The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-09-07
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington, D. c.
ON BEHALF OF TURKEY
RTXZARDS

two most dreaded or STOCK diseases
( the biological survey here has charged
quiet bird citizen who has hereto
1 fore attracted little attention, is now
| in for a dash of publicity.
/ In Dr. w. L. McAtee. who seems to
! be special counsel for the turkey buzz
card, and the other learned govern
ment naturalists, the slandered bird
| has an able and experienced corps of
! attorneys. These gentlemen are as
| skilled at applying the whitewash as a
I political press agent. 'Tis a loathsome
and ferocious beast indeed, which
/ they cannot prove to be a friend of
! man. They have been at work for
{ years teaching natural history thru
/ the newspaper columns, with the prime
| object of saving the lives of count
/ less birds, beasts and reptiles, which
man has long been in the habit of
| killing on general principles,
| Take the case of the hawk. At the
sight of a hawk of any kind it used
4 to be the invariable rule to run for a
| shotgun. But by making martyrs of
a few hundred hawks and Analysing
their stomachs the biological surrey
proved conclusivsly that, with a few
| exceptions, the hawks a'e friends of
man. At killing mice and rats they
! beat the average cat. A really we'll
posted farmer never shoots at a hawk
any more without first ascertaining
whether it is a friendly phiianthropic
hawk or a poUltrykilling hawk.
Saving the Owls.
The owls were likewise defended.
DR.. L. X. Fisher. a man of consider
able bulk. climbed every day for many
months into a high tower Nof the
Smithsonian building to examine the
| leavings from the feasts of "a pair of
owls UP there. with the result that he
! proved them innocent of barnyard
! depredations and responsible for the
death of many a mouse and rat.
| These facts were mailed, wired and
cabled to all parts of the civilized
| world, so that henceforward it is your
duty before shooting an owl to ascer-
| tain whether he is Bubo Philanthro-
picus. the rat-killer or Bubo Terrifi-
Gus. who dimes on game and poultry.
Even the snakes have not been re-
! jected as clients by these biological
pleaders. Owing to his unfortunate
share in the scandal of the Garden
| of Eden the serpent has been in bad
odor ever since the rise of Christian
fity But as a matter of fact only
| some snakes deserve to be murdered.
/ Little or nothing can be said in favor
! of poisonous snakes, but the great
majority of snakes in this coun-
| try are not poisonous. Thus the little
garter snake We are taught to love.
/ He kills mice and gophers and does
! US no harm. The terrible-looking
| black snake. so often killed, is also
| harmless and useful. He is a con-
strictor too small to construct a man,
/ and he should be encoura ged to live
under the porch or in the garnet, as
he is so fond of doing. If he crawls
/ into bed with you on a cold autumn
night, just lie. still and he will not
annoy you.
But to get down to the turkey buzz
! zard. Here is a bird that faces a
strong circumstantial case against
him and who has few charms that
| appeal to the jury. Just as it is easy
| to clear pretty widow, who, in a
petulant moment, has Drained her
| husband with a rolling pin. so is it
| easy to make out a case for a sweet
little bird like the bobwhite. who sits
on fence post and whistles But it is
| hard TO find anything charming in a
buzzard-an ugly, ill-smelling bird
that lives on carrion and has a bald
/ head as ugly as sin.
| Furthermore. this bird undoubtedly
dimes on the carrion of animals which
have died of anthrax and hog cholera.
and it seems reasonable, therefore,
! that he should mbe a carrier of these
diseases,
An Heroic Stomach.
In defending him against this
charge, Doctor McAtee instantly
seizes upon the buzzard's one strone
point, which is his digestion. ANY bird
| that lives on meat in the last stages of
decay must have a strong stomach
The assumption is quickly proved to
be correct A scientific test shows
that this phenomenal digestive system
| of the buzzard is death to germs. An
anthrax or hog cholera germ may &c
thru chicken or an oPossum and
leone out alive. but not SO the buzz
zard. For a germ the interior of a
buzzard is a death chamber This has
been shown beyond dispute.
The only way, then, in which the
buzzard could carry germs would be
on his feet or on his bill. Inasmuch
as he never goes near stock that is
alive and well. he could not be much
of menace in this way-not as much
OF menace as several carbon atine
domestic creatures, notably the chick
en-, and not near as much of a menace
as the common fly.
Why, then, make war on the buzz
zard? 1t is utterly unreasonable.
And the buzzard is a useful bird
/ Do not overlook that. He is literally
ubiquitous in the temperate and trop-
ical portions of America, and in many
tropical countries he is protected by
law and never shot. In these coun-
tries he is often as tame as a sparrow
and his ungainly form adorns the
roofs and chimneyS of the towns. Es-
pecially in Mexico is he valued. where
people are killed a good deal faster
/ than they can be buried. The turkey
buzZard is the Mexican national ceme-
tery. In him are buried the heroes OF
, a hundred revolutions.
Any rural landscape that is robbed
of its buzzards has suffered a serious
loss Its most efficient scavenger is
gone.
The Champion Flyer.
And the buzzard. continue the canny
scientists, while not a beautiful OF
charming bird, is nevertheless an in
Eteresting-one. His habit of dining on
carriOn and of disgorging it again for
the benefit of his young may repel
you His bald head and ungainly fig
ure are against him. unless you have q
taste for the grotesque. But let him
take wing, and he is another bird. In
stantly he becomes a creature of grace
and skill almost incredible. The art OF
soaring-that is, of flying without the
twings"has been brought by him to a
state of perfection that neither Other
birds nor men with their machines can