The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1911-11-10
THE OTHER SIDE.
An Interesting Communication on the
Subject Of Deer Damage.
Editor Reformeri

permit me 10 prtulct there VIII ht '"Hl
paratively few shot in this part of the
state due 10 the fact that there are
very few left. The wholesale violation
Of the law during the past few months
has reduced them 10 almost curiosity.
| think il safe 10 say that there are y
dozen families within five miles of
where | live who eat more or less Nenl'
sou the year around and since a little
incident of last spring they aud many
others too have had many very sump'u.
Gus feasts don I want Il understood
that all these parties are crlmlnnllN
inclincd they simply say II one man
has the right TO shoot deer aud eat the
meat and be excused another ought 10
have the same privilege. Every con
device has been employed to
capture yenison and hence many hunt
crs are doomed to disappointment IN
few days
Appeal after appeal has been made
TO the state officers to suppress tins pun
lie disgrace, but most of our game war
,lens are trying SO hard 10 be popular
that they don I amount TO much. Their
efforts in that line make them ridieu-
lous. One of these expensive ornaments
employed bv the state came out few
weeks ago in n newspaper statement
claiming there were too many deer, ana
Judging from the tone of he article
person would have thought they We're de.
vourinp our schoolhouses and churches.
But lust u few DAYS ago he came out
with another public statement which
said in substance that the deer were too
scarce. Now | am not alleging he falsl-
fled in either case. but | do maintain
IL would he $50 nice il he would Just
inform MS when he is telling the truth.
II there were numerically such "A de-
urcciation of deer in 50 short "A time IL
is no credit to his administration.
Simmered down to the last ANALYSIS
this discreditable condition of affairs
is brought about IN the ineiliciency aud
dishonesty of our public officials who
are trusted and paid hy the people TO
render fair. fearless and impartial adj
of the law. Judging from
what | know of Governor Mead and by
the tone of the letter he has written
me il may not he safe for our public
officials to disregard their oath of office
too far. He may see iii to do little
among them. which
would be welcomed hy every honest,
law.ahiding citizen. II will not do to
impose upon the public too much, but
what about the much talked of deer
damage. There seems to be a prevailing
opinion among some of our village
friends that the deer is no longer wei
coined hv the farmer. Being "A farmer
il may not he irrelevant for me
10 give expression of recent inNestl-
cation | have made by interviews with
about - representative farmers on this
question. To my surprise all but one
answered strongly in favor of the deer.
a Jan i'm ah
dollars worth, but the state allowed
him ten and he was satisfied One man
owning one thousand acres of land and
in the apple business said they had
never damaged him one cent : worth.
All agreed they did not do half the
damage of hawks and woodchucks.
Personally my farm contains 100
acres and they never damaged me one
cent 5 worth; while from it has been
lawfully taken SO worth of venison
during the past four years. Last year
the meat the deer furnished the state
(the peOple) amounted to 100000. No
better quality of meat grows and no
more innocent animal lives. ANY nat
uralist will tell YOU that it retains its
wild instinct and picks nearly all its
living in the woods. \ deer will pro.
vide "A pound of meat on one half the
food required for cattle. Further, il re-
quires ten deer to eat as much as one
COW and they destroy many obnoxious
weeds. The chief complaint IN that
they nip the shoots from little apple
trees, but il is safe TO say man prunes
of 100 TO the deer one ANY pomologist
will inform YOU that il is the Hat top
trees that produce fine fruit. If the
deer are so destructive TO apple trees,
why is il that some of the western
states, which produce the finest fruits
and orchards in the world, have planted
and grown the trees where the deer are
ana have been more numerous than in
Vermont since the time whereof the
memory of man runneth not to the
contrary. Some claim they ross the lit.
tie trees, but this is not true as the ross
ing is done only in the thickets of the
woodland and Just prior to the gcsta-
ton period
a good deal of this talk about deer
damage is similar to the case that comes
under my personal observation. The
young orchard is owned by party in
BrGttleboio and ] live in sight of mos,
of the trees passing among and by then
many times week and ! have never
yet seen deer among them, but what.
ever happens to the trees is laid to the
deer. His and the neighbors cattle
three weeks this summer and more or
less last year and have devoured at
will. | drove them out several times at
first and in their efforts to brush off the
flies they ran against the trees and
broke them off. OF course this was all
deer damage. have seen where the
whiffletrees and neck yokes were re.
sponsible for the alleged deer rossing
and where the trees had been run over
by wheelharrow. | have seen the EN-
ployces blowing and narrowing, moving
and raking with horses unmuzzled and
eating the trees at pleasure. One party
on the farm recently said to neighbor,
Probably the boss wouldn t be any
mad if he had seen me run over about
40 of those apple trees with horserake
this summer. OF course this is all
looked upon as deer damage and | I'M
derstand the owner has been allowed
considerable remuneration from the
state. When we get down to the real
facts many other cases are similar to
this one. Much of this deer damage talk
is on the part of those who have violat-
ed the law and want an excuse.
In conclusion, the deer is one of the
greatest natural attractions of this
state and should be protected. The law
is in every way constitutional and
should be enforced the same as any
other law. Without law human society
becomes rope of sand. Any law should
be enforced or repealed but never VIC
lated. L. A. Foster.
Halifax, VT, Nov. 9.