and its dorsal fin begins before the nearest eye closest to the fish’s rounded snout. Its topside is brownish-purple or gray, with black dots and stained darker brown.
This fish lives on sandy or muddy floors and feeds on worms and mollusks; due to its special taste for rotten worms, seek the flounder near boats.
BREAM (SPARUS AURATUS) A fish from the family Sparidae, its oval body can reach 60 cm long; the head’s profile has a rounded, blunt nose; hardly noticeable eyes, single dorsal fin, spiny back rays, a jaw armed with grinding teeth capable of crushing shells; a bluish back of golden hues; golden yellow sides (marked with brown longitudinal lines), a silvery belly; gold spot on the lids, purple spots in the back of the eye with golden eyebrow.
This fish feeds on mussels, shellfish, shrimp, hermit crabs; and lives in the sandy corridors among the rocky banks filled with algae. In the Atlantic, one fishes with a surfcasting reel lined with nylon (50/100th); in the Mediterranean; the two-hand, nylon (45/100th) cane.
WHITING (MERLANGIUS MERLANGUS) A fish from the family Gadidae; up to 40 cm long; this fish possesses three dorsal and two anal fins; without barbs under the chin; small mouth and very sharp teeth; its back is yellowish-gray or terracotta; sides and belly are mother-of-pearl.
Feeds on shrimp, small crustaceans, small fish, and appears in colonies on sandy or muddy bottoms; fished from the end of the summer until the end of autumn. We support fishing from the anchor or from the drift boat.
Bait: cockle, herring or mackerel.
MACKEREL (SCOMBER SCOMBER) A fish of the family Scombridae; with a fusiform body up to 45 cm; two ridges are clearly separated; its caudal peduncle is thin, and it has no hull with a fin between the forked caudal fin, second dorsal fin and anal fin; its back is striped cobalt blue or green and black, winding with mother-of-pearl sides; whitish-silver belly.
Hunt schools at any depth of water and near the coasts until the late spring and early autumn; seagulls indicate the presence of these colonies as they pluck the fish from the water’s surface. Use lightweight tackle, with a small undulating or rotating net from 5 to 15 g attached to the end of a nylon line (24/100th), or from low line to fish or trawl from piers.
BASS (MARONE LABRAX) A fish from the perch family, with an elongated body to one meter that weighs more than 10 kg; sides are slightly compressed; very small, sharp, teeth; its first dorsal fin is lined with very thorny spines, with sharp ocular spikes; its back is gray or dark blue; its belly is silver; its cover is marked by brown spots.
This fish moves in more or less colonies on any kind of bottom and varies in length; it really doesn’t bite anywhere but in rough seas (a wind force of 3 or 4). Surfcasting, you cast out from a troll boat with a drifting or floating line.
SKATE (RAIA MIRALETUS) A fish from the family Rajidae; with head, trunk and large pectoral fins forming a flat disk; a blunt snout; the back has black spots, one clear eye with a purple center; a single row of spiny tubers on each side and others are scattered on the back and tail. There are many varieties and they range in size from 50 cm to 2.5 meters.
It feeds on small fish and shellfish and is found on sandy or muddy bottoms. Fish it from the support of a boat.
SUPPORT FOR FISHING Bottom fishing—Bait is placed on the bottom and kept there with a weight. The fisherman must lay down a line with enough weight to keep it on the bottom because, placed there, it must not be affected by water movement or by the fish. The equipment required includes: a rod (between 3.10 and 4.5 m long), a reel, a wire and a fishing device (tackle).
Two kinds of reel: fixed or rotary drum. The first type is simpler and better, made of wood and brass, non-multiplying (to avoid knots). Salt water will alter the attached reel drum if you do not use precautionary oil before fishing and wash it with fresh water before oiling it with eucalyptus.
Tackle constitutes the hooks and the weights (between 60 and 150 g). With these, one must be able to attach them solidly to the fishing line. A swivel is not superfluous for connecting the body to the tackle. The tackle has two or three fixed hooks on stick lines that draw aside the main thread. They are attached to it or to a node that does not slip, either by a swivel with three loops or by a stainless steel clip.
The snoods (10 cm long) are spread over the mine line, the lower to 40 cm from the lead, then 30 cm from each other. Fishing is simple: a dangling wire, the length equivalent to three-quarters of the length of the stick, with a weight to launch the bait as far as possible. Let the lead sink to the bottom; put the cane in front and watch for signs. It is prudent to have a very long neck that operates from the top of a rock. A big catch is always possible.
Saltwater fish pounce on anything that appears to be edible to them and they are habitually feeding … worms (lugworm), crustaceans (prawn, hermit crabs), mollusks (mussels, clams, land snails), fish (sardines, herring) serve as bait regardless of the fishing method. A good primer is porridge, made from crushed seashells and crabs and thrown into the water.
CAST FISHING This is an adaption of casting into fresh water. The material must be more powerful. Use either a natural or an artificial lure. Bait that best adapts to the cast include: worms, eels, shreds of flesh taken from the sides of fish or whole small fish. Lures are rubber eels, feathers … preceded by a floater.
SURF FISHING Casting into the waves is beach fishing or tackle fishing with several hooks, placing them in breaking waves. Many fish are in these areas searching for critters that are dislodged in rising tides. The movement of the waves forces the use of sinkers equipped with brass grapples. Once in place, given the distance of the shore or the breaking waves on the gently sloping shores, the fisherman must move in the water as much as possible and use a long rod to cast as far out as possible. The surf fishing canes are equipped with a pike at the ends, which allows for tightening by touch (they would be too heavy to constantly support by hand).
FISHING FROM BOATS There are two kinds of fishing from boats—fish on the bottoms (anchored or drifting) and fish from trolling. The cast is as useful from a boat as from the shore.
Fish on the bottom—Once anchored on a favorable bottom, leave it to sink until the end of the line is held in one’s hand. Use a tackle with multiple hooks and a lead sinker. When you feel the bottom, lift the weight slightly so that the bait is clearly visible if it is a pebble bottom. If it is a mud or sandy bottom, leave the weight to rest there. Respond to a touch by letting it slack then tightening it. This kind of fishing has hooks and weights on rocks covered in algae.
Drift fishing is practiced with the same material but the boat is not anchored and moves with the grace of the currents, which allows access to more terrain.
Trolling: The bait or lure is on the surface and we walk more often; it can also be done between two waterways or near the bottom; it is done with a line held in the hand, after which a single hook is used with mackerel skin, packed with a bit of flesh; or a wooden fish with a wavy scoop … The boat does not work more than five knots (two if you go against the current). It is more a question of holding the line by hand. This requires a short cane and strength comes from foam rubber, which allows powerful support for the stomach for battling with a large reel (mostly rotating by an attached drum).
