South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-06-07

nually destroy many thousands Of
dollars worth o. domestic animals.
Hunting lions is Bruce's life. He
gets genuine pleasure out OF trail
this most banning mountain terror.
and recently told J. s. Hunter, OF the
flsh and game commission. that were
he a millionaire ne would spend his
time just as he does now in hunting
lions
Bruce now draws a salary from the
commission for lion hunting. He al
so receives a state bonus. many coun-
ties pay him bonus. and in addition
he receives some revenue from the
sale OF the skins OF the slain animals.
His chief and only aides are Rang
er and Eli the only lion hounds IN
the world Bruce has trained them
| from puppies 30 that they will follow
no other trail than that OF a lion.
They feed only cooked meat or the
/ lion in roder that they shall not be
weaned from thier training. Ranger
and Eli are both veterans OF the lion
trail, and Bruce is now training Row
er and Ranger TO replace them when
they grow too Old.
Has Dogs Sense OF Trail.
Eli Is known as "El. the Silent. "
because he never utters a sound until
on the trail OF Hon. Rover and
Ranger and proving apt pupils.
Bruce values his dogs highly, but
/ those who know him say that Bruce
has even a keener trail sense than
/ the dogs. Frequently he Will call
/ the dogs OF a trail because IL is too
! old or discover they arc following a
/ back trail. Again the dogs will lose
the trail and Bruce will put them on
/ IL again. He is able to do this be-
cause Of his knowledge Of the lions
habits and the deep study he has
made Of the lion country.
Bruce has killed close to 100 lions.
\ He hunts almost continuously, com
ing 70 his home only when his dogs
need rest. His hunting is done al
most entirely on foot, as he tricks
through a country In which Il would
be impossible for a horse to follow
the trails. He uses a big automatic
revolver instead OF a rife. In years
gone by he used a rife and always
shot for the lions eye. However. ex-
perience and a number OF close
shaves caused him 10 abandon the
rife and take to the heavy revolver
He also shoots for the heart now.
IL was an accident that caused
Bruce to enter upon his business OF
lion hunting. Born in Mariposa coun-
", Calf. where lions ahounded in
a Ia
time as youth in the mountains be-
coming thoroughly familiar with the
habits OF animals of the forest.
Lion Census IS 555.
An injury to his hand i'm a lum ber
mill in which he was employed fore
ed him to seek other employment
and he turned 10 the work he knew
and loved best. For a time his only
pay was the bOunties he collected
His name spread and the fish and
game commission employed him
Since then ne has worked chiefly II
the fame refugees with great success
His greatest kill in any one month
has been eight lions
Contrary to the general opinion
lions are not abundant in any part oil
the state" according to j. s. Hunter
OF the fish and game commission
Humboldt county leads with a tota
Of 564 killed during 10 years time
The animal has been so reduced lr
that county that the kill las dropped
from 113 in 1908 to in 1919. In
Shasta county. the next on the list
the kill has been less than one-hali
-26l killed during the same period
Here. however. the animals have ap-
parently not been reduced to the
same extent. as the kill in 1919 wa.
approximately the same rs 1908.
In Trinity county $50 have beer
killed: last year only "A as agains
is in 1908. In Siskiyou county none
we're killed last year, but in 1908 tn,
number totaIled 81. and n the I.
year period 241. From this il would
seem that lions in Siskiyou count,
are greatly reduced. IL not practically
extermniated. Only one ether coun.
~, Mendocino. reports more than 2OC
the first II years. In that county
PIG have been killed: the number
(22) taken in 1919 is Just one-hal
those killed in 1908. Tehanna coun
, ~ killed three during 1919. Al
against 81 in 1908. making total o
159 in Il years.
One Lion Kills 80 Deer.
1t is evident from the above fig
ures that California lions are bein,
slowly reduced in number and tina
the animals killed approximately i
: not entirely exceeded the natural in
crease. II this is true, we can form
, very good idea as 10 the number o
, lions in the state. Forty-two pc
. cent OF the lions sent in for bount,
are females. The female lion doe
not bring forth a litter every year
, but every other year. Sometime
three kittens are born. bur the usua
number is two. This would make tn
kill OF 243 In 1919 the offspring o
243 females. or ~ per cent Of tn
, total number OF lions in the state
= This calculation would give a lioi
> population in California OF about . i :
which we believe e somewhere nea
, me actual number
This number or lions can do Al
enormous amount OF damage TO tn
, deer. The minimum estimate OF tn
number or deer killed by a SinEl
lion each year has been placed at 50
Five hundred and seventy-five lion
will kill AZ least 10000 deer durinl
the year II deer are available. an,
deer are common in every part o
the state where lions are found"