Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-16
ANIMAL FRIENDS
And UNFRIENDS.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

From the time that the first crow
gouged into Farmer Johns prize corn
patch that melancholy bird has been re-
Garded as the natural enemy OF the
farmer, and death has been the penalty
whenever he has not succeeded in flying
to the woods, there to give a derisive
croak TO announce his escape. Had the
farmer who yearns for the life of the
crow but known that in reality the crow
was a friend rather than an enemy he
would have noticed grieved reproach as
well as derision in the excited bird tax
that greeted his ears from the safe depths
of the woods or the far corner OF the
field.
For. according to DR.. \. *. Fisher.
economic Investigator Of the biological
survey. United States Department OF AZ
riculture, the crow and his cousins. MI
Jaw and Mr.. Raven. as well as skunks-
owls coyotes, and even the weasel anu
the fox, instead of being wild. destructive
ener,ies of the farmer. i'll reality
among the very best friends lie mas
Tb{s scientist. than whom perhaps there
is no greater authority on bird me IN
the United States. believes that the sale
~ IF our grain fruit and vegetable crops
depends primarily on these very birus
and animals, and that but for their con-
slant warfare on worms and insects MOST
farmers would be bankrupt year alter
year. ,, - :, ;,,,,
6erstood crows ravens and Jays Ar.
Fisher has averred in official puohcatiots
that they always do effective worn III
destroying pests whenever ana Whei
natural conditions permit them 10 90 So
But it is with them, as it is with al an
iuals and human beings. simply matter
Of supply and demand II Trey ma
enough insect and plant lie IN ihe "ooue
and omen stretches TO meet their require
rnents they do not bother the man WY"
the hoe When. however, they nave as
sembIed in numbers so great as 20 W.
tax their natural domain they must plaEe
the forbidding and Tapping scafecFo"'
and expose themselves TO saNos OF slo.-
c,1n artillery, to dig for pests ana Ferniil
on the farmers land. When this supply
is exhausted they turn pertorce 70 tILe
succulent ear of corn. ana are nnaI.
Ir;yan nv the pangs of hunger to eat
chicken eggs. But even in this extremity
they turn first to the nest OF WHO plrds
In the woods So it may come 10 pass
that our agriculturists might not De 50
we'll off as they imagine If the time ever
comes when all the crows ana Jays are
dead and the very last raven auotts
''Nevermore!
every year by insect and mammal pests
sums up to many
Insect Damage millions OF doi-
lars in this coun-
Runs to Millions. try, Further, the
total is steadily increasing. partly be-
cause of the inroads Of new bugs and
rodents, but principally. IT may be, be-
cause Of the wholesale manner in which
nd Ep-
srruction to his natural allies in the con
slant warfare on the real crop-destroy-
ing pests. Predacious birds and animals
have a great economic value, and the
authority previously mentioned says that
before man interfered with the intricate
relations of wild creatures and disturbed
the balance OF nature the carnivorous
animals served well and diligently to pre-
vent undue increase of the hordes OF
smaller animals that fed on heritage,
seeds. fruits and other vegetables, SO
perfectly was the balance regulated that
a temporary increase or decrease IN one
direction was followed sooner or later
by a corresp bonding change in another.
But that time has passed Farmers amp
stockmen have killed them off with such
unthinking ruthlessness that they can no
longer do their part.
The tiger that eats human beings and
the weasel. skunk and hawk that prey
with fiendish giee upon poultry are the
deep-dyed and sin-besmircfed villains OF
all bucolic legends. Gather these iurld
fabrfcations from every county of our
far-nung Union. Put them to the aciu
test. The truth Is revealed The tiger
attacks the strange and hostile beings
whose very smell to the windward he
knows by instinct to mean instant death
II the tiger comes out victor and is
hungry he eats the man. II the smaller
animals of the forests have evaded him
and starvation mocks him, as last re-
sort he takes a desperate chance ana
rushes into q clearing or dashes through
a circle of campf1res in search OF human
food So II is with the skunk, the weasel
and the hawk. When the natural supply
fails them they stalk poultry or sneak
Hearfully into henhouses to suck eggs.
knowing as they do SO that they have
not one chance in ten to get away alive
In the wilds man kills for food and In
the cities he steals 1t when no other way
seems open.
OF course animals are not possessed of
a conscience. so far as we know. The
fox, for instance. Will take poultry and
eggs II left unguarded. But mans eau
ton can make up for the fox's lack OF
conscience by keeping his chickens Sc
curely housed and locked at night. The
fox hunts ground squirrels. field mice and
rabbits. and scorns not the May beetle,
the cricket and the grasshopper. The
same is true Of the coyote. Indeed. at
times he feeds entirely on such large in
sects as grasshoppers, May beetles and
crickets.
+
Both animals are far from being IN
friends of man. especially when vine
yards. orchards,
TIn Pirates Only gardens and
Under Necessity. overrup : by field
mice and rabbits. The great-horned owl
and the bobcat are a close second in this
regard. With the increase of population
in a given section the rabbits and the
field mice decrease automatically, and
then each fox, coyote. bobcat and great
horned owl is forced to essay the risky
role of Capt. Kidd. Under such circum-
stances they make crafty pirates. and the
trap and the shotgun seem to be mans
only available agents of justice and self
protection. When so pressed the coyote
also becomes a menace in sheep-raising
sections. Nevertheless. farmers and or
chardists are learning by costly expe-
Renee not to kill off these four species
Of animals unless necessity dictates.
It does not seem to be generally
known that most flesh eating animals