If it sinks a little over the end of the line, one will fish below the surface. One can then leave the line to hang in the depths, seeking large places on the rocky bottoms. The lure must sink deeply. Reduce the speed to three knots. A weight of one pound suffices. At five knots, a weight of 1 kg would do better. A gaff is essential in order to bring on board a fish of eight to twenty pounds of more.
TRAPS This fishing is practiced from June to September by leaving traps on shallow, rocky bottoms (except for the lobster, currently fished up to 150 meters deep but industrially), which are inaccessible even at very low tides: a boat is thus necessary. The traps can be deposited along a line parallel to the coast, nearly on the sandy edge of the rockeries where there are slopes and, at high tide, where we’re going to leave traps after having weighted them down enough. Each trap is tied to a cord, which is tied to another that will be maintained at the surface with the help of floaters (glass balls or large cork), with a flag at each end (for easy location). One chain can hold from five to twenty traps (according to the boat’s capacity) that will be lifted some days later.
Construction of a trap: a trap is generally made of a wooden frame (80 cm × 60 cm), fully dressed stainless steel chicken wire or rope tight enough to mesh; the supports are three hoops (60 cm high); on either side of the middle axis is a double bait line attached (a head or a piece of fish). On either of the two smaller sides is a cone opening inward: this trap is similar to those for rats or mice—the animal can enter but cannot leave.
These traps serve those who hunt lobster and the very succulent sea spider. We have witnessed raising the traps during the offshore tides of a beautiful storm during the month of August with swells of five or six meters—the work of two marine fishermen and the silent synchronization of their gestures is a dance and a mime of rare beauty, animated by a powerful certainty.
CAST FISHING (NETS) The net is a small one used by hand, in a cone shape from one and a half to four meters high, weighted in the lower seam. It is manipulated by hand and sinks instantly in the water in order to maintain the captive fish. It requires a quickness and ability.
The mesh is squared from 1 cm per section minimum in order to not catch too many small fish, which would deplete the species too much.
FLOATERS At low tides, one installs a net between two points on the sand. The bottom of the net is weighted and the top has cork on it and heavy rope (or straw block) tied to it and buried in the sand. The sea grows, covers the net, and when the sea retreats, the rapid reflux makes the water pass through the mess which straightens and swells to make a kind of pocket in which the live fish fall.
CLOSED PARKS A net is held by pikes in a semicircle along the river. An opening is arranged near the shore. The fish, stopped by the dam, are undertaken and retained in this park where they remain captive.
THE SEINE One of the oldest forms of fishing, practiced on a grand scale since the Greeks and Romans.
Without placing a ship on the high seas, one can do this with two men. It requires a sufficiently long net, held up by two ropes—the top is garnished with corks, the bottom with sinkers. At the ends, the long cords serve to tow and hoist the net, which drags on the sandy bottom (avoid the rocky bottoms which destroy the stitch). This fishing can be done on foot or in canoes.
OTHER KINDS OF FISHING BY HAND Fishing net and board—nets with armature attached to the end of the pole that one submerges and lifts back up.
This practice is now essentially done with nets: dropping, boards, trammel, trawl, seine, etc.
These last two are the most used methods. One therefore fishes cod, herring, tuna, sardine …
The fish of the sea are actually entirely industrialized: the modern trawlers are truly machines where the fish are quickly refrigerated and processed. Artisanal fishing is hardly ever practiced except for on the coasts.
Offshore fishing with dormant lines, so to speak, is no longer done. It consisted of a small boat or dory, lines composed of twenty-four pieces covering 120 meters with 1,500 hooks—these were lifted the next morning; two men were enough to accomplish this task.
Fishing by light at night forces the fish to the surface to miraculously provide loopholes; a few powerful white lights are used on a simple boat.
An expansion into the commercial fisheries is beyond the scope of this book. The preceding paragraphs proposed the basic elements of an individual fishing without hoarding, and with economy.
If someone offers you a cage,
keep it;
if someone offers you a jar,
keep it;
if we give you a vase,
keep it;
keep these prisons
and fill them properly
with cotton and seeds, the one—
not forgetting balance—
and water and pebbles, the other—
scattering the water fleas,
the last of pure water
to change every day.
Having completed these gestures,
go outside!
under the trees in the countryside,
to the edge of the river.
Walk! Walk! Walk!
But don’t pick, gather or capture
just tell us
of the bird’s song
the flower’s scent
the fish’s acrobatics
that seep into your chamber.
Fear not!
Listen! Listen!
There are no longer walls in your chamber.
None, no more—
nothing more than a jar
a cage
a vase
empty, empty, empty …
You are calm, serene,
little fish, my flower.
— Alain Saury
THE SHOTGUN This is a shoulder weapon with a smooth barrel, drawing mainly shot cartridges; it is used for a short distance on small game—the animal is caught in a real cloud of bullets. Its barrel is generally tipped up—a broken rifle is no longer a danger. There are many models: juxtaposed, superimposed, automatic, one-shot.
The calibers: 12, 16 or 20 gauge in our regions.
The choke: A barrel is called “choked” when its inner diameter is smaller toward the mouth, which tightens the shot pattern and sends it further.
The butt: Must be adapted to the morphology of the shooter so that the rifle falls automatically in line with the shoulder. The length of the butt must be the length of the shooter’s forearm (index included).
CARTRIDGES Your choice—get quick ammunition with average pressure of 600 to 900 bars for a shotgun of 1,200. Sufficient speed is 350 m/s.
Table of lead weight according to game:
BULLETS The bullets are generally made for choked barrels and to implode upon contact with the game. Range: 50 meters.
Note: To shoot bullets, never use the light guns, and never mill bullets and lead cartridges in the cartridge belt.
SHOOTING TECHNIQUES
THE RIFLE This is a long-range rifle with a barrel whose rotary effect increases the precision of the ammunition which, in most cases, is no longer cartridge but lead balls. The speed of its projectile is three times that of a shotgun bullet: 800 to 1,000 meters/second and a rifle bullet can still be lethal beyond 2,000 meters. With a well-placed scope, a rifle can blast big game two hundred meters away. There are four variants:
Bolt: an automatic rifle may contain three to five cartridges.
Tilting barrel: Generally a mixed weapon: one or two smooth barrels for one or two striped barrels.
Semi-automatic
Lever
Calibers to use when assassinating animals, your brothers:
Elephant: 460 Weatherby magnum, 470 H. & H.
Buffalo: 375 H.H. and 460 W.H.
Deer, wild boar, large antelope: 300 Weatherby, 300 Winchester magnum 8 × 68 S, 7 × 64
Deer and big mountain game: 7 × 64; 270 Winchester; 243 Winchester, 6.5 × 68; 6.5 × 57, etc. Very fast ammunition at a tight shot.
