The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1910-01-24
GAME SITUATION IN N. <.
Fourth Paper by Edward Howe
Forbush

Settlement accompanied by unres-
tricted hunting advanced more rap
idly at first in Massachusetts than
in any other part of the country, and
therefore her game decreased most
rapidly, mainly because of the shoot
ing, although the changed conditions
inevitable TO settlement, the cutting
down of the forests, etc, were in
part the cause of the destruction OF
game There is very little about
the occupation OF the country by
man that tends TO decrease birds
where shooting and trapping are not
permitted In India, where the. peo-
pie hold animal life sacred, quantit-
les Of birds remain and breed about
the houses even in the cities. 1t
must be admitted that the cutting
down of the forests and the draining
OF marshes tend to drive out certain
game animals and birds and the occu-
patton of the land by houses and
streets is not conducive to the in
crease a game; but, except in the
very centers of population, birds and
animals will increase rather than
diminish in number under civilizat-
ion, provided they are not hunted
The operations of agriculture aug
ment their food supply and so tend
to increase their numbers.
AS the game became rater more
laws were passed ostensibly to pro
tect the supply. Many of these laws
seem ludicrous in the light of our
present knowledge After most of
the wild fowl that once nested here
had been killed or driven out Of the
country, laws were passed TO protect
a few of them during most of the
breeding season Those that did not
breed here were protected, If at all
when they we're out of these states
and shooting was allowed during
practically all of the time they re-
NAMED. After the upland game birds
had become locally rare, the shooting
season was shortened, but no ade-
quate provision was made for enforc
ing the law therefore the laws were
| disregarded. Close seasons for sew
eral birds we're declared after they
had been practically exterminated. In
much OF our game legislation we
have closed the door after the horse
has been stolen, but rarely have We
securely locked it. There are in
stances where birds and animals
have become extinct without any at
tempt having been made to protect
them adequately Some of the laws
grant special favors to marketmen
and other interests that profit by
game destruction. Often the laws
serve better to protect the hunter
than to protect the game. For these
reasons most game laws have failed
to increase the game supply.
The people neither grasped the sit
uation nor showed any disposition to
apply the remedy so long as game
enough remained to give the gunner
a chance to make day wages by
shooting it, Within the last half cen
fury the effectiveness of firearms
has been so increased that the hun
ter is much more formidable and
destructive than in past times and
the means of travel and communica-
ton have been so improved, extend
ed and cheapened that almost every
part of New England has become
easily and quickly accessible to hun
tiers.
While the number of hunters has
lessened in proportion to the entire
population, the great accession in
population has increased the number
of hunters enormously Last year
gave an estimate, based on returns
from hunting licenses, that there
were then three million hunters ii
i this country This was a low estim
ate. Many farmers who hunt unlic
ensed on their own lands were no
accounted for in it and no doub
some hunters evade the law and dc
not take out licenses. In a recent is
sue of the National Sportsman tn,
number of hunters was estimated ed
itorially as five million. Probably ;
few of these hunters use a rifle onl,
and never shoot birds; others xii
very few birds; but many marke
hunters in the south and west Otter
kill 100 ducks a day each. If we as
sumo that the average number o
birds for each hunter, the countr.
over, is only ten a year, five million
hunters would kill fifty million bird
annually.-Edward Howe Forbusf
New England agent, National Assoc
alton Audubon Societies.