23 June 2013

Squirrel Hunt in 1854 Massachusetts

S.C. P. A squirrel hunt. Pittsfield Sun 55(2819): 2. Issued September 28, 1854. Also September 29, 1854 in New York Daily Times 4(946): 6; October 2, 1854 in Daily Evening Star (Washington D.C.) 4(547): 2. The hunt occurred on September 19th.

One of those murderous affairs, yelopt a squirrel hunt, by forty-six young men of New Boston, Mass., came off last week. It was of two days duration, and the results of the hunt are thus stated in a letter to the Springfield Republican:

"1 wild cat, 7 red foxes, 29 raccoons, 76 wood-chucks, 101 rabbits, 21 owls, 43 hawks, 103 partridges, 14 quails, 39 crows, 620 grey squirrels, 2,493 red squirrels, 1,020 striped do., 5 wild ducks, together with a very great number of pigeons, woodpeckers, blue and yellow jays, and other birds. It had been arranged how much each kind of game should count and it was found that the game on both sides amounted to 15,445.