ACCESSORIES
Scopes: their magnification offers a very precise target and thus a better game selection. Their twilight coefficient (for some of them) allows shooting in semi-darkness or by moonlight.
Binoculars: absolutely necessary for correct judgment.
Hunting knives.
RULES: PRUDENCE
Never leave a loaded gun in a bedroom.
When traveling by vehicle, always remove the gun.
Never shoot at an animal without correcting identifying it; never shoot into a bush.
Beware of ricochets on rocks, walls, trees, ice, etc.
Carry the weapon.
Follow the rules of the region, community or nation.
TRACKING
Beat: A number of hunters are posted while others (beaters) walk. The beaters must advance in a line, slowly, stopping occasionally at regular intervals. One can shoot game that is in front of or behind that line.
Woods: This is best for large game. The posted hunter puts his belly to the woods and only shoots the animal that jumps out onto the path. The beaters walk, hitting the trunks of the trees with a piece of wood. They report to one another by shouting, “Hey!” which allows them to realign. Each hunter is provided one mistake. When killing the animal, he announces it so that the shooting stops. The responsible beater sounds a bell at the beginning and end of the tracking. When tracking deer, one must take care, in a herd of males, to only shoot one male. The dominant male is found at the back of the herd. In a herd of doe, one must shoot from behind because the leader is found in the front.
THE HUNT AHEAD This simple way of hunting asks only to properly identify the game before shooting. The presence of a hunting dog provides much joy.
SELECTIVE HUNTING This hunting has to do with reducing, increasing, or maintaining the population in a territory according to its life-supporting capacities. We eliminate the deficient animals, the young are redundant, some females and adults are “harvested.” This hunt operates on approach or viewpoint.
HUNTING WATERFOWL Practiced in swamps, in the interior, or along the coasts. With the decreasing migratory wildlife, one tends to close the hunting season in the spring, a time when the birds return to their winter homes for nesting. This is practiced from a long, narrow boat, at the bottom layer and the full length.
TRAPPING The trap is hard-installed and buried in a way that the openings only appear on the level of the water. These openings allow the hunter to observe and to shoot wild ducks that land on the pond at night. To attract them, the hunter leaves a number of decoys and callers on the water’s surface. The placement (according to the direction of the wind), the stitching, and the choice of callers are primary. A good team needs: a duck “long cry” who sings often to signal the passage and arrival of the game; two or three ducks “short cry,” and three or four calm males who invite game.
HUNTING IN THE PAST The waterfowl moves from dawn to dusk. It is enough to just hide for moments in the reeds or ditches and just wait for the birds. This hunt is practiced at sea shores and in the interior of the swamps.
BUSKIN HUNTING By day, the hunter tries to approach the aviary in hiding. He imitates the bird’s cry and can thus divert their flight.
HUNTING BY RAISED BOTTOM This consists of trying to draw the ducks out by lifting on the edges of ponds or marshes.
HUNTING HOUNDS This consists of forcing the game out with a pack (ten, twenty, thirty dogs) following the game. Before the hunt begins, the hunters must locate and observe it, for a few hours, without the help of the dog, the bloodhound. This judgment requires knowledge of the game’s footprints and crossing points.
The main difficulties of this hunt are:
Change: The animal tries to get free and pushes another animal toward the dogs
Furrow: The animal gets far away from the dogs
Double vision: The animal returns to its own track
Bat-water: In water, the scent of the game fades
The attributes consist of two essential tools: the whips that are snapped behind the dogs when they follow the wrong path and the hunting horn, the veritable symbol of fox-hunting, which signals all the phases of the hunt; the arrival at the rendezvous, the draw, the gone to ground, the kill … this musical instrument is coiled three and a half times (measuring 4.55 meters long), and offers extraordinary musical opportunity and scope.
THE HUNT IN THE AIR One must draw in a bird of prey, which requires patient and meticulous daily work. This hunting is characterized by two techniques: low and high flight.
Low flight: This is practiced most often with goshawks, pigeons, and sometimes some eagles. These birds hunt on the ground and catch the prey thrown to them.
High flights: The most popular: done with a hawk, falcon. The bird rises up to be only a speck in the sky and moves vertically to the hunter and his dog. While the latter chases the game, such as a partridge, the animal is frightened by the rapaciousness. He knocks down his victim in a fall and “digs” in his talons before breaking the skull with his beak.
THE UNEARTHING Consists of going into a burrow with the help of at least three dogs (a smooth-haired hound, a rough-haired dachshund …) hunting a fox or badger underground. This is cornering the animal. From this moment, the dogs report the game’s whereabouts and the hunter must dig a trench or a hole just behind the dogs to catch the animal, then take the animal with tongs to avoid hurting it. One of the badger’s main tricks is to put a pile of earth between him and his pursuer. To avoid this, the dog must forcefully push against the badger, leaving him no respite.
HUNTING WITH NETS This consists of, with the help of pallets thrown over a flock of pigeons, lowering the net sufficiently to force the birds to rush into the nets about ten meters high and on the ground. Handling a flock requires great dexterity.
One can also use horizontal nets. This is accomplished with live decoys. Placing them in a tree, the flock of pigeons is brought down and lands on the net.
All hunting land requires management. One must know the nourishment needs of each species and ensure that each species gets this nourishment on the land, ensure the tranquility of the game at the moment of reproduction, control the predations, and maintain, lower or increase the livestock. This constitutes part of planning the hunt.
BOAR (SUS CROF) A mammal weighing between 150 and 200 kg, a large head (brawn) with an elongated, very powerful snout which serves to search and dig up the roots on which this animal feeds at night.
An omnivore, it eats fruit, leaves, beets, potatoes, worms, mice, rabbits, grains; it wreaks havoc in cornfields. In the forest it looks for acorns and chestnuts. By day, it hides and sleeps in a lair (a hole in the ground under low branches). The boar lives in the woods but does not hesitate to ascend to higher altitudes. During cold weather, it looks for softwood timber, thickets.
In April, the sow (female), after three and a half months of pregnancy, gives birth to between three and twelve children, and she makes a nest with dried grass. In its first year, the boar is covered with a light fawn coat that turns red then black in its fourth year. As an adult, it lives twenty-five to thirty years.
Although massive and stocky, the boar moves very quickly and even when hurt travels great distances.
No matter the animal’s gait, his footprints are still very clear (about 6 to 7 cm wide for the back foot). In the snow, the prints simply become holes with a length about 40 cm.
ROE DEER (CAPREOLUS CAPREOLUS) A graceful little mammal, 18 to 30 kg, with a more or less red coat depending on the season, tarnishing in the winter and when the animal is old; the male carries burs on his frontal bone which fall off in November and grow back in winter. Year by year, these burs grow until eight years of age.
