Pennsylvania Game News - September 2008 - 21

where I was at.” I told him that he would have had to go over or under the wire, which is posted every 35 to 40 feet with “ENTRY PROHIBITED” signs around the entire 1700acre perimeter. I asked him how he could have missed the wire. “Well, it was dark and I got turned around.” I asked him again if saw the “ENTRY PROHIBITED” signs after it became light. He responded, “Ya, but you know, I was . . . here . . . then . . . you know . . . I went there . . . ” He just continued to look down at the ground. At that point I had Mr. Snorker show me the second deer. He took us through the grass field and into the cornfield adjacent to the woods to a large doe he had hidden on the woodsline by some corn stalks. As we were walking to the deer he made reference to the fact that members of his group had told him we were looking for him throughout the day and that he knew he was in trouble for shooting the two deer. “Why did you continue to hunt in the area, especially after daylight when you knew it was illegal?” He just gave me a blank stare. I then asked if he had seen anyone else inside the area when he was hunting. “No,” he replied. I said, “That should have been a cue that you were not supposed to be inside the area.” Again he had no answer. After asking him if he had seen any deer, he came unglued. “Oh, ya, I saw lots of deer,” then added, “and no hunters,” in a decreasing crescendo as he realized what he’d said. As we were leaving I noticed Mr. Snorker’s wet clothing and offered him the use of my other dry coat. He looked up at me and said, “No, I really appreciate the offer, but my wife is going to be really mad at me for what I did today, because I preach to my boys to obey the law. And look what I did. I know better.” He wanted to pay me right then and there for his fines, but I told him that he would have to pay his fines and costs to the District Magistrate. He looked at me and said, “When my wife finds this out, I’m never going to hear the end of it.” He then asked if he would lose his hunting privileges, and I told him that he probably would. I told him all I could offer him was a dry coat. He thanked us and walked off to meet the rest of his group. After confiscating his second deer, we issued Mr. Snorker two citations, and he ended up paying $700 in fines and costs and lost his hunting privileges for two years. Mr. Snorker, I believe, thought he could get away with hunting in the area and just lost control when he saw all the deer. Fortunately, two sportsmen observed his acts and promptly reported him to us. Many thanks to those two who reported this selfish act that otherwise would have gone unreported. COVER PHOTO BY HAL KORBER SOME WILDLIFE ENTHUSIASTS feel the red fox is much more glamorous than the gray, but a case can be made that the gray fox is no slouch in the looks department either. Its coat is grizzled-gray and black, the stockings are brown or gray, and the tail has a black stripe running down its length and ends in a black tip. The gray also has a white throat patch and patches of orange on the head, lower neck and chest. The gray fox can do one feat the red cannot — climb trees. The gray fox inhabits unbroken forest, brushland and abandoned farmland. SEPTEMBER 2008 21

Pennsylvania Game News - September 2008

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