The Kusko times., 1929-05-04
lsRELaErON OF COYOTES AND
 ! NOLvESUTO OTHER ANIMALS

g. animal, control for the Territory of Alaska, in ecent report, speaking of . thearsaation of coyotes and wolves to c other. animals, says:
 All nature strives to keen q rather uniform balance. Herbivorous 5 animals, and most of the game birds wcra.kept in balance by natural agen- cies, such as weather, and by the car
 nivorous animals that prey upon L, them, until man came on the scene to
 take also the animals and birds on which the, rapacious animals depend
 ed for food. Mans killing of the
 various so-called game animals and ! birds. and fur-bearers tends to keep the balance tipped against them per- manently. The only thing possible to ' do, therefore, to offset this disturb :. ance, other than enforcing game and fur laws, is to control the predatory j. animals. Mans lessening of certain 1, desirable game birds and animals is
 in the same ratio responsible for in- ], .creasing depradations upon r-bear- ! CTS by predatory animals, which is ! very marked in certain species in the Territory.
 sIn numbe of sections in Interior . Alaska there are found serious depra4 {. 0ations among foxes by coyotes and , wolves, chiefly the former. In prac-
 tically all the Chitina river valley, much of the Copper river valley, most of the Upper Nebezna, Cnsana, White river, and Upper Panama river ! valleys, there is at present either a total absence of foxes or a great de- pletion in their numbers. To these may be added the Yukon river sec tion from the Alaskan Yukon bound ary down past Eagle, Circle and Ma tion. These are the sections where !, coyotes have occurred and increased most over period of years. It is eve npossible to trace the advance of coyotes by marked decrease in the fox production, and the trappers note it with dismay, for they are thus de- prived of a valuable source of reve- nue. The more detailed reports already submitted record cases in which evidence of these depradations has been observed or authentically re- ported. In many cases family ,or entire colon yof foxes are run out of their dens or are both run out and killed by coyotes. Serious as are the depredations or wolves throughout .z,. ;. of Alaska. tho damage done to game and fur bearing animals by coyotes is not only far greater but is rap ely increasing in extent.
 "The depredations of coyotes are a contributing factor in the slower in- crease of ptarmigans and snowshoe rabbits, when the natural life cycle has depleted. the number of these birds an drodentts. Coyotes are espe- cially fond of the various members of the chicken and grouse families. They are also fond of fish and most TO- dents. In fact, the rodents seem to be natures provision for the coyotes existence, for it's function IS partly to hold them in check. In those sec tions of Alaska where coyotes find . rodents for sustenance, however, s their killing of them only contributes to the lessening of this food supply for the more desirable flr-bearers.
 How far the coyotes will hold back the normal development in the peri
 odical increase of the snoWshoe rab- bits and the ptarmigan, which are im-
 portant items in tn efood supply of
 fur-bearers, especially the lynx and
 the fox, it is impossible even to ap- { proximate. Whatever that ratio IS,
 however, it is certain. thas the coyotee sare detrimental to the same degree to the well-being of those fur-bearers,