A social animal with a subtle sense of smell and very fine hearing which allows him to detect the presence of humans several hundred meters away.
Exclusively vegetarian, it feeds on brambles, leaves, ivy, holly, heather, broom during winter; nibbles young shoots and buds in the meadows during spring; searches for alfalfa, clover, young grains in autumn; it feeds on grapes, acorns, berries and other fruits in summer.
The doe carries her baby for around three hundred days and calves in May or June—the older doe may have had two or three fawns.
Deer move by walking. Their print measures 60 to 90 cm long; trotting, it can reach 1.4 meters. By fantastic leaps, it easily crosses two to four meters. Its footprint is characterized by the narrow and elongated shape of the hooves that measure around 4.5 cm long and 3 cm wide.
HARE (LEPUS EUROPAEUS) A small vegetarian rodent mammal who weighs, according to age and species, between 2.5 kg and 6 kg. The male has a yellowish-gray coat and is slightly brown on the sides to allow him to blend in with the ground as he sleeps in his home (a hollow, closely fitting the shape of its body), his long, black-tipped ears stuck against his body. The hare has highly developed hearing. His small tail is black above and white below.
He lives alone, in prairies and up to 1,500 meters altitude. He comes out at night to feed on roots, grass, vegetables … he loves beets. He stays near farms in the fall, he returns to the woods in winter. He does not go further than one km away from home. The hare moves by changing directions very often as a ruse to deceive its predators. The hare’s presence is often detected by his ball-shaped dung that is very often in small piles near his home.
We recognize the precisely gnawed bark on narrow strips, possible because of the hare’s superior incisors.
The female (doe) has about four litters per year with two to six babies per litter. Gestation is six weeks. Sometimes, before the birth of a litter, a second one is growing. Hares are born with opened eyes and they run on their very first day.
Adult hares leap and gallop up to 70 km/h.
Their footprints have a characteristic shape—four fingers on the front paw are marks except the thumb, which is too short; the mark of the hind paw is narrower and longer; the claws are easily distinguishable. The animal moves slowly or at high speed; its prints are always normal. The front paw measures 5 cm long and 3 cm wide in the ground and, the back paw measures 6 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. In the snow, the prints are larger because, in order to have better bearing on the surface, the animal spreads out its paw. The sitting hare trace, in the snow, is frequent—the long hind legs are side by side and just in front, parallel, are the front legs.
The hare’s average lifespan is three to ten years.
RABBIT (ORYCTOLAGUS CUNICULUS) Native to the Mediterranean Basin, smaller than the hare, 1.2 kg to 2.5 kg, the rabbit has proportionally smaller legs and ears and never with black tips. Its coat varies from white to black mixed with gray and brown. Its very short tail is always raised. Contrary to the hare, the rabbit is a digger, digging several tunnels. It never goes more than 400 meters from its territory, which is located at the edges of woods or in large hedges.
The rabbit is sedentary, lives in colonies, and each group is hierarchized, possessing specific territories. The rabbit’s life is rather nocturnal but it can be seen, in good weather, in the morning, playing in the fields.
A vegetarian, it eats considerable quantities of young shoots, roots, vegetables, and causes great damage to grain crops where it congregates.
A very prolific animal, the male (nine months) fertilizes the female (seven months), which gives six or seven litters per year of four to eight babies. The gestation is twenty-eight to thirty-three days. The female, before giving birth, digs a small tunnel (burrow) and packs the nest with dried grass and hair from her stomach. For three weeks the bunnies are safe in the hole, very well plugged, when the mother is away.
A particular disease affects rabbits, myxomatosis, which is transmitted by fleas and mosquitoes. Symptoms include swollen eyes, head, and ears. The animal dies of the disease in its acute form in ten days.
The rabbit’s footprint is smaller but similar to the hare (the back leg is about 4 cm long, 2.5 cm wide). By contrast, the rabbit’s print is fully covered by a small matchbox; the hare’s goes well beyond this matchbox.
Note: The hare and the rabbit never cohabitate.
HEDGEHOG (ERINACEUS EUROPAEUS) This is a nice little plantigrade, in spite of his back covered with dark gray quills, hairy belly, pointed snout, and tiny black eyes, which are the hedgehog’s sole defense. He can be tamed and his presence is beneficial to gardens because it eats insects, mice, and other vertebrates. This is not an animal for an apartment—its litter stinks and its quills are home to many parasites.
A solitary animal, it is sometimes aggressive and combative, especially in the spring. It hibernates in cold weather and survives on its fat reserves.
By day, the hedgehog hides under brambles, leaves, moss, grass, and papers … near bushes and at edges of the woods, gardens, and fields (dry areas). By night, it hunts sniffing, panting, groaning loudly. During the hedgehog’s nightly walks, he leaves shiny, black droppings 8 to 10 cm long.
From April to August (mating period), the male hedgehog tolerates his female companion, who can give two litters per year of two to ten young. Gestation lasts five to six weeks. The mother is very attentive, nurses her pups for twenty days and cares for them for six weeks. They become independent and, in one year, reach sexual maturity.
The animal can live up to 2,500 meters in altitude.
Its paw length is 20 to 25 cm. Its prints show a quite long claw (especially the back paw) with five fingers, always well marked with the exception of the little finger, which is an inch too short. The front fingers are spread out and the marks of the balls are very clear. Back and front have roughly the same dimensions: 2.5 cm long and 2.8 cm wide. If the hedgehog runs, the back footprint then covers the front one.
The hedgehog’s biggest predators are badgers, foxes, dogs … but the most dangerous predator of all is man.
MISTLE THRUSH (TURDUS VISCIVORUS) This is a small bird common in all of France. There are four species:
The Mistle thrush: the biggest, with gray-brown plumage on the back, white belly, speckled with brown spots. While flying, white patches show under its wings. It consumes enough insects but prefers to stand in the woods, near the orchards, to feed on fruits, berries (mistletoe). It builds its nest deep, big, and solid in a tree fork.
The Song thrush or Vine thrush: Part of the population is sedentary. A bird with a white belly and brown back, with a yellow base and brown beak. It measures about 23 cm long with a particularly melodious song. It moves around by hopping on the ground and eats insects, worms, snails and berries. In the fall, it eats grapes until intoxicated, hence the expression “to be as drunk as a thrush.” Its masonry nest is made of mud and dung and filled with grass and moss, and has a kind of “carton” on the inside. This is placed in a hole in a wall, in the bush, creepers, and up to 10 meters high in trees. This bird stays covered in the bush and thickets but is also frequently in parks and gardens.
The redwing or wimp: Recognizable by the yellowish band above the eye and by its burning red sides. She arrives in the fall from northern Europe.
The Fieldfare: The head, neck, and rump are ash.
The two latter eat like the previous two.
The females lay four to six blue-green eggs with black spots in late March and sit on them for about thirteen days.
