Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-03-06
Communicated
Our Pioneer Pets.

There is neither wisdom nor poetry in
the bill now before the Legislature author
izing the destruction of the colony at Seal
Rocks, and it is to be hoped that the ma
ioritv of the wise men at Sacramento will
vote that all such measures be laid on the
table.
1t is commonly thought that the seal is
a raVenous animal. committing Gepreda-
tons in the ocean similar TO those perpe-
trated on terra frma by the panther. the
wolf and coyote, for the mere love of
| slaughter. On the contrary, the seal does
| not appear TO be terror TO smaller fish
which frequent the same localities. AL
though solely for the purpose of supplying
| its young with food, we are Indebted 10 the
seal for driving shoals OF fish which might
not otherwise approach our shores, and in
so doing the seal is not addicted to destruc-
| ton, but rather acts the part of the shep-
| herds dog in directing the shoals OF Young
! fish toward the "rookery'' at Seal Rocks
where the young seals are The infant
seal is a delicate thing. If allowed to
| take TO the water before it is three
to four weeks old it would drown,
and it must attain many weeks growth
before it is able to find its own food.
For this reason the presence of shoals of
! Ao1l ccdio ole OOUSe-
quently if the latter are DESTROYED We may
| expect that the smaller fish will also disap-
pear. There is mysterious connection
| betwixt animals and their food only known
| to the Creator, and it is therefore unwise to
| pass human laws which mapifestly con-
| tiict with the higher laws of nature.
| We have already referred TO the opera
| ton of human versus natural law in the
case of the panther, wolf and coyote.
Some years ago when the cultivation #
| the cereals in California was second in i'm
portance TO the growth OF wool, bounty
was allowed on every wild animal killed.
Now that the grain-growing interest has
become paramount, the tarGer would
gladly welcome the return OF ali wilj AMI
! mails in the hope of getting riA of the
his wheat-ields. Another instance may
suffice to show tie iuipo:eucy of interfer-
ing with natural laws. Our neighbors, the
British Coluinbians, some years ago passed
law for the preservation of small birds, y
as one of the Solons of that country
had discovered that small birds lived on
caterpiilars and bugs A few wears later.
when orchards became known in that
country, the "Small Bird Act was re-
pealed, as it was found that small birds
lived on cherries.
we nave HkeneC the seal TO the shep-
herds dog in its capacity of herdine shoals
of fish, but the seals ON Seal Rocks perform
even higher functions than those of the
herder. They are as good as a lighthouse
in foggy weather. Their well known bark
has saved the lives of many fog bound
mariners who approached our harbor bar.
1t is always unadvisable to burden our
statute book with laws which cannot be
enforced. The seal bill belongs to this cate
CORY, because, while the bill provides q
bounty OF 50 for every seal killed within
three miles OF the shore, there are no game
keepers provided to see that the limits of
the bill are respected. Consequently if this
measure passes we shall siRDly be voting
money to Oregonian and British Column
ban fishermen, who will be sure to forward
the ''scslps' to the best market. Even
surprising the existence of the utmost good
faith amongst the slaughters of these am
phibious animals, no fisherman is O nudge
of three miles distance more or less on the
ocean. Assuming the number of seals
on the coast at $4,000, the bounty of SO a
head will prove 10 be feeble exterminator
while the money so expended would go
far to furnish a creditable fish market tor
the metropolis Of the Pacific.