The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-04-11
THEY ARE DESTRUCTIVE AND
SHOULD BE DESTROYED
That Dark Shadow On Mime
sofa Landscape Can Be
Removed
CONSERVE THE GRAIN.
PROTECT THE GAME.
REMOVE THE "CAWS."
= 4 = = e. : I. Z. + = + 3. s. 4 :

II old Jim Crow could add knoWleCSe
of the alphabet to his other human
like attributes he'd hang hrs head in
black dispair as he reads of the cam
paigns being inaugurated that will
eventually almost eradicate his dark
shadow from the bright, vernal Min
nesota landscape.
If there were but a little bit of
bad in every good little crow" the
black guards face would be safe, but
unfortunately for him the farmers
and Sportsmen are commencing to
realize that the words of this popular
song should be reversed in his case
because there is only little bit of
good in every bad little crow"
The crow undoubtedly destroys a
large amount of insects, but they are
not featured on his diet until mid
summer, in fact, not until the song
and game birds are through nesting.
He was at one time accredited with
being a useful scavenger but the
modern farmer knowing that the
germs of the dreaded hoof and mouth
disease, hog cholera, CHAMBERS, etc,
are lurking in countless numbers in
every decaying bit of carrion, look
upon his visits TO their farm yards
with dread and apprehension.
Crows do not confine their hunting
to small areas, on the contrary they
scour the country for miles around
their nesting grounds. They search
tirelessly the prairies, the forests, the
brush and the marsh, for the eggs
and the young of the useful insec-
tivorous birds and the game birds.
They show an almost uncanny intelli-
gence in their ability TO ferret out the
nests and memoriZe their locations.
The willy black demons will drop into
meadows and fields near where num-
erous quail are nesting and indus
triously start on bug hunt Let one
mother quail leave her nest, however,
for warm dust bath or a cool drink
of spring water and the black shadow
of that crow will darken the little
nest and the ravenuous maws of the
ugly crow babes will be filed with
the contents of fresh quail eggs,
young quail in the embryo stage and
even young quail themselves. Newly
Matched quail, because of their pre-
cociousness are probably able to evade
the fate that befalls the helpless
young of the song birds. The susten-
ance of the young of insectivorous
birds is composed almost wholly of
insects and they require such an
enormous amount that the parent
birds are forced to spend practically
the entire day insect hunting, leaving
their young unprotected. The crows
wake through the under5rush and
hedgerows and prairie are strewn with
devastated bird homes. The loss to
agricultural interests in this whole
sale destruction of useful bird life is
appalling to one who knows the in
sect destroying capabilities of the
song birds.
The prairie chicken suffers severely
from the crows depredations and the
sight of crow winging slowly over
a marsh or lake fills the heart of
every mallard and teal with dread
least he find and rob the downy nest
hidden away in the rushes
A national crow shoot has been in =
augurated in the United States this
year and the campaign material issued
says: 1T is estimated that every year
insects cause loss of millions of dol
, lars to the farmer, truck raisers and
fruit growers. The farmers are the
producers and whatever loss they sus-
tain affects every consumer i'm the
country. Song birds are the natural
enemies of all insect life-song birds
alone can keep in check the ravages
or insects. Crows destroy birds, birds
destroy insects. insects destroy crops
Therefore. kill the crows and save
the crops"
April, MAY and June are the proper
months of the year to make an or
ganiZed attempt to eradicate the pest
Their nests are usually repaired or
Quilt anew the latter part of March,
and from four to seven eggs are laid
early in April. The period of incuba
ton covers from seventeen to eighteen
days and the young remain in the
nest about three weeks after hatch
ing. Sportsmen and farmers should
cooperate at this time and destroy
as many nests and shoot as many
parent birds as possible
One OF the best methods that can
be employed in the shooting of crows
consists in the careful building of a
blind for the hunter to conceal himself
IN, and the enticing of the birds with
In gun shot range by the use of a
crow call. The best call is that initial
ing the cry of a young crow in distress.
IL Will invariably bring the mature
birds in from quite a radius. Crow
calls can be procured from dealers in
sportsmen's supplies and quite a few
sportsmcn are able to give a surpris
lngiy good imitation without the aid
OF call. Remember to allow the
birds to come within reasonable range
before shooting because a crow shot at
and missed will sound warning calls
that serve to keep the wary birds aft
a distance for some time. Careful
concealment near crows nest will
furnish IN easy opportunity to pick
off the cid birds. The proper use of
the call il the close vicinity of the nest
never fails. TO bring them hurridIy
within range.
Stuffed owls placed on the conspic.
uous limb of dead tree are excellent
decoys. A wounded crow staked out
in the open will also attract great
numbers of crows. A large piece of
meat or the carcass of some dead
animal placed in an opening, serves as
excellent bait and one we'll placed
shot VIII often kill several birds at
once.
The state game and fish department
urges farmers and sportsmen's organ