From May to June, there is very often a second spawning in another nest and maybe even a third. The chicks are golden and the inside of their mouths are bright yellow.
Both parents feed them for a fortnight then the young thrushes leave the nest.
GRAY PARTRIDGE (PERDIX PERDIX) This bird has plumage of various tones of browns, grays, and reds, and chestnut coloring on the sides and tail. On the chest, the male has a clearly marked brown horseshoe.
About 30 cm long, it has a noisy flight.
It eats insects, grass, grains, and stays in hollow logs or under tufts of grass.
Its nest is made of grass and dead leaves and, when she leaves, she covers it up. The female lays twelve to fifteen olive-green eggs (27 × 35 mm) from May to June; she sits on them for twenty days. The chicks have red backs striped brown, red caps, and the sides of the head are yellow with brown marks.
Like thrushes, they fly after a fortnight.
Partridge seek dry lands. Its prints are 4.5 cm long and are rarely detectable especially during the summer. The two front fingers are visible whereby the two outer fingers, as the claw, make a 90° angle.
The red-legged partridge (a little larger than gray) has brighter colors and the same manners as this last one.
It runs more quickly but does not fly as well.
The partridge footprints (4 to 5 cm long) are smaller than but similar to those of the pheasants.
QUAIL (COTURNIX COTURNIX) This is a small bird (17 to 18 cm) with short wings, a reddish-brown back striped fawn and black, a plain stomach. In the female, the throat and chest have blackish spots.
Quails fly low, zigzagging, though the heaviness of their flight does not prevent them from traveling long distances. It feeds mainly on seeds and also some insects. The female lays her eggs in a hollow groove that she makes with vegetation—it is often protected by a bush. Reproduction takes place in May. The quail broods eight to twelve finely molted brown eggs (35 to 49 mm) for 17 to 20 days.
The chick has a black stripe down the middle of its red head; its red back has two black stripes, the wings have black markings. The young leave the nest shortly after hatching. The quail’s prints measure 2 to 2.5 cm.
RING-NECKED PHEASANT (PHASIANUS COLCHICUS) A beautiful bird (80 cm, with a very long tail) of shimmering multi-colors: a green head and neck, red wattles around the eyes, a white neck; the male struts around the female spreading his tail, blowing up his feathers, closing his wings toward his companion. Being polygamous, the male pheasant sometimes has up to six hens. They feed on insects, grass, ants, larvae, caterpillars, berries, grains … The bird loves buckwheat and needs a lot of water.
A sedentary bird, it prefers to live on the plains and on the edge of the woods.
Its nest is a simple hole in the ground, deep enough and lined with plants and roots, under which it shelters.
Spawning is from May to June, with six to fifteen olive-brown eggs (35 × 45 mm). The female pheasant broods from twenty-three to twenty-five days. Chicks are gray with dark lateral stripes and mottled brown backs; they fly around the fifteenth day. If, for any reason during the egg laying, the first eggs are destroyed, they can be replaced.
This pheasant can be easily spotted: he wanders around and can be seen at sunrise and sunset. Moreover, at dusk, he perches in trees, flapping and squawking.
Its print (6 to 8 cm long) is generally very plain with relatively thin fingers; the claw is its trademark, and includes the print of the bird’s hind toe, turned inward. In snow, the long tail feathers leave visible traces.
The most common is the mallard (56 cm). The male’s tail and head are dark green and it has a yellow beak or a green beak with black spots, a white collar, a dark garnet breastplate; the back and wings are a rich range of colors: brown, gray, reddish-brown, black, white, blue, green … brown chest and sides and a gray belly; the tail ends with four bent feathers that are so black they look blue.
The female’s livery is less showy, and more rust color (invisible amid the reeds and dried canes).
A sedentary bird, the mallard goes to calm places: ponds, lakes, marshes … its initially heavy flight quickly takes height and becomes straight.
The dabbler’s food is mainly aquatic. It loves to search the mud with its robust and broad bill; it also enjoys grains and insects; a voracious omnivore.
In autumn, the couple forms. In February, the hollow of a tree serves as its nest, made of grass and leaves and packed with feathers and down. In late March, the female lays up to fifteen eggs that she sits on for twenty-eight days. A few hours after the ducklings’ birth, they follow the mother to the water. If the first brood is destroyed, the female lays a second one.
In June, the males molt; they change their feathers and they do not resume their breeding plumage until the end of the summer.
The mallard’s foot is about 15 cm long. The webbing is not always visible—it depends on the ground’s softness. The prints of the legs of the duck are similar to those of the swans and geese, but smaller; the duck’s middle finger measures only 5 cm long.
Note: Diving ducks sometimes dive very deep (20 meters) for their food (animal or vegetable) and can remain underwater for three minutes. Their legs are very much in the back of their bodies. As with waterfowl, to fly from a body of water they run on the water’s surface.
So named because they do not fall into the category of firearms.
STONES Has been used by man for millennia: it was certainly his first throwing arm. Generally, one selects a more or less spherical stone, but flat pebbles used to ricochet off water also do the trick.
SLINGSHOTS Who among us, in our youth, did not make a slingshot out of strong rubber attached to the two ends of a Y-shaped branch? This primitive weapon gives the projected stone a greater precision and more force of impact.
PREHISTORIC DISK BLADES (TCHAKRAS) These disk-knives have appeared since Neolithic age, where they were already used like throwing weapons. They have sharp edges and may be made of rock, hardened clay, bronze, and now even steel. They are usually a couple of centimeters in diameter by 1 cm thickness with an obvious recess, which allows them to be thrown far away after making a turn around the index finger or a short stick held in the hand. They are used to hunt small game.
POLEARMS These are weapons whose iron tip is mounted on a long pole, such as pikes, spears, javelins …
The harpoon falls into this category, and is mostly used for fishing for large fish: it is a dart with two curved hooks that attach themselves to the flesh of an animal, and the rope attached to the other end of the pole keeps the beast at the end of the line.
The javelin used in Olympic competitions is a good long-range (60 meters) weapon; it is a long wooden (or aluminum) rod weighing 800 g, 2.6 meters long, and ends with a steel point.
The feather javelin may be a strong, simple, short metal rod dressed with ample amounts of feathers at one end. Polearms are throwing weapons which double as shock weapons like clubs and bludgeons.
The spear fired hard and straight, with a point at one end that has been hardened by fire, is an effective weapon. We can, like our distant ancestors, put a sharp stone on the end, cutting it into a sharp spearhead shape and carefully attaching it with ligatures.
BLOWGUNS A more or less hollow tube that is used to launch small missiles by the force of the blast. The Jivaro Indians smeared curare on their darts to paralyze their game or opponent.
