The Washington herald., 1921-09-25

- to eaD attention 10 the neceatsy q Q
more highly eryanised ompsisr against
these marspde1 and the force vss built %
to its present siss.
'At frst we went into the Wet md en-
plsyed - Gsvernment hunters the tudtvid-
aals In the various esmmunities Who had
the greatest rsputaton along this lips This
plan did not get entirely satistartory rs.uiss
bseause this employnent was based ssDe-
What upon the siss sf stories that ne. told
of themselves, rsther than upon dencn-
strated success. But when a man became o
Government hunter be had b prvvs him
self. We accepted no stories Of marsuders
Who VEN mortaily wounded bot rot away. A
mans success vas neanred BY the skins or
scalps that he delivered. Thoss huntsrs whn
failed 10 deliver scalps or skins were soon
severed from the Government payroll Thus,
through the years, We have built up an or
ganisation Of hunters Who demonstrate that
they make good. Thee was probably never
. greater group Of hunters found together
since time began than are today In tho
service Of the United States Governmsat.
S@THERE vas q trlpper By The name 81
L Bakken, for instance. up In Montana,
Who devised q particularly Successful scheme
for catching coyotes. Just a. game In the
desert concentrate at . water hole, % Do
coyotes tend TO gather about q prairie dog
town, because they are very fond Of the
hesh Of these fat little rodents. Baikes
worked out q scheme for trapping coyotes
around a prairie dog town. He billed him
self some dogs and propped them up IN frost
Of holes around the edge Of the town. AZ
the approach Of each Of there holes he would
set steel traps, covering them With dust
Then, knowing the habits Of the coyote, he
would throw up two fresh lines Of dirt uhtsA
came to Q point at the prairie dog hoh
The coyote is shy Of fresh dirt, would avoid
Il and would thus be directed to the point
where the traps were set and would b
caught. After thus surrounding q prairis-
dog town with traps, Bskken would b
likely to have several coyotes in the mos>e
ing"
.'Is II the plan Of the Governneat,"
asked, ito exterminats thess varieties Of
predatory animals?'
II doubt II We will be able to exterm,.
nate them, At least for 4 long time" s.,d
DR.. Bell. The numbes Of coyotes mr., /.
great and they are % widely scattered th.s
il viii take 4 long time 10 reduce them a.
the point where they are no Longer y,rv
harmful. We actually got the skiu, a
10000 coyotes last year. however and tia,
u q good many. Altogether, We have kflle6
more than $500 timber wolves, some 6oo
mountain lions and nearly 10000 bobc.u
and lynxes.
The killing Of these creatures put ths
Government quite effectively In the IN,
business. During the Eve yeau Of 1860.
inclusive, We sold $40 900 worth of fur,
the money revertins into the United ssate,
Treasury. During those Eve years ve killed
altogether about soo. 900 predatory sninsis.
We attempted 10 estimate the value 10 the
stockmen Of our work for the fiscal y>sr
ending June 30, 1920. and We believe tbss
It aggregated 5000 900. During that an
year we spent $500. 900, about half Of q
contributed By the Federal Government and
about half BY. the States and stockmen's a..
sociations. Gradually, we figure, We Win
exert an increasing influence toward makins
that task Of growing the meat Of the Nstioa
steadily easier for the man on the ransSs