The record-union., 1897-05-08
WHY THERE'S NO SNIPE Law.
Difference Between a Theory and a
Condition.
Information for a San Francisco
Writer on Sportsmen's
Journal.

'Plover are protected in Washington
but snipe are not. 1t is move in the
right direction to protect plover but why
do all the coast States neglect that es-
sentially game bird, the English snipe."
The above query is propounded by the
editor of the sportsmens department
of the Breeder and Sportsman. The
answer is, because it is the right thing
to do, so far as California is concerned.
Legislatures do not always do what
is right, to be sure, but fortunately in
some cases the members act on the ad-
vice and counsel of men who are we'll
enough informed to give them good and
safe counsel.
Since there can be only general legis-
lation in this State, game cannot be pro-
tected in one county and unprotected in
another. And as there is no snipe shoot
ing north of Suisun Bay until February
or March, it would not be just to the
sportsmen of the northern half of the
State to make a closed season for snipe
to begin March 1st.
Men who shoot only on the marshes
about the bay, or in the southern half of
the State, naturally do not understand
why there should not be a snipe regula-
ton to go into effect on the 1st of March.
They get all the shooting they desire
from November to March. hence are
perfectly willing that there should be
no snipe shooting after that until the
following fall.
The snipe does not breed in our val
leys, as do many of the varieties Of wild
fowl, and by April 1st they are all gone
to the far north, where they require no
protection. By November 1st they are
back on the marshes about the bay, and
the sportsmen of San Francisco have
snipe shooting all through the winter.
Not so in the interior, 1t is only in
the latter part of February and March
that interior sportsmen can have any
snipe shooting at ALL Until then the low
places and swails do not become soft
enough for the birds to use their bills.
For a few weeks q few sniDe can be
found, and then they are off to their
breeding grounds, where there is nobody
to disturb them.
These facts We're laid before the
Sportsmen's Convention that met in San
Francisco some three years ago, by in
terror spOrtsmen who looked for fair
treatment, and the convention very
wisely and justly omitted English snipe
from the provisions of the game law.
Somebody, who was not familiar with
these facts, undertook to include snipe in
the law passed by the last Legislature,
but when the situation was explained to
the Committees on Fish and Game they
too eliminated the sniDe clause.
There must be protection for game
birds that breed in the valleys or foot
hills, such assducks and quail. But if
there were no ducks other than canvas
back there would be no need of a duck
clause in the game law, for these birds
come late and depart early. They can
not be killed here in the breeding season,
because they are not to be found.
The same rule applies to the English
snipe. Now does the writer in the
Breeder and Sportsman" understand
why snipe are not included in the game
law?
1t is true a few snipe breed in the little
meadows in some of the far northern
mountain counties, but they are rarely
molested there. If they were. it would
do no harm to protect them from May
1st to September list, but even that is
hardly necessary.