Semi-weekly herald., 1908-12-17
A PLAGUE OF HORSES.
BY Rene Bache

surd1ty scarcely creulDle. iet de ,he
present time very serious affliction 1
of the kind is disturbing the comfort c
and welfare Of people out in Nevada, b
and to some extent in neighboring s
states, the mischief being so alarming
that appeals are being made to the
for help.
The situation is particularly bad IN
the so-called Toyabe forest, which em
braces an area of about one hundred {
miles square in Nye and Lander coun'
ties. Nevada, This is a reservation
set aside sometime ago as a national
forest. and of course is under the ad-
mjnistrative control of the forest serv-
ice. Within It's limits, as would ap-
near. there are fifteen thousand OF
twenty thousand wild horses-beasts
of no value whatever, which not only
deyour the herbage, but entice away
many domestic horses that are good
and useful
The country is most admirably
adapted for horse raising, and the peo-
pie out there are anxious to develop
the business; but 1t is practically out
of the question to engage prohtapiy
in this sort OF enterprise while the
region is infested by numerous row
ing bands of equine outlaws. every
sort of expedient has been tried 10
destroy them, and at the present time
ranch owners are paying the Indians
a dollar for every wild bcrse they can
kill. Nevertheless, the animals are
rather increasing In numbers than 9TH
erwise.
The difficulty of the problem will be
realized to some extent when II Is
understood that the natural increase
of the number of horses mentioned
would be from five thousand to SIX
thousand year. They are absolutely
wild. and have to be hunted much III
J the same way as antelopes, being not
less difficult to approach. To try to
run them down. even with the fastest
horses, has been found to be impracti
cable, the most experienced rough rid
ers and marksmen having been VAIN
ly employed in this kind OF work.
The most successful method adopted
S thus far has been to drive bands OF
: the animals into the canons'
C and then to set traps for them
with portable corrals. Such a
s trap consists of an inclosure solidly
K built of tall posts, from which wings
t. of wire net, about eight feet high
v are extended for miles. 1t is simple
matter under such circumstances tc
drive the wild horses into the corral
IT and there to shoot them to death
e They are so terrified by capture thai
;" often they kill themselves by dashint
d against the walls of the prison pen
Is There would be no use in trying tt
C. capture the animals, instead OF killing
q them, because they are utterly worth
m less. They are scrubby lists beasts
'e weighing from five hundred to eigh
re hundreds pounds--a sort OF mongre
ar breed, such as inevitably results fron
n, the propagation of horses under mai
ural conditions without control b
man. 1t is only when the horse
ut properly bred, with the aid of art
st fetal selection, that 1t develops int
~ the noble creature we SO much az
lie mire, whether it be trotter. tn
lit Percheron type for draft, or what no
at Accordingly, the problem has al
is. sumed decidedly serious aspect.
nd long as the plague of wild horses col
lis tInues, nobody in that region ca
en- raise good ones. 1t is necessary, the
he the the wild animals shall be destro,
to ed But how? That is the puzzl
oil affnrtg In
ce rid of them, they are increasing fastt
in than they are killed.
en- Hence the appeal for help addresse
,et to the government. 1t is question
ort sending a small army of people in
lie the horse ridden country and wipiI
nd out the animals, a task that mig
ak. take several years to accomplish. I'll
i'm forest service may be obliged to unde
take it; but as yet 1t feels reluctar
One reason for its disinclinclinati'
!. is that news of the wholesale d
ose struction of wild horses in Neva'
go would be sure to stir up great de
at of disapproval in the east. Such d
by approval might De Que 10 mlsconce
.ty tion of the facts; but 1t would
be. none the less likely to injure the fore
hat service.
Ital Half dozen years ago Nevada ma
yell a law permitting anybody to kill t
900 wild horses. Thus the animals we
literally made outlaws. But. though
great many were destroyed, 1t W
The found necessary to repeal the law.
/. in cause few good horses which beloI
n a ed to the inhabitants were Academia
AS. shot. Since then the mischief b
otal been getting steadily worse. and tod
ion. there seem to be Just about as ma
the wild horses as ever roaming the mo,
yes tains and plains in that part of
sed country.
'nly There is no question that 1t is
ele- wonderful region for horse raisil
orn' Horses can run outdoors the "
en- round. In the summer they range
ave punches over the wooded mountai
ally and when winter comes they have 3i
the to go few miles in order to rea
the grassy plains where there is pl
ty of pasture. They keep fat at
seasons.
as One naturally asks, Yhere did I