Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1912-07-25

VwRHE rapid disappearance Of wild /
q game in the west is causing
Uncle Sam to sit up and take .
IH notice. The biological Survey /
recently made an exhaustive /
report as to big game conditions, and |
the prospect in general. and while |
conditions we're found good In some /
states, the reports from other haunts /
OF big game were not so optimistic
| As a matter of fact, between the |
| game hogs, the ranchers who insist on
| having wild meat out Of season, and
| bands OF maraudlng Indians from
| various reservations, wild game in the
west IL travelling at a rapid pace To-
ward extinction. Most OF the states
have poor laws, which vary greatly.
and these laws are enforced only
systematically. II is almost impossi-
BILE to secure the conviction OF any
rancher who kills wild game out OF
season Juries In the sparsely settled
communities will never convict, and In
consequence state officers have be-
come discouraged and rarely prose
cute. The tourist who happens to XIII
a grouse out of season, or whose lg'
norance of local game laws leads him
into some such blunder, is made the
goat" The chap who happens to
have an understood trout in his creel
is fined heavily, while the local resi-
dent who may be making a practice
of killing mountain sheep, upon which
there is no open season in most west
ern states, is allowed to carry on his
work unmolested because no convic-
ton can be secured in a local court
Colorado New Mexico, Arizona and
Utah suffer from the depredations OF
Indians. who care nothing for the
white mans game laws. The Indians
kill right and left, and, on their deer
hunting expeditions. does and fawns
as we'll as bucks fall victims to their
guns There is another influence at
work. against which the most strin-
gent laws in the world would be un-
availing---the rapid settlement OF the
open range.
Antelope in particular have suffered
from the entertainments of the set
tier. Colorado has had no open sea
son on antelope for several years, but
these animals are steadily disappear
ing. The plains country east OF the
Rocky mountains has been put under
fence until little Of the range has been
left for the antelope. As a result the
state of Colorado has had 10 feed the
few remaining bands of these beauti-
full creatures nearly every winter. The
best of the range has been taken up
by settlers. The antelope are unable
TO find sufficient natural food and arc
> driven by hunger TO the very farm.
yards OF the ranchers. The ranchers
do not have more than enough feed
for their stock and are compelled to
call upon the state for protection, as
the antelope play havoc with hay
stacks.
Laws Vary.
Fish are title better protected thar
other forms of wild game. The fsl
) laws of the western states vary to 6
} remarkable degree, and little real pro
lection is afforded under them. It 1!
the same old story of difficulty in Sc
E curing a conviction In local courts
: Dynamiters and seiners ply their call
I ing, and are seldom caught and neve
convicted Wyoming, which has thu
D finest trout streams In the west, un
| less exception be made Of the Gun
l nison in Colorado, has no closed sea
T son on trout. Fishermen report BIZ
@ catches in spawning time, when tn
:. fish should be left undisturbed. /
there are any laws regarding tn
screening of irrigation bitches, sucl
mi
/ hears of ten and underground trou
being caught by farmers boys in irri
) CATION bitches. IF somebody Is to b.
= entertained, the citizens OF an. enter
o prising town In the haunts Of the BIZ
trout will give n fish fry" For a da,
d or two everybody in town will turf
s out. and the streams will be whipped
; % a foam The laws regulating IN,
i ize of the individual catch will b.
oDenly violated, and when the daI
or the FRY" arrives there will be
veritable orgy, with thousands o
trout forming the feature OF the feast
. The finest trout streams in the worlc
u are being depleted rapidly, and fisher
. men who visit the North Platte anC
), the Laramie every season report tina
u those streams are showing the erfec
of Wyoming's lax enforcement OF tn,
laws.
The condition Of the elk in Jack
i sons Hole is largely due TO the con
slant hunting Of the animals in othe
: localities. Thousands OF elk hav,
o irifted from Colorado northwGrd Il
tho last few years. being frightsne,