The Portland daily press., 1898-02-11

| NAo " III. AoHUdru we nope To De ibpio
to report her much better at next writ
ing.
sREEP-KlLLlNG DOGS.
Census Figures that Show the Enormous
Damage Done by Them to the Flocks.
(From the New York Sum-
The dogs in the United States kill
nearly 3 per cent of the sheep in the
country every veal. They killed more
than 100000 sheep in the year ending
June 1, 1890, when the. last statistics in
regard to the 1ocks were gathered The
damage done by them is greater than that
from any other cause, except unexpected
storms, in which whole flocks of sheep
are killed, and disease. In six states
more damage was done to the focks of
sheep by dogs than by anything else. In
| Florida 1888 sheep we're killed by dogs,
and only 1850 by the weather and disease.
The number killed ty dogs was about Q
per cent of the total number Of sheep Gin
| the state. The Florida sheep are not ex-
posed to such changes in temperature as
those on the farms in Nevada, where 1885,
$50 died of cold and disease. Only 1872
sheep were killed by dogs in Nevada in
the census year. The enormous number
of deaths from changes in the weather YVES
due to unprecedented storms, which
caught the breeders unrrepared and al
most halved their fiocks
In South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Louisiana and Arkansas dogs do more
damage to the sheep than anything else,
and more than weather conditions and
disease combined. In Massachusetts,
Rhode Island and Conneoticut the num-
her of deaths in the flock due to dogs is
almost the same as that due to disease and
the weather. This Is true in Mississippi,
too. In this state, Maine, New Jersey
Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Arizona and
the Dakotas one-fifth as much damage is
charged to dogs as to the other chief
causes of loss.
! The dogs made the best showing in Yer
mont, where they killed 300 sheep. against
| %, 900 which died from disease and ex-
posture in an average winter. The Ohio
and Michigan dogs have good records,
too, for they killed only one-sixth- as
ludIy bueep DIS 6tOTluS anu UlSCttsc. NOrCu
Carolina and Tennessee dogs are red with
the blood of sheep. They killed four
| fifths rs many as the other causes of
death combined. In Kentucky, Iexas,
West Virginia, Indiana, Minnesota ana
iowa the dogs did one-half as much dam
| age as other causes combined; in Vir-
einin. Missouri and Oklahoma, two
| thirds as much; in Illinois and Miscon-
sin, one.third as much, and in Delaware,
Maryland, Kansas, California and New
Hampshire, one-q quarter as much.
| If the winter OF lSS9-90 had not beer
bad one for sheep in Nevada, Oregon,
Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah,
Washington and Wyoming, the dogs
would make worse showing in the cen
sus tables than they do. In these states,
whole fiocks on certain ranges, were ex-
| terminated, and thus the percentage of
deaths due to exposure and disease was
raised to 9. 95 for tho whole country. The
| dogs killed nearly per cant Of the total
sheep population.
The sheep raisers don't like dogs as o
general thing. Many states use the
money received from dog taxes to pay for
tns damage they do. In these states
some of the farmers are not unfriendly 10
f! the dogs. If sheep dies or Is killed by
o wild cat or falls from ledge of rocks,
tie thrifty farmer returns it to the proper
officer as sheep killed by doga. Then he
| GSUS pulU lOT IT. GOIuSCIul6S u view EUE-
| land farmer, when he loses q sheep, will
COLLECT tho value of il from the county
and from the owner of the dog that killed
| it. Sheep killing dogs become we'll known
in the community where their masters
| live. Sometimes the dogs are such good
hunters that their masters refuse to allow
them to be killed, and try to keep them
| from doing any damage Such dog
| owner is an easy mark for the unscrupu-
lous sheep breeders. Every timo q sheep
| is killed, dies or disappears, the owner
will go to the dogs master and demand
pay for the animal, threatening to have
the dog killed If it's owner does not pay
up. The dog hay be Innocent, but be-
cause it bears bad reputation it's owner
| submits. If there are more owners OF
| sheep killers than one. the farmer may
collect from each, and make good thing
of his sheep. He may collect from the
| county, too.
| Most dogs that kill sheep are bad dogs
ell the way through, and sportsmen and
| farmers unite in trying to get rid of
them. A sheep-killing dog is usually a
hunting. Many of the dogs that kill
sheep are owperless. The farmers shoot
| them when they can, and sportsmen,
anxious that their dogs shall not be ac-
counted bad because of the misdee DIS OF
Iownerless ours, help them. Some farm
| ers set traps for sheep killers. The traps
are like wolf traps, and ars set where a
sheep is killed. the body Of the sheep be-
! ing used for bait Sheep killing dogs
| usually visit the scenes of their depreda-
lions as murderer is said to haunt the
! spot where he commits a crime. The
| farms rs and breeders count on this. and
| set their traps accordingly. Sometimes
they put arsenic in the carcass. to make
sure that the guilty deg shall not escape.
| When a real sheep killing dog gets into
a flock of sheep he kills as many as he
can. He does not kill for food, but for
fun. apparently, and he finds his prey
easy, for the sheep can't fight back, and
don't know enough to run. They can't
run fast enough to escape, anyway, and
| their only hone Of salvation lies in scatter