Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-03-18
BOUNTY BONANZA
FOR WOLF HUNTERS
BUT EXPENSIVE TO TAX PAYERS
WITH NO DECREASE IN NUM-
Der OF ANIMALS.
CHIEF CLERK NAGLER SUGGESTS
WOLF FENCES IN PLACE OF
BouNTIES.

During the thirty days beginning
February 6 and ending March the
secretary of state has received claims
for bounty on 232 VIC Ives and 239 wild
cats and lynxes, according to Chief
Clerk L. B. Nagler. The state bounty
on these amounts to S3,037, and since
the counties pay an equal sum it fol
lows that the taxpayers of the state
paid S6,074 during the last thirty days
| in an effort to rid the state of destruc-
! tive wild animals. 1t is a remarkable
fact, ard one of suspicious signifi-
canoe, that larger number of these
animals are being killed every year
without any perceptible decrease.
eve have good reasons for believing
that many claims are fraudulent" said
Mr.. Nagler, land have made efforts to
detect the cheat. Most county clerks
send the scalps to this department,
whenever they are in doubt, and we
have encouraged this practice. Satur-
day we received the carcass of a gray
fox from Clark county and the day be-
fore two scalps of red foxes from
Burnett. In both cases the clerks
stated they were certain the animals
wer not wolves but the hunters in
sisted they were. Not a week has
passed for a long time during which
one or more scalps have not been sent
here. Professor George Wagner of the
university, in the course of an address
on the dog-like Mammals of Wiscon-
sin at meeting of scientists in Mil
waukee a few weeks ago, said he had
| examined some twenty scalps of ami
mails on which bounty was paid but
that none of them was of a wolf
One, he said, was dog and the rest
were foxes. Mr.. Wagner is mistaken
in one respect. No bounty was paid
IN the animals no examined. The
county clerks have been instructed to
withhold the bounty until the identity
of the animal has been determined
Mr.. Nagler said that not all frauds
are Intentional Many people cannot
tell the difference between a wolf and
fox. OF course this is not true of
professional wolf-hunters. They know
the difference, and some of them are
above trickery but some lead
nomadic life and have no
other object in view than
an easy existence. They have been
known to buy coyote and fox skins of
dealers out of the state, cut off the
Iscalps and present them to an unwary
chairman who did not know that the
law requires him to make affidavit that
he has seen the carcass of the dead
animal.
Il believe" said Mr.. Nagler, there
are endless frauds connected with the
bounties on pups or cubs because it is
| difficult to distinguish the young of the
various dog-like animals, and few
town chairmen take the trouble to ex-
amined the deception can readily be
are careful, but the scalp of a BABY
wolf is no larger than a twenty-five
cent piece and the scalp of a full
| grown pocket gopher may easily be
mistaken for that of a very young
wolf. Of course if the carcass is ex-
amined the deception can readily be
ascertained, but too many chairmen
/ tdht LHG Nelu vi TIC hultACt H4lh0uS
looking at the dead animal To dis
| tinguish between young wolves and
young foxes is a more difficult prob
| lem but foxes can be identified posi-
| lively by the eyes and the upper
front teeth. Here again the trouble
lies with chairmen who fail to make
careful examination. Most of them
are supplied with a circular, fur
nished by this department. fully de-
scribing wolves and foxes and giving
practically all the information need
ed l believe there would be few
frauds comparatively if carcasses had
to be presented to county clerks"
The last legislature increased the
amount of bounty instead of reduc-
ing it or repeating the law altogether.
Iron county. by resolution of the
county board, pays $40 on a mature
wolf, and under the provisions of
chapter 102 laws Of 1907, the state is
obliged to pay a like sum, making
$40, yet only three wolves were taken
in Iron county since that law went
into effect, nearly four months ago.
This would seem to indicate either
that the amount of bounty is no in
ducement TO hunters in that locality
or that there are few wolves in Iron
county and consequently, that reward
for killing is unnecessary.
Mr.. Nagler said that in his opinion
wolf-proof fences are far more effec-
tive than bounties and a great deal
cheaper. The fences protect the
stock while the bounties do not. The
$4,000 paid in bounties the last two
years" Mr. Nagler adde's, has shown
no perceptible decrease in the num-
Der of wild animals although it must
have bene a bonanza to a few profess
sional hunters and a lot of nature
takers.
BY THE WAY.
! People in prison live longer than