Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1924-07-24
| H,nti1S House Cat

aroused against the pelican LOT It's iesey
ages upon fish. .
The court Of last resort Is undoubtedly Inc
United States Department of Agriculture Thaf
department has issued bulletin by p. =. Rain
bach Of the bureau of biological survey
.Some of the complaints against the crow, Mr'
Kalmbach saws. s'are welnigh traditional, while
few of its beneficial habits have long been malters
of common knowledge. Irreconcilable diIerences
of opinion regarding the crows worth have oIte1
been the rule among residents or coinnun.ly'
and it has been only recently that sufficient lnfor
nation has been assembled from most parts OF
the birds range to allow thorough study OF It's
habits" And he goes on
what a bird eats or does not eat the first ques-
ton to be answered in an inquiry into its economic
status About 20 per cent Of the yearly 1909 bs
are found insects, spiders millipeds, crustaceans,
snails the remains Of reptiles amphipans WIG (,
birds and their eggs, poultry ana theH essS ~
mammals. and carbon
over two-thirds of the animal food or about =
fifth OF the whole of the crow, is composed o.
insects, and these include many OF tn most as
structive pests with which the farmer has to deal
Beetles of various kinds constitute ABOUT 10 per
cent of the crows annual food. They are a pro.
miscuous lot, beneficial, some neutral ana
others which comprise the major portion highly
Injurious Orthoptera including grasshoppers, 10
Gusts and crickets. form about an equal quantity'
hut te damage this order insects inficts far ex-
ceeds that done by the various beetles eaten inc
short horned grasshoppers especially are destruct
t.,a and uhIie these insects have never been sucn
serious pests in eastern states as in some part|
Of the West the annual toll taken by them through
the country amounts to many millions q ooli an5
In August and September grasshoppers form nearly
U.4e-ffth of the crows food. Caterpliars TORN
about is per cent of the diet of the adults; nesr
things however eat nearly four times as much
The size and the voracious appetites of crows
make these birds especially valuable In times o.
outbreak of one another of the insect pests upon
which they feed In feeding on mammals the crow
supplements the good work of hawks and Owls by
tending to hold in check rodent pests. AS car
ron feeder the crow ably supplements the good
work of turkey buzzard. especially along river
banks and tidal flats
cused outnumber its good deeds, but this does not
mean they are equal in Importance. Many 81 lne
crows depredatons may be lessened or ehl'reiy
prevented by protective measures, while In It's prey
ing on it does work that can III be spared
An oyerabundance of these birds is not to the pest
interests the farmer. but on the other hand ex-
termination of the crow would result In taKlns
away most effective enemy of certain insect pests
Consequently the insttuting of control measures
is justfable locally where the birds are taking
more than fair share of the crops in return TOT
good services rendered, while in other sections
where crows occur in normal numbers they may
better be allowed to exist unEolested
Mr. Kalmbach, writing in Nature Magazine, Is
emphatic on other points Of Importance He
says, in part:
game law enforcement If the for shooting
crow will afford a universal, logical ana sum
cient rea son for being aield? Experienced admin
istrators of games laws realize the added dlflcut-
ties of such situation In fact an antl-croW cam
paign conducted in this manner might well De
looked upon as one of the disastrous blows at
eficient game law enforcement since the passage
of the migratory bird treaty act simpfed warden
service by putting a stop to spring shooting.
And yet aside from these SPECIFIC objections, IS
there not something still more fundamental at Is
sue in situation of this kind? Organized ana
privately financed propaganda, with all the import
that usually goes with that word IN current usase'
has been invoked formulate public OPINION re-
garding the economic position of wild creature-a
matter in which sound economic principles ana e g
zeal scientific reasoning alone should prevail
shall repeat what has been said previously. that
under variety of situations crow control IS Jus,
bile and even necessary. 1t Is however, a PROB
lem that along with other problems that arise In
connection with our wild life, calls sIor sooer
tboueybt logical reasoning and careful adminstra-
tion At all times control measures should pc IN
hands of those who give us constant asssr-
anne and guarantee of such procedure. loose
thinking distorted data unsound propaganuS' ana
irresponsible conduct of campaigns have no place
in such an undertaking.