The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1901-04-19
How Owosso Bows Can Help.

| TOW OWoSSo boys Gan 1eip.
There Is one law of the state which the
boys of the city can help enforce. Perhaps
they do not all even know that there is such
| law but there Is, and the city and every
body's home In the city, and even In the
country too, will be happier If the law Is
! Obeyed. Now this is talk to the boys to
whose homes THE TINES goes and before
The TIMES tells them what this law Is 1t is
squirrels.
Nearly every boy has seen the big brown
fox squirrels which are hunted in the fall
but how many of them ever saw any of
Last fall there was one which stayed around
for several days along Oliver street, but
that was before the game laws would let
anyone shoot 1t. But there is one city
in this state where those same big fox
squirrels with their big bushy tails are just
as safe as kittens all of the year, and that
Is in Ann ArbOr. They are just as safe as
kittens and lots of them are almost as tame
| as kittens too. or course they are squirrels
still and do not want to live in the houses
but live In nests and holes in the trees.
Now the city of Ann Arbor has laws which
say that the squirrels must not be killed at
all, not even chased or hurt, but what good
do the boys of OwossO suppose these laws
would be If the boys of Ann Arbor did not
look out to see that nobody bothered those
squirrels? The boys have got even the dogs
so we'll trained that they do not very often
chase one of the squirrels.
But Ann Arbor has many great big oak
trees with lots of big nice holes in them for
squirrel nests and Owosso hasn't very many
trees that squirrels would like to live In, so
that probably we can never have such
pretty squirrels around US here as they have
in Ann Arbor, but have the boys of Owosso
ever thought OF something else that we do
have here In Owossop
Owosso has lots of pretty shade trees and
even IL they are not big oak trees with holes
in them good for squirrels the birds like
them and build nests In them. Just look
around before the leaves come out and see
how many nests you can count In the trees.
new ones this year too. But did you ever
stop to think how pretty the birds are and
how much pleasanter the whole city is
because they are here? So there is a chance
for the boys to help save some wild animals
for our city, only they will be the ones
which wear feathers instead of fur and they
will sing instead of chatter.
And it will be easy for the boys to help
look cut for the birds because it's against
the state laws to kill any of these birds or
to even try to kill them, or even to hurt
them or to try to hurt them. It's against
the law of the state of Michigan to even rob
| any of their nests So now every boy who
likes birds and squirrels can help save the
birds which come to Owosso, and il he can
not make other boys help him in protecting
| the birds he can at least tell them what the
law says aud that 1t says that any person
who breaks this law may be fined one hun
dred twenty-five dollars or sent to Jail for
as long a time as six months. Just think
of six months in Jail for shooting single
robin and yet the officers could send per-
son to Jail for killing any of these birds or
robbing their nests. Do the boys want to
help protect the blrdsp THE TIMES be-
lieves that they will be glad to help IL they
only think about 1t, and that even the
smallest boys, and the girls too, can stop
big men and grown up boys by telling them
that ii Is against the law to hurt the birds
or to rob their nests. People who break
laws are usually afraid even of the smallest
boys who know that they are breaking laws.
| So let's have the birds safe anyway this
summer even If we cannot have the
squirrels. Perhaps few squirrels will
come after while when thev find that
birds and squirrels are welcome here and
/ will not be hurt,