The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1915-01-22

given to all fur bearers except
bears and wolves. In cases where
protected animals are doing
damage they should be killed by
the one whose property was being
damaged. The law now requires
such an one to first secure permits
sion to kill them. That is all
right with some species, but when
mink gets into a chicken coop
there is no time to wait for per
mission. The law is faulty.
And l should like to make a plea
for the loon. This bird is of no
value for food but is much sought
for taxidermists use, as it makes
one of the finest mounted speci-
mems obtainable. But the loon
multiplies very slowly as they nest
but once a year and lay but two
eggs at a nesting. This makes
the loon very easy bird to ex-
terminate and it has already been
hunted too close. 1t has pictur-
esque or aesthetic value and should
be given a closed season for at
least five years. There are a few
raised in captivity but the number
is very small.
Now that it is known that there
are few hundred beavers in the
state, there is sure to be an effort
to have the season on them opened.
To do so at this time would be a
serious mistake. The beavers have
just gotten to the place where pro-
lection will count for something if
1t is continued for a few wears
more. Methods of trapping them
are so successful that a couple of
open seasons now would almost
exterminate them and the results
of so many years protection be
lost. 1t will be urged that they
are flooding private lands and thus
doing so much damage that it is
necessary to trap them. In some
cases that is true, but the thing to
do is to make provision for the
capture of just those colonies that
locate on private lands of value, or
in other cases where the damage
they are doing is enough to
warrant. 1t seems that the simple
destruction of their dams is not
sufficient as they are most persis-
tent in rebuilding.
Of late years there has grown up
quite an interest in the domestica-
ton of various game and fur
animals, and the laws of our state
have been so modified as to remove
some of the legal hinderances of
such attempts. These laws are
good as far as they go but they do
not go far enough in some cases.
The law specifically permits the
capture of most fur bearers at any
season if they are taken alive and
kept for breeding purposes. 1t
should permit the capture of live
animals or birds of any species for
purposes of domestication and that
without regard to whether there
was any open hunting season on
the species or not. But in the case
of deer and moose there is only an
inference that the capture of wild
animals for breeding purposes is
allowed. Yet is has been demons
trated that deer may be raised in
captivity as successfully as sheep.
Moose will not thrive very far from
their natural range, or where the
change in climate is very marked
but a large part of this state is in
their natural range so there is no
change of climate to contend with
But there are very few in captivity
and they are so high in price as to
put them beyond the reach of the
very people who would be most
likely to succeed in raising them.
The result is that no real start can
be made towards their domestica-
ton. With the growing scarcity
of wild life and the constantly in
creasing cost of meats it seems that
it would be in order to so amend
the present laws as to encourage
attempts at raising game under
private management. Our short
sighted legislators are strangely
blind to the fact that over large
areas it will soon be a choice be-
tween game under private manage
ment or none at all. They are
blinded by the fear that some wild
game would be killed and sold as
domestic. 1t some of the western
states where the elk was threatened
with determination the states adop-
ted a common sense policy with
the result that many of the farmers
there now have thriving herds.
1t has also developed that prac-
tically every farmer who has or
who hopes to have tame elk be-
comes a game protectionist. Why
not permit bona fde settlers or
other responsible persons to capture
wild animals for breeding and
charge a nominal price for the
animals so taken? The money re-
ceived from this source might we'll
be spent by the state in the in
terests of game preservation.
Also there is the beaver that
seems as tho it would adapt itself