Shiner gazette. [volume] (Shiner, Tex.) 1893-current, 1907-05-23
HAWKS AND OWLS.

survey, and the farmers pre-
judge against the hawk and
the owl is partially accountable
for the prevalence of field mice,
gophers and other small ami
mails Of the rodent family in de-
'structive numbers about his
fields and orchards.
Let a hawk sail into sight and
what is the result. Many farm
ers rush for the old trusty long
tom and the atmosphere in the
locality of the hawk becomes
so surcharged with lead that
the hawk has to make a run
for it, if he escapes that easily.
If the farmer is a good
marksman the shot results in
the determination of trusty
rat catcher, who was mistaken
for a purloiner of fowls by the
discriminating farmer.
One has to study the habits
of these birds to know them
and the more they are studied
the greater esteem they will be
held in, instead of being made
to flee in terror of their lives
they can be made to hunt the
farm clean of the tree girdling
mice and other expensive ro-
dents.
The Swenson hawk is espe-
cially valuable, and the horned
owl, while in the North steals
chickens and rabbits, will re-
trieve it's reputation in the
South by slaughtering the jack
rabbits, of which it has been
proven to be a fond hunter.
The undesirable hawks are
the Blue Racer and the sharp
Skinned hawk, and nothing
good can be said of either, but
all of the rest of the hawks and
owls are to be classed as the
servants of man, and not to be
sacrificed with impunity.
Years of observation of this
class of birds has proven that
the number of destructive ro-
dents and rabbits destroyed an
nually is beyond computation.
Nature has endowed the owl
with a stomach of peculiar
structure and the manner Of di-
gestion of the owl enables one
to tell the exact number of ro-
dents destroyed by any speci-
men by merely searching under
the roost of the bird for "pel-
let's"
The owl swallows the bones.
hair and hide as well as the
flesh of the little animals it de-
stroys and the action of the di-
gestive organs separate the nu-
triment from the hair and bony
substances, leaving them in
the stomach, where they are
skillfully weaved into a little
pellet which the action of the
stomach then surrounds with
the hair until the sharp edges
are completely covered.
In this jar, said DR.. Fisher,
displaying a large jar filled
with teeth, skulls and jawbones
of field mice, are 375 complete
sets of jaws, representing the
kill of one owl for a period of a
short six months, and with this
example in view it seems a lit
tie short of criminal to destroy
so valuable a bird wantonly, as
is frequently done.
Meadow mice have been
known to destroy large nurser-
les of young fruit trees and in
one instance the damage done
amounted to 100000 in one
section during one season. Some
species burrow below the
ground and eat the roots of
trees while others eat the bark
from around the tree, thereby
girding it, and causing it to die.
Birds, mammals and reptiles
prey upon these destructive an
imals and as a result where the
destruction is on an average
With the increase by breeding,
there have never yet been any
hordes Of these pests accumula-
ted in the United States, as fire.
quently in Northern Europe,
bringing disaster to the locality