The morning news., 1897-07-18
MANS ANIMAL FOES.
About Twenty Varieties Supposed to
BE Hostile TO Human beings.
From the Washington Post.

be hostile TO Human beings.
From the Washington Post
In the forthcoming year book, to be
published three months hence, the depart
ment of agriculture will offer a novel con-
tribution to natural history. The topic
will be: Animals Supposed to Be Foes
Of Mankind" and it will tell about the
mammals and birds native to this country
which are supposed to be hostile to human
| beings and their industries
1t cannot be said that in the United
States bounties have brought about the
| determination of single species of ami
NAL in any state, The rarity of wolves
east of the Mississippi is rather due to the
settlement of the country than to the
number killed for rewards. On the great
plains, where civilization has not en-
| croached upon natures domain to any
| great extent, the wolves have not decreas-
ed perceptibly, Notwithstanding high pre-
miums paid for scalps. Almost undoubt-
| edly coyotes, which are a small breed of
wolves have increased in California dur
ing the last three years since the bounty
| on them was withdrawn so that there
| are NV as many of them In that state as
| ever. California, Montana and Texas Of
| fered IS apiece for coyote scalps for some
| time, the outlay aggregatng hundreds of
| thousands of dollars; but the results were
| unimportant. Iowa and Minnesota are
the only western states which now pay
more than So per WOLF scalp. and in Iowa
| the rate for young wolves is 81.
Meanwhile I'm some parts of the coun-
| try wolves and coyotes are very destruc-
| tive. In New Mexico they kill from $780,
| 600 to $500, 900 worth of sheep annually, and
in Nebraska the damage done to sheep is
reckoned at 100000 year. One difficulty
| in the wolf problem lies in the fact that
it is impossible to secure the co-opera-
tion of all the states. This lack of agree
ment in the subject of bounties in general
| opens a wide door to fraud. Scalps taken
in localities where premiums are high,
and thus it often happens that a county
is compelled to pay for animals that did
| not belong to It. At the present time the
bounty on wolves and coyotes varies from
| Sl.5O TO IS, the latter price being paid in
the Black Hill regions of South Dakota
In North Dakota it is 50; IT Is SO in Mon
| tana and Wyoming and in Iowa 1t is s.,
except for young animals. Thus rewards
may be claimed prOftably in Iowa for
| coyotes killed in North Dakota
The wolf bounty in Nevada was fifty
cents when California was Offering Sc for
| scalps. Consequently, thousands of
scalps were shipped from Nevada to Cal
fornia, and large numbers of them were
California found herself getting poorer at
a distressing rate and the bounty law
was repealed. Owing to Ignorance of nat
ural history on the part of local authorl-
ties, heads Of domestic fowls partridges,
pheasants, cuckoos, butcher birds ETC.
were accepted and paid for as those of
hawks and owls under the scalp act'
In Pennsylvania. The skins of dogs and
other domestic animals are frequently
turned In for those Of wolves and coyotes.
In the case of small animals the heads
are sometimes accepted I'm one county and
and the tails i'm another county, so that
the premiums are collected twice. One
county In North Dakota, waging war on
ground squirrels, first required the head,
then the tail, and year or two later all
four feet.
One interesting effect OF the bounty sys-
tenn Is to encourage the breeding OF the
animals outlawed. II Is said that IN In
dia many natives are regularly engaged in
the business of propagating snakes for
the premiums offered by the government
for venomous serpents. There Is no doubt
that the same thing has been done In this
country with various animals for which
bounties we're granted. For example, the
eggs Of hawks and owls have been taken
from the nests and hatched under hens.
In Iowa few years ago II was said 10
be more profitable to rear coyotes for the
bounty than to raise sheep and Kentucky
and New Mexico have recognized tho pos
sibility OF breeding wolves by requiring
afidavits showing that the animals had
not been raised for the sake Of rewards.
British Columbia, by the way. pays boun-
ties for wolves, coyotes and panthers. but
requires that the skulls shan be presented
TO the curator Of the provincial museum
for scientific Identification.
The pocket gopher is one Of the worst
enemies man has 20 encounter IN the ami
NAL kingdom. IL does all rs work under
ground, the lines OF It's tunnels being
marked by dead and dying plants It's
burrow runs a foot or less below the sur
face, and Is dug for the purpose OF get
ting at the roots on which II feeds One
may travel for weeks In a region infested
by gophers and yet not see one Of them;
they labor and destroy unObseryed. The
buffalo in their past abundance were not
one-tcnth so numerous. Gophers DO not
disappear before man. but remain IN the
cultivated fields, making havoc among
the crops and killing the orchards. The
little beast is very brave, not hesltating
20 attack "a man on slight provocation.
When young II looks striklngly like a
baby, being hairless and pink with a
round head and fat hands. n runs back
ward as rapidly az forward through its
tunnels and its equipment OF teeth IL 70
admirable that " 81 able 20 make 800
cuts a minute.
---e-s-
~ wonder why Dr. Reaper Is advising