The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-03-17
BUFFALO, BLACK BEAR AND
ANTELOPE THRIVE UNDER THE
WATCHFUL EYE OF UNCLE sam
American Wild Animals, Once Nearly Extinct Now Are
Rapidly Increasing in misunderstanding of Gov
ernmental Supervision Plainly Demonstrated.

| sportsman than the buffalo, either in
! the cage or on his native prairie.
| Since most of the states where the
deer family resides have passed buck
| laws-1aws that confine hunting to the
buck, except in stated years-the ami
| NAL has rapidly supplied the gaps that
too carefree slaughtering made in it's
ranks. Vermont, of the eastern
states, probably has the most radical
and constru ctive game laws, and ac-
cording to Fish and Game Commits
sioner Titcomb the deer in the pre-
serves are now beyond all counting
In 1878. when the animal was quite
exterminated, twenty-seven were i'm
ported, since which time every legis-
lative and artificial aid has been ex-
erted to shield the animal in it's ref
uges. The great advantages of the
buck law, aside from the protection it
gives to the animal, is the resultant
decrease in the loss of human life.
Hunters when hunting for buck can
not fire at the slightest movement of
the brush but must wait until the APP
pearance of pair of horns proves
that it is not the body of a fellow
sportsman which is the target
There are more ante1ope-a11d more
carefully guarded anteIope=in Ore
gon than the other western states.
The western states, as a whole have
been in danger of losing their former
man. because of the scarcity Of the
animals and the increasing opening
up2of public lands. Oregon has taken
time by the forelock and has set aside
great stretches of land for refugees,
where deer and antelope, who dwell
particularly in the sage brush co1n-
try may continue their graceful ex-
istence. Oregon has also been keen
in recognizing the immense economic
value of her hunting lands to her
people, not so much in the value of
the deer meat itself as in the returns
that come to her industries through
the visits of eastern hunters.
Oregon takes her game responsible
tiles very seriously. William L. Fin
ley, game warden for the state, feels
so keen1y the educational opportuni-
tiesCo of his Office that he has strength
ened side of his work so that it quite
balances the old-time penal emphasis
that to most people stands for game |
regulations There is less dependence
on the legal placards thai. grace rail-
road stations and the like and more
on lectures and public sch DOL cooper
alton. In the pursuit Of this purpose
Mr.. Finley has taken some romarka-
Bile moving-pfcture films of antelope
and deer in the open which are the
only moving pictures of these ami
mails that have ever been made. = 1t
took Mr.. Finley four days to make |
one reel because of the difficulty of
getting the antelope in a good light
and at the same time not allowing the |
animal to scent the photographer. An
te1ope rely on their seenting powers |
which are remarkably strong, and if
the wind and the position of Mr.. Fin
ley combined to- get the scent of a |
human to the antelope the animal |
WOULD flash his. or her white-spotted I
tail, and the whole herd would be off. I
Mr.. Finley would then steel himself |
to another long period of waiting,
Society is not SO kind to the bear, |
not even the old black bear, which |
w. H. Wright fdeaHzes the Happy
HooIigan of the animal kingdom and |
therefore not quite as bad and black /
as he is painted. He is not much of
an angel yet, according to Mr.. Eaton
and Mr.. Finley for he has all sorts of
destructive tricks that make him more I
pleasant in the imagination than in
actual life.
with his brother the grizzly and
the cougar or mountain 1ion-who are
the same person-the black bear is
fair target. No educa-
-ional game department will build ref
1ges for him. despite the license to
hunt them all these ferocious ami t
ais faiIHto be extern1inated. Mr.. Ea-
-on can tell great tales about the
number of black bears and mountain
ions he has killed and seen killed
n the last few years. And when
one considers the number that must
escape some hunters and the prowling
beasts that terrify others, life in those
places where black bears sit upon the
branches of trees instead of singing
birds does not appear particularly al
uring.