BOLAS Balls made of stone or lead fitted with leather and attached to three cords of unequal length joined together. The Argentines use them by twirling them around like a lasso and they impede the game by winding around them.
LASSO A long leather whip or a strong rope with a knot and a noose at the end. Running, one launches the lasso by spinning the noose and capturing, by strangulation, game as big as horses and wild bulls.
SLING This throwing weapon is made of a leather pocket swing containing two strings and a missile that is launched using a vast centrifugal force.
BOOMERANG This throwing weapon is used by the indigenous Australians. It is made of a piece of hard, curved wood, and characteristically returns to its point of departure if it does not reach its target or meets other obstacles.
CROSSBOW A kind of bow with steel limb assembly mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles like stones and arrows.
THROWING AX Thanks to an arm lever that provides its handle, the ax offers a much greater force than the javelin, which is thrown by hand. It was very often used as a throwing weapon.
THROWING KNIVES As their names indicate, these are knives designed and balanced in order to be thrown like an arrow into the target. Primitive people knew well how to use these.
Today, throwing knives are above all employed by commandos. There are many kinds. Here is one:
Throwing technique:
The knife is known to undergo a rotational movement around its center of gravity, a rotation that is prevented or created according to each case.
A long training is required in order to become a good knife-thrower and, in this regard, we look at the work of G. Lecoeur Les Couteaux de Jet (Crépin-Leblond), whose illustrations are taken with permission.
THE BOW IN WOOD The bow is a weapon consisting of a rod of wood (or duralumin or fiberglass) that is curved by the tension of a rope to lance the arrows.
The best wood for manufacturing these are yew, laburnum, and acacia, which are all plants whose juices served to make poison. Ash, oak, and willow are also used.
Choose a robust and flexible branch of the most regular size possible with a diameter of 1.2 to 1.7 meters long; the latter has to do with the size of the individual who will handle the bow.
Thin the ends of the wood with a grater or with sandpaper so that one side is flat (inside) and the other side is round, and dig indentations intended for rope tension.
THE CORD It is hemp with a small diameter of seven fibers. Its length shall be such that, normally stretched by the pole, the distance between them does not exceed 20 cm. Before usage, soak them for some days in linseed oil.
Place a fixed knot at the end and a loop at the other end.
The more the tension of the arc is, the more it augments its force of projection.
THE ARROWS A shooter cannot obviously exceed his reach or distance between the chin (resting on the shoulder) and the fist (arm horizontally extended). This extension defines the length of the arrows, which can be longer than this but never shorter.
Cut straight branches of ash, willow, or hazelnut to the length of 60 to 80 cm.
Make one end flat and a notch to receive the rope.
Add three longitudinal slits equidistant to 9 cm.
In these notches, drag and paste the barbs of three feathers (goose or turkey) of which you have cut the tubes and beards at the beginning and the end; whip ahead and behind beards; paint them in bright colors to find them more easily after their launch.
Blunt the other end and harden them in the fire.
QUIVER An arrow case that one carries over the shoulder; it can be made of leather or carved into a light wood or braided.
POLYNESIAN ARROWS An arrow shot from a bow that can be thrown like a spear but whose power of throw is augmented thanks to a simple cord.
The branch from a hazelnut tree, for example, 50 cm long and two to three cm in diameter; blunt and fire-harden on one end and split the other in four on a length of 12 cm.
Cut strong-enough cardboard (shoebox) into two equal triangles 11 cm at the base, 8 cm high in; splitting the first triangle 4 cm from the middle of the vessel to the point, the second from the tip to the base; fit one inside the other.
Introduce this tail into the slots of the arrow, whipping front and back.
Make two simple knots, one over the other, at the end of a big enough cord; go around the end of the arrow and jam the string.
Tighten the twine along the arrow and wrap the excess around the handle; throw by giving a strong traction to the arrow; the twine unravels alone and the arrow shares the leads with acceleration to about 100 meters.
ZEN AND THE ART OF ARCHERY A well-handled bow is a formidable weapon. Who among us does not have a childhood memory of the dexterity of our Sherwood Forest buddies and their legendary leader, Robin Hood?
But in a catastrophic period, the bow, spear or even the sling could find a place of honor in war and hunting.
In Western countries, archery is a fashionable sport. In some Eastern countries, it has never ceased being a method to conquer oneself. This kind of asceticism is well described in the book by E. Herrigel, Le Zen dans l’art chevaleresque du tir à l’arc (Dervy). We want our lectures, committed to nonviolence and vegetarianism, to show that weapons are useful only in this sense: to access all of its harmonious potential and to become the bow, the arrow and the target, all at once. They put all of their right actions to one purpose found in the plentitude of the moment, in emptiness and relaxation.
So stop thinking and relax!—The master writes, because, under these conditions, it is inevitable that this will be missed! I cannot help it!—The tension becomes absolutely painful! The reply: It is only because you are not really detached from yourself that you feel this tension. But, everything is so easy! A poor bamboo leaf can teach us what we must obtain … bow under the weight of snow. The bamboo leaf bends lower then. Suddenly, the load of snow tumbles. The leaf is moved. Remain as the leaf. The shot will depart, it must detach from the archer like the load of snow on the bamboo leaf—even before the thought!
THE HATCH This trap catches the animals through a hole covered with branches. Sharp spears are sometimes at the bottom of the hole to mutilate the larger game. It may also have a latch, which strikes the animal as it grazes.
FOWL TRAP A clay circle of 15 to 20 cm diameter and 3 cm high, modeled on the flat rocks native to Madagascar and some regions of Africa. One places large seeds atop the flat surface, which the guinea fowl cannot easily peck, such that with the repeated shocks from pecking the rocks, they lose all sense of direction and stagger, half stunned, and can be captured easily by hand.
Note: The same phenomenon occurs with broiler chickens if they are allowed to peck cement.
SEESAW TRAP This rocking trap can be effective with small animals like squirrels, hares, partridges, marmots … the weight must be quite heavy.
RABBIT SNARE It prevents the captured hare from becoming prey to other predators because the latch holding the log is released from the hare: the ball falls and hare remains suspended. Put the collar 15 cm from the ground.
HUT LOOKOUT FOR POND Built on the side of the pond with the highest elevation. The majority of the hut will be buried. Avoid burying the hut on the side of the pond that is crowded or on the side that drains.
Make a wood decoy, carved and painted to most resemble the desires of the birds one would most like to attract, such as teal, mallard …
STUNNER Simple and effective traps, easy to make by hand with wood. A beam, loaded with a stone, is raised by a trigger system that fires very easily at the animal that touches the clip support.
WOODEN STUNNERS Many models exist. These allow the capture of live animals and the release of those that are not desired.
METAL TRAPS They are made with many things, mainly two metal jaws (smooth or toothed) that close sharply when the spring that keeps them open is triggered by the weight of the animal on the clip.
