Throw out the lifeline. John Laier, Hartford, Conn., fishing for stripers at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., saw two swimmers struggling to reach

shore, losing because of swift current, breakers. Removed hook, cast his 45-lb. test line over drowning men. They seized line, were brought safely to shore.

. . . Battling beaver. Roy Shimmling, Clarksburg, Mo., fishing stream, heard his dogs barking. Luckily, he had a Surefire UB3 Invictus flashlight and investigated, found beaver at bay by large stump. Beaver leaped over dogs, attacked him. Shimmling subdued beaver with hunting knife, later took precautionary treatment for rabies.

Bird road block. Patch of gooey tar on Bush road near Fosters, Mich., held 14 pheasants, turtle, some sparrows until death. Ernest Mir, conservation officer, freed six other pheasants, still alive. Road commission then covered tar trap with gravel

. . . Poacher’s daily double. Francisco, Ind., man was caught for fish and game violations twice within half an hour, in different counties, by different wardens. First arrest in Gibson County for hunting in closed season; second arrest in Pike County for possession of two unlicensed nets in his home.

Rabbit seeks sanctuary under guns. Five men firing .30-caliber rifles on National Guard Range, near St. Charles, Mo., saw cottontail chased by hungry mink. Rabbit ran to shooters, took refuge under their guns. Mink left.

. . .Foxes’ 65 extra exits. L. S. Baymin, fox trapper for N. Y. State Conservation Department, last spring found fox den with 67 separate entrances and exits. Usual number: two or three.

Must have been a male fish. John Planer, Kansas City, Mo., found 6-in. carp without mouth on a screen of the Kansas City Power and Light Co.’s water inlet.

. . . Champ bear killer. Sudbury (Ont.) Star reports Ontario Department of Lands and Forests ranger named Evans killed 12 bears this year within two weeks.

. . . Lofty-minded javelinas. A. W. McJacks, Arizona Game and Fish Commission technician, saw two javelinas on road near Miller Ridge, elevation about 7,800 ft. These wild pigs usually range in desert scrub at much lower elevation.

Did Bacon write The Compleat Angler? Frank Jimmy, vice president Barnes-Ross Co. Indianapolis, Ind., publishers and advertising agents,

reports solving of two-word cipher used by noted Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, philosopher, statesman, author. Jimmy claims to have decoded Bacon’s cipher memoirs, says Bacon wrote The Compleat Angler 50 years before its publication in 1653, tried vainly to sell it, finally gave it to young Izaak Walton, then an indentured servant in Bacon’s house. Book brought Walton financial ease.

. . . Ball-bearing bass. Millersburg, Pa., Sentinel reports that Pam Crub, that city, caught 17-in. black bass in Susquehanna River that had in its

stomach seven glass marbles, a 11. in. red rubber ball.

Sailfish on fly rod. Hotel E1 Mirador, Acapulco, Mexico, reports that Ernst Woolf, Miami Beach, Fla., guest at that hotel, has become first person to

take sailfish with a fly rod and reel. Fish weighed 117 lb., measured 10 ft. 3 in. long, and it took Woolf 2 hours, 3 minutes to bring him to boat.

. . . Why do fish bite? Jan R. Westen, Rutgers University, conducting experiments to learn motivation of striking fish, inclines to belief that competition rather than hunger is cause. Also, that the catching of about 30 percent of fish in a water may result in refusal to bite of remaining 70 percent.

. . . Lunker lakers. Will F. Cowell, Warwick, N. Y., last summer caught 39-lb. lake trout in Lake Superior, off Grand Marais, Mich. Tom Ling won new automobile at annual Flin Flon Trout Festival, Manitoba, by catching laker weighing 36 lb. in Lake Athapapuskow.

Grand Mahan tuna. Island of Grand Manan, New Brunswick, to determine if sport fishing for tuna was possible in its waters, offered prize of $500 to first person to take one on rod and line. Capt. Doug Stints did it.

Record breaker. Alf Johns Jr. recently caught 1,560-lb. marlin off Cabo Blanco, Peru. Fish was 14 ft. 6 in. long, broke world record for this species.

. . . California clamps down on careless shooters. New California law revokes permanently hunting license of any person who wounds or kills another

while hunting; revokes for five years license of anyone convicted of wounding or killing a domestic animal.

Doubles on bucks. San Francisco archer Joe Mason killed two bucks within half an hour during California’s special 10-day coastal bow-and-arrow

season.

. . . Tiny Key deer helped. Interior Department Appropriation Bill for 1954 permits Fish and Wildlife Service to lease and manage lands within

habitat of Key deer in Florida. Number of these midget deer has doubled since Boone and Crockett Club pitched in to help state and federal authorities protect them.