Iditarod pioneer., 1916-12-16
ANOTHER THEORY SPRUNG
 AS TO BIRDS DISAPPEARANCE

The scarcity cf pta.inigan thE0ggh0ut the territcry continues to be 2 topic ct discus sion In Alaska newspapers, and ii is evident that rbc tFclis have amo>t Cntlrcly dl>:in- npered Travellers report that where for mery the birds were to be found by the thousands. uor niG is scarcely ever seen. Renofts come fro,u all sections of the North slowing that the scarcity is general, ard the theory lh::t they have migrated to other sections Is not likely to be borne out A Nome special to the Juneau Dispatch gtveS new theory, which, however, will scarcely be accepted as an explanation of the dls- aurcarance of the myrlads ot the-e h!rds vI ch formerly were found throughout Alaska and Yukon territory. 1t is as fol | lows:
 Where are al! the ptarmigan? This Is a question now being asked by our local nm rods and the people who like to eat nice hot bird once in while. Only two years go there were plenty of the white game birds aH over Seward peninsula, last year not so many, aad the present faa finds Us with practically 40 ptarmigan at all. Where have they gone, if they have gore? Or have they been attacked by some epidemic? Or b&ve they been driven to other parts b. Cne or another Ot the heavy storms of the past two years? There are reasons for believing that each of these questions contains 9 suggestion which will partially account at least for thelr dIsap pesrance,
 Prom the captain of the Bear and many others it has been learned that tens of thousands, some say millions of ptarmgan Derished on the bleak ice fields of Boring sea last winter Why they went there IS question that cannot be answered with certainty. Owing to the prevailing deep snow they may have been unable to get food, and in seeking new fields they may have become exhausted and settled on the ice. There being no food for them on the ice, and being too exhausted to fly farther, they would naturally freeze to death.
 "As to an epidemic, there is not much evidence that such has occurred. A few | travellers have declared that they have seen many scattered feathers and bones ot ptar- migan in some sections. However, these races of tragedies in the wilds are always l n be seen all over Alaska, as the foxes, hawks and owls have always helped them .elves to ptarmigan when they wanted to 1 eat.
 "As to their being rm-driven, thls may account for those seen on the Berlng lce' and furthermore strong wind or a series of them may have driven great many ol the birds beyond the ice, where they found no nlace to alght, and so fell in the water, only to be drowned Usually, however, dur ing a gale a ptarmigan will burrow into the SHOW, as does also the grouse, and sit there contentedly until 1t IS over,
 "The migration of ptarmigan Is another theory, but only theory For if they have migrated where have they gone? Reports from all over Alaska, along the Yukon, or the Innoko, the Tanana, the Koyukuk, the Porcupine, agree in this, that the ptarmlgar has disappeared Where, no one seems tt be able to say.
 Any reason for their disappearance iron
 all parts of Alaska seems at best to b' only theory That they are gone Is fact.
 About 30 years ago, the present write
 was informed by an old-time trader, thu same condition existed all along the Yu
 kon He had dozen natives out for week to get game for his Christmas dinner
 and they failed to bring in single ptarml
 pan. grouse or rabbit All small gam
 seemed to be extinct. But in year O
 two the little creatures came back seemingl,
 more plentiful than ever So it may prov , in this case"
 Fresh Olympia and Eastern Oysters, sl 5'