The Portland daily press., 1899-05-16
TAME BEASTS RUN WILD.
Demonstrated Animals That Have Be-
come Pests.


come Pests.
Correspondence Of the Boston Tran
script)
Washington, May 12.-The notion that
ordinary domestic animals snch as horses,
cats, dogs, etc., may multiply so numer-
ously as TO become serious pasts-nay,
that in certain parts of the world they
have already done so-is sufficiently strik-
lug to lend exceptional interest to a
bulletin on the subject which will be in
cludad in the forthcoming year book OF
the Department of Agriculture.
1t appears that in some of the Western
States wild horses have become a positive
nuisance. and In 1897 Nevada passed a
reports from Washington, likewise, arc to
the effect that "cayuses" in that region
are considered of so little value that they
are killed and used as bait for poisoning
wolves and coy tes. In this connection,
1t Is worth mentioning that In some por-
tions OF Australia wild horses have multi
piled to such an. extent as to consume the
and hunters have been employed to sh Dot
tn EN-.
House cats quite commonly run wild In
the neigh borhoodlof cities and towns. and
under such circnm stances become pests,
propaRat Ing numerously and accomplish
ing good deal Of destruction. Depend.
Ing upon forage for o living, they do not
restrict themselves to rats aud mice. but
rob the farmers henroosts and attack the
wild birds. OF the latter, indeed, they
kill so many that the decrease OF native
feathered species in some districts seems
to be largely attributed to them.
Where cats have run Wild on isolated
islands their work Gamble more accurately
apprs ciated. For example, on Sable
Island, Of the coast Of Nova Scotia, they
were introduced about 1880, and rapidly
exterminated the rabbits, which had been
in possession for at least half lcentury.
In one of the harbors of Kerguelen Land.
a barren and desolate bit OF Antarctic
terra firma to the southeast OF the Cape
of Good Hope, cats, escaped from ships,
have made themselves at home on little
islet known as Cat Island, which has
been long used as wintering place for
sealers. Here they live In holes in the
ground, preyinR upon seabirds and their
young, and are said to have developed
most Impossible to tame them even when
captured young. On Aldabra, two hun
dred miles northwest of Madagascar, cats
have completely extermip ated an interest
ing species of rail peculiar to that island,
which. being unable to fly. had no chance
Of escape. =
Pigs have run wild in some of the
Southern States and also on certain Is
lands. where, as on the Galapagos they
were originally introduced TO furnish food
for crews of vessels in need Of fresh meat
They were imported into New Zealand by
Captain Cook about ITO, and soon be-
coming wild, increasing to a remarkable
degree. A century later wild pigs were
so abundant In the flax thickets Of the
province of Taranaik, on the North Is
land. that q hunter could shoot fifty in
single day. In one case 900 Wild pigs
are said to have been killed by three
hunters in less than two years.
liable to cause widespread injury particu.
larly in forested regions. An instructive
example of the damage done by goats is
afforded by St. Helena, which Is a noun
famous island scarcely fifty square miles
in extent, Its highest SUBMITS reaching
an elevation Of 2700 feet. At the time Of
it's discovery, about the beginning of the
sixteenth century, it is said to have been
covered by dense forest; today 1t Ia de.
scribed as rocky desert. This change
has been largely brought about by goats
first introduced by the Portuguese in 1918,
and which multiplied SO fast that In sew
enty five years they existed by thousands.
Browsing on the young trees and shrubs,
they rapidly brought about destruction of
the vegetation which protected the steep
slopes. With the disappearance OF the
underground began the washing OF the
soil by tropical rains and the destruction
of THE forest. In 1909 the governor report
ed that the timber was rapidly disappear
ing, aud that the goats should be de-
stroyed ifithe forests we're to be preserved.
This advice was not needed, and only q
century later, In 1910. another governor
reported the total destruction Of the for
ests by the goats, ana In consequence an
expense of 900 In one year for the i'm
portation:of fuel for government use
The Santa Barbara Islands. of the
coast of Southern California and the is
land Of Guadaloupe. off the Lower Cali
fornia coast are utilized as ranges for
goats. All these islands are dry and
mora or less covered with brush, but
aborescent vegetation is comparatively
scarce. The goats practically run wild,
and already exist in considerable num-
bers. On Santa Catalina, one of the
Santa Barbara group, wild-goat hunting
Is one of the diversions afforded tourists,
and Is considered one of the principal at
fractions Of this popular summer resort
The goats have not yet been on the islands
long enough to cause any serious effects
bring about the ruin which has been
wrought on St Helena. But 1t Is scarce
ly possible for the islands to be grassd by
goats for an indefinite length of time
without suffering serious damage.
The common rabbits Of Europe were
originally introduced into Australia for
purposes of sport. rhey spread over the
country like scourge. So rapidly did
they multiply that in 1879 legislative ac-
ton for their destruction was begun In
South Australia, and the example was
soon followed In New South Wales, New
Zealand, Queensland and Tasmania. At
the present time their range in Australia
is probably equal in area to that Of our
three largest States-Texas, California
and Montana. Millions of dollars have
been spent for bounties, for poisons and
in various other methods of destruction;
thousands of miles of rabbit-proof fences
have been brilt. and hundreds of schemes
for destroying the animals have been sug
gested, but nothing has yet been found