SNAIL BOX TRAPS Make a box with plywood, 25 × 25 cm. Make it with a removable roof, protruding 3 cm; cut openings 2 cm from the roof along each side of the box that are 3.5 cm-wide; paint it green; fit an electronic system inside with two 22.5 V batteries that will be set under the lid; run the wires under the openings: the lower and upper wires connected to the pole with the middle wire connected to the + pole; put wheat bran at the bottom as bait; bury the box to its opening in a place frequented by snails; the electric current allows them to enter but prevents them from leaving; they are collected every two or three days.
DECOYS These are whistles or wind instruments with which we mimic the cries of birds to call, attract, and thus capture them. Their use is prohibited by law … but if it happens that we have to survive by means other than those authorized by law …
8.6: Appendix: Endangered and Protected Species
List of protected animal species in the United States:
Bat, Florida
Bat, gray
Bat, Hawaiian
Bat, Indiana
Bat, lesser long-nosed
Bat, little
Bat, Mariana fruit (= Mariana flying fox)
Bat, Mexican long-nosed
Bat, Ozark big-eared
Bat, Virginia big-eared
Bear, American black
Bear, grizzly
Bear, Louisiana black
Bear, polar
Bison, wood
Caribou, woodland
Deer, Columbian white-tailed
Ferret, black-footed
Fox, San Joaquin kit
Fox, San Miguel Island
Fox, Santa Catalina Island
Fox, Santa Cruz Island
Fox, Santa Rosa Island
Jaguar Panthera
Kangaroo rat
Lynx, Canada
Manatee, West Indian
Mountain beaver
Mouse
Ocelot
Otter
Panther
Pocket gopher
Prairie dog
Pronghorn
Puma (= cougar), Eastern
Puma (= mountain lion)
Rabbit, Lower Keys marsh
Rabbit, Pygmy
Rabbit, riparian brush
Rice rat
Seal
Sea-lion
Sheep
Shrew
Squirrel
Vicuna
Vole
Whale, Beluga
Whale, blue
Whale, bowhead
Whale, finback
Whale, humpback
Whale, killer
Whale, North Atlantic
Whale, North Pacific
Whale, sperm
Wolf, gray
Wolf, red
Woodrat
Akekee
Akepa
Akialoa
Akikiki
Albatross, short-tailed
Antpitta, brown-banded
Blackbird, yellow-shouldered
Bobwhite, masked
Caracara
Condor
Coot
Crane, Mississippi sandhill
Crane, whooping
Creeper
Crow, Hawaiian
Crow, Mariana
Crow, white-necked
Curassow, blue-billed
Curlew, Eskimo
Duck, Hawaiian
Duck, Laysan
Eider, spectacled
Eider, Steller’s
Elepaio
Falcon, northern
Finch, Laysan
Finch, Nihoa
Flycatcher, southwestern willow
Gnatcatcher, coastal
Goose, Hawaiian
Hawk, Hawaiian
Hawk, Puerto Rican broad-winged
Hawk, Puerto Rican sharp-shinned
Honeycreeper, crested
Palmeria
Horned lark, streaked
Kingfisher
Kite
Megapode
Millerbird
Moorhen, Hawaiian common
Moorhen, Mariana common
Murrelet, marbled
Nightjar, Puerto Rican
Nukupu`u (honeycreeper)
`O`o, Kauai (honeyeater)
`O`u (honeycreeper)
Owl, Mexican spotted
Owl, northern spotted
Palila (honeycreeper)
Parrotbill, Maui (honeycreeper)
Parrot, Puerto Rican
Parrot, thick-billed
Petrel, Hawaiian dark-rumped
Pigeon, Puerto Rican plain
Plover
Po`ouli (honeycreeper)
Prairie-chicken
Rail
Scrub-jay
Shearwater
Shrike
Sparrow
Stilt
Stork
Swiftlet
Tern
Thrush
Tit-tyrant
Towhee
Vireo, black-capped
Vireo, least
Warbler
White-eye, bridled
Woodpecker, ivory-billed
Alligator
Anole
Boa
Crocodile
Gecko
Iguana
Lizard, blunt-nosed leopard
Lizard, Coachella
Lizard, St. Croix ground
Plymouth Red-Bellied Turtle
Rattlesnake, New Mexican ridge-nosed
Sea turtle, green
Sea turtle, hawksbill
Sea turtle, Kemp’s ridley
Sea turtle, leatherback
Sea turtle, loggerhead
Sea turtle, olive ridley
Skink, bluetail mole
Skink, sand
Snake, Atlantic salt marsh
Snake, copperbelly water
Snake, eastern indigo
Snake, giant garter
Snake, San Francisco garter
Tortoise, desert
Tortoise, gopher
Turtle, Alabama red-belly
Turtle, bog
Turtle, flattened musk
Turtle, ringed map
Turtle, yellow-blotched
Whipsnake (= striped racer)
Coqui, golden
Frog, California red-legged
Frog, Chiricahua leopard
Frog, dusky gopher
Frog, mountain yellow-legged
Frog, Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged
Hellbender, Ozark
Llanero coqui
Salamander, Austin blind
Salamander, Barton Springs
Salamander, California tiger
Salamander, Cheat Mountain
Salamander, desert slender
Salamander, frosted flatwoods
Salamander, Georgetown
Salamander, Jemez Mountains
Salamander, Jollyville Plateau
Salamander, Red Hills
Salamander, Reticulated flatwoods
Salamander, Salado
Salamander, San Marcos
Salamander, Santa Cruz long-toed
Salamander, Shenandoah
Salamander, Sonora tiger
Salamander, Texas blind
Toad, arroyo (= arroyo southwestern)
Toad, Houston
Toad, Puerto Rican crested
Toad, Wyoming
Toad, Yosemite
Catfish, Yaqui
Cavefish, Alabama
Cavefish, Ozark
Chub, bonytail
Dace
Darter
Eulachon, Pacific
Gambusia
Goby
Logperch
Madtom
Minnow
Pikeminnow (= squawfish)
Poolfish
Pupfish
Rockfish
Salmon
Sawfish
Sculpin
Shiner
Silverside
Smelt
Spikedace
Springfish
Steelhead
Stickleback
Sturgeon
Sucker
Sunfish
Topminnow
Trout
Tui chub
Woundfin
Acornshell
Bankclimber
Bean
Blossom
Catspaw, white (pearlymussel)
Clubshell
Combshell
Ebonyshell
Elktoe
Fanshell
Heelsplitter
Higgins eye
Kidneyshell
Lampmussel
Lilliput, pale (pearlymussel)
Mapleleaf, winged
Moccasinshell
Monkeyface
Mucket, pink (pearlymussel)
Mussel, oyster
Pearlshell
Pearlymussel, birdwing
Pigtoe
Pimpleback
Pocketbook
Purple Cat’s paw (= Purple Cat’s paw pearly mussel)
Rabbitsfoot
Riffleshell
