The Omaha morning bee., 1925-04-05
BY WILLIAM T. HORNADAy.

The present state and future prospects of the birds
of North American such to fill the mind of every
friend of wild birds with gloomy forebedings The wild
quadrupeds of our country. game and not game, al
ready nearly gone that may to
trouble ourselves about them In 1922 in the best
state in land Pennsylvania 1t took 27 hunters to
kill one deer and POS to kill one bear. This the
proportion of hunters game killed by the Al 900
hunters who fully reported their luck.
limited effort to decent remnants of our
North American birds is today at its climax. If
the killers the deadly optmists win, greatly
fear that they WILL then last llable birds will
soon follow the bison moose caribou sheep goat, an
telope and grizzly bear reported abundance of ducks
their half winter has aroused feelings
of false security, which will merely to hasten the
end rs.4
If heretofore the odds against the birds been
great today they In this of 1925 it
that about 80 per of the of factors
that affect their fortunes have combined to destroy
them And it is the human equation that is delivering
the knockout blows The birds withstand the march
o; civilization the decrease of food and shelter, the
hawks and owls and the twin of hung dogs and
hunting cats and all the rigors Of the elements
and still carry They cannot however, withstand
the supremey cruel and murderous hunting conditions
of foolishly liberal laws and machine and auto
mobiles that greedy and reckless hunters have provided
for themselves through obligng lawmakers backed by
the newype conservationiss who optimistic that
they alarmed by nothing
In the pages of the official Game Laws for 1924-25
published last by the federal government under
headings of 4s states you will hnd As lists of down
andout game species catalogues of species under
the heading mo Open Season" are merely to show so
many gravestones vanished game and sport. Under
the head of Bag Limits" you will figures that will
you by their reckless size. Under the head of
"Open Seasons you will note the painstaking efforts of
the hunters to give themselves the most sweeping
privilege for slaughter. always taking the utmost ad
vantages of the helpless game. in the breeding
itself.
The only concession of the bird killer to the bird Is
a which it may possbly-if other enemies per-
mit-produce gunfodder for him.
If the 100000 sportsmen of the United States
s<llful enough kill in onehalf of the
game allowed them by law and by their licenses,
absolutely all the kilabe game of the United States
would be blotted out in hunting Only
sanctuary would remain.
The of the average resident hunting license is
$40 year, and 1t is CHASTITY fact that ii AZ states
only money available for the support OF
department and game wardcns is that derived
from hunting licenses the price OF blood Only one
state know. has risen to the decent level
of paying game protection work regardless of
hunting license fees but in several states 1t requires
constant fighting keep hunting license funds from
being stolen for good roads, education and other
Our American system of free.shootng for every citi-
zen and game protection by blood money alone is
foolish and sweepngly destructive Our big bag
limits and long seasons exravagant and some
times diotc and exterminatory.
Our national Indifference to the fate of game
quadrupeds already has caused the extermna-
ton of about per nations original stock
game, and 1t is about finish the remainder. Who
that game is plentiful than 1t was
80 years ago" is reckless with the truth. When Frank
warned the American people against the
tncton OF their supply he was prophet. The
Game Laws of 192425" abundantly prove that he was
right.
Easygong American folly. optimism and inertia
have needessy and wastefuly exterminated from the
list of kabe at least of wild species in
of states The records of the bison moose
caribou sheep goat antelope deer and bear records
u foolish and wicket waste, state by state.
The state by state determination Of the wild tur-
kew quail heath hen. grouse sharp-tail. prairie
chicken woodcock. snipe. whooping and several
species of geese point straight 10 the ultimate
finish hunting sport In America by the automobiles
and the deadly automatic and pump The total ex