Odd Wisconsin Archives: Animals
That was how commissioner of fisheries Brayton O. Webster put it, at the height of Wisconsin's Progressive Era. But presumably he didn't consult the fish. The 1887 institution that gave its name to Madison's Fish Hatchery Road, shown here in a somewhat romanticized lithograph, was among the first fish hatcheries in the nation. Read about a visit to it in... :: Posted on April 25, 2013
While you were watching the Packers Sunday, you probably had a bowl of chips, popcorn, or pretzels within easy reach. But in 19th-century Milwaukee taverns, the bowl on the bar was more likely to be full of dead crayfish lifted from a nearby swamp. To hide their humble origins and make them sound more appetizing, these were usually called "krebs"... :: Posted on September 8, 2012
"If any man wants to know what frogs can accomplish in the matter of making a noise, let him take a summer trip to Green Bay," wrote Alfred Cope (1806-1875) when visiting that city in 1849. To be completely honest, we must admit to a personal fascination with frogs that goes back decades and might lead us to see merits... :: Posted on June 21, 2012
When the Civil War erupted, Wisconsin's immigrants quickly joined up to fight for their adopted homeland. Company F of the Sixth Infantry, for example, was composed entirely of Germans from Milwaukee. One of its officers, Capt. Werner von Bachelle (shown here), had been trained as a soldier in the French army before coming to America. Col. Rufus Dawes recalled... :: Posted on May 24, 2012
For Mother's Day, here's a peculiar story about a humble woodchuck that won the heart of a rugged lumberjack named John Nelligan. Nelligan was a tough character who braved death many times, punched out more than his share of bullies and brawlers, and demanded unquestioning obedience from his crew. He once drove a bear from his camp by sneaking up... :: Posted on May 10, 2012
As spring unfolds and campers, hikers, and cyclists fan out across our north woods, encounters between Wisconsin's bears and humans will start making headlines again. Long ago our ancestors lived in much closer contact with bears, and run-ins between people and bruins were a simple fact of life. Close Encounters In 1855, a bear tried to carry a pig off... :: Posted on April 26, 2012
Media around the globe reported this week on a cat named Daniel who saved a Milwaukee area animal shelter. Daniel was born with 26 toes, and when the shelter needed funds to keep its door open this fall, its staff requested donations of $26. As reported in this video, more than $100,000 was donated in about six weeks. So Daniel... :: Posted on December 15, 2011
In frontier Wisconsin, it was not too uncommon for settlers to own a tame bear. If a female killed during a hunt had a cub, once in a while a hunter would decide to raise it. Keeping a tame bear was not without its challenges, of course, and could lead to peculiar situations like the following. The neighbor of a... :: Posted on August 11, 2011
Last weekend's deluge of dead birds in Beebe, Arkansas, called to mind the invasion of Oconto by Leopard frogs. In two days during the summer of 1952, the New Yorker reported, an estimated 175,000,000 frogs -- yes, million -- emerged from local marshes and "practically enveloped the town. The explosions of amphibians beneath the wheels of automobiles at night sounded... :: Posted on January 3, 2011
In May of 1872 a body was discovered in a Peshtigo lumber camp. The man had been knocked unconscious by a blow to the head and then strangled. This murder naturally produced much gossip in a nearby tavern, the Dew Drop Inn, but after several days talk moved to other things and the murder was left unsolved. About a... :: Posted on November 18, 2010
You've probably heard of Old Abe, the eagle that accompanied Wisconsin troops during the Civil War. But how about Joe the Monkey, a regimental mascot during World War Two? David Mackin of Milwaukee won the pet monkey from French sailors during a crap game in North Africa. Joe tagged along as Mackin's unit moved across Africa and then north through... :: Posted on October 21, 2010
Back in 1879, a saloon-keeper in Fond du Lac exploited a customer's weakness in order to save him from bad habits. According to the press, a prominent citizen of that city had been coming into the bar a bit too often for his own good. The owner of the tavern appreciated the patronage but thought that his friend ought... :: Posted on October 14, 2010
Bugs are the third element (after beer and brats) in any traditional Wisconsin cookout. In June of 1820 James Doty found "The musquitoes are very thick [on Lake Superior] but the sand fly, a small insect, is more numerous and much more annoying. It is impossible to sleep where they are. Their bite is like the prick of a needle."... :: Posted on July 28, 2010
Madison architect Herb DeLevie grew up in Stadtskanaal, Holland, where his father ran a successful business. Their large household was home to a number of pets, including an enormous black cat that adopted them. "Before the war," DeLevie recalled, "before my father went into hiding, we had a great big black cat that appeared one day... This cat was a... :: Posted on January 31, 2010
We may never know exactly what Americans understood by the refrain "and a partridge in a pear tree" since the word partridge was used for an amazingly wide variety of birds in America. Here in Wisconsin it was haphazardly applied to any small game bird, but especially to the spruce grouse and the ruffed grouse. Two unusual gifts of partridges... :: Posted on December 21, 2009
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