Ring pink Stirrupshell
Three-ridge, fat (mussel)
Wartyback, white (pearlymussel)
Wedgemussel, dwarf
Abalone, Black
Abalone
Ambersnail
Campeloma
Cavesnail
Elimia, lacy (snail)
Hornsnail, rough
Limpet
Lioplax, cylindrical (snail)
Marstonia, royal (snail)
Pebblesnail, flat
Riversnail
Rocksnail
Springsnail
Tree snail
Tryonia
Beetle, American burying
Beetle, Coffin Cave
Beetle, Comal Springs
Beetle, Comal Springs
Beetle, delta green ground
Beetle, Helotes mold
Beetle, Hungerford’s crawling water
Beetle, Kretschmarr Cave mold
Beetle, Mount Hermon June
Beetle, Tooth Cave ground
Beetle, valley elderberry longhorn
Butterfly, bay checkerspot
Butterfly, Behren’s silverspot
Butterfly, callippe silverspot
Butterfly, cassius blue
Butterfly, ceraunus blue
Butterfly, El Segundo blue
Butterfly, Fender’s blue
Butterfly, Karner blue
Butterfly, Lange’s metalmark
Butterfly, lotis blue
Butterfly, Miami Blue
Butterfly, mission blue
Butterfly, Mitchell’s satyr
Butterfly, Mount Charleston blue
Butterfly, Myrtle’s silverspot
Butterfly, nickerbean blue
Butterfly, Oregon silverspot
Butterfly, Palos Verdes blue
Butterfly, Quino checkerspot
Butterfly, Saint Francis’ satyr
Butterfly, San Bruno elfin
Butterfly, Schaus swallowtail
Butterfly, Smith’s blue
Butterfly, Uncompahgre fritillary
Checkerspot, Taylor’s (= whulge)
Damselfly
Dragonfly
Fly, Delhi Sands flower-loving
Fly, Hawaiian picture-wing
Grasshopper, Zayante band-winged
Ground beetle
June beetle
Moth, Blackburn’s sphinx
Moth, Kern primrose sphinx
Naucorid, Ash Meadows
Pomace fly
Skipper
Tiger beetle
Harvestman, Bee Creek Cave
Meshweaver
Pseudoscorpion
Spider, Government Canyon Bat Cave
Spider, Kauai cave wolf
Spider, spruce-fir moss
Spider, Tooth Cave
Amphipod
Crayfish
Fairy shrimp
Isopod
Shrimp
Tadpole shrimp
Coral, elkhorn
Coral, staghorn
List of protected plant species in the United States:
Cypress, Gowen
Cypress, Santa Cruz
Torreya, Florida
Fern
Adiantum vivesii
Asplenium fragile insulare
Diellia falcate
Diellia mannii
Diellia pallida
Diellia unisora
Diplazium molokaiense
Doryopteris angelica
Doryopteris takeuchii
Elaphoglossum serpens
Polystichum calderonense
Pteris lidgatei
Tectaria estremerana
Thelypteris inabonensis
Thelypteris verecunda
Thelypteris yaucoensis
Quillwort, black-spored
Quillwort, Louisiana
Quillwort, mat-forming
Wawae`iole
Cladonia, Florida perforate
Lichen, rock gnome
Note on game birds and mammals: Each state in the U.S. has primary responsibility and authority over the hunting of wildlife that resides within state boundaries. Contact state wildlife agencies for licenses and information regarding hunting seasons and open/closed hunting areas. (Hunting of migratory birds such as ducks and geese is managed cooperatively by state fish and wildlife agencies and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.) Migratory waterfowl hunters must possess both a state hunting license and a Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (Duck Stamp), and each hunter needs a Harvest Information Program (HIP) number for each state in which they hunt migratory birds.
Amur Leopard
Black Rhino
Cross River Gorilla
Hawksbill Turtle
Javan Rhino
Leatherback Turtle
Mountain Gorilla
Saola
South China Tiger
Sumatran Elephant
Sumatran Orangutan
Sumatran Rhino
Sumatran Tiger
Vaquita
Western Lowland Gorilla
Yangtze Finless Porpoise
African Wild Dog
Asian Elephant
Bengal Tiger
Black Spider Monkey
Black-footed Ferret
Blue Whale
Bluefin Tuna
Bonobo
Bornean Orangutan
Borneo Pygmy Elephant
Chimpanzee
Eastern Lowland Gorilla
Fin Whale
Galápagos Penguin
Ganges River Dolphin
Giant Panda
Green Turtle
Hector’s Dolphin
Humphead Wrasse
Indian Elephant
Indochinese Tiger
Indus River Dolphin
Loggerhead Turtle
Malayan Tiger
North Atlantic Right Whale
Orangutan
Sea Lions
Sei Whale
Snow Leopard
Sri Lankan Elephant
Tiger
Whale
African Elephant
Bigeye Tuna
Dugong
Forest Elephant
Giant Tortoise
Great White Shark
Greater One-Horned Rhino
Irrawaddy Dolphin
Marine Iguana
Olive Ridley Turtle
Polar Bear
Red Panda
Savanna Elephant
Southern Rockhopper Penguin
Whale Shark
Albacore Tuna
Beluga
Greater Sage-Grouse
Jaguar
Monarch Butterfly
Mountain Plover
Narwhal
Plains Bison
White Rhino
Yellowfin Tuna
Arctic Fox
Arctic Wolf
Bowhead Whale
Brown Bear
Common Bottlenose Dolphin
Gray Whale
Macaw
Pronghorn
Skipjack Tuna
Amazon River Dolphin
Dolphins and Porpoises
Gorilla
Pacific Salmon
Penguin
Poison Dart Frog
Rhino
Sea Turtle
Seals
Shark
Sloth
Tree Kangaroo
Tuna
* This is one list taken from the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) website. The total number on the frequently updated list of endangered or vulnerable species is 20,118 as of May 2014.
The American Anti-Vivisection
Society
801 Old York Road, Suite 204
Jenkintown, PA 19046
800-SAY-AAVS (729-2287)
General Information: aavs@aavs.org
Sea Shepherd U.S. Headquarters
PO Box 2616
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
USA
Tel: 360-370-5650
Fax: 360-370-5651
E-mail: info@seashepherd.org
PETA
Call day or night: 757-622-7382
In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner Blvd.
San Rafael, CA 94901
Telephone: 415-448-0048
Fax: 415-454-1031
The Humane Society of the United
States
2100 L St., NW
Washington, DC 20037
202-452-1100
The Humane Farming Association
PO Box 3577
San Rafael, CA 94912
415-485-1495