The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1937-10-14
TOO LATE TO
CLASSIFY
BY RUSSELL KAY


Well, there seems to be a sure
enough gang war developin' in
the state and as near as can
figure out the shootin' is liable
to start at any time.
1t seems the Nimrod Gang, a
bunch of professional killers
have enjoyed the privilege OF
bumpin' off our deer, and they've
paid a lot of protection" money
FOR the pleasure.
The 'understandin'" with the
authorities seemed to be perfect
and everythin' was goin' along
smooth, when without warnin
another gang comes along and
wants to muscle in" p
1t is more or less a complicated
mess, for the new outfit, known
as the Cattle Boys, amt got
nothin' personal against the MINI
rod Gang, but it has come to
their attention that in certain To-
calities the deer have been cut
tin in plenty on their special
racket by putin the finger on
their cattle so the ticks can get
lem
So while the Cattle Boys don't
want no trouble" they figure out
the only answer to their problem
is to just go into those localities
where the deer are causin' the
trouble and wipe 'em out.
Now the Nimrod Gang don't
go in for mass KILN; they get
their fun hidin' behind a tree
and poppin' off their victims one
at a time just for the fun of it,
end the idea of anybody wantinl
to blot out the deer population
of an entire swamp at one time
just naturally holrifies 'em.
Not bein' a member of either
gang myself / haven't been able
to work up much of lather one
way or the other, but | con un-
derstand how the sportsmen fee
/ can also appreciate the position
of the cattle men.
AT first, like lot of other
folks, l thought the Livestock
Sanitary Board was fixin' to kill
off al the deer in the state and
while l appreciated the import
ance of our livestock industry
and the necessity of tick eradica-
ton it seems an awful price
to pay.
But in tallsin' to DIR. j. v.
Knarp ! find that the Board has
no such crazy idea in mind. All
it wants TO do is simply destroy
the deer in four or five small
areas where they are in the
swamps. with these cleaned up
we can proceed with our tick
eradication plans and enjoy the
full cooperation of the Federal
government in the work.
Another point DR.. Kapp clear
ed up for me was how the tick
could be controlled by removing
the deer and not destroying 9TH
er wild life, such as foxes,
squirrels, bears and Dummies.
Now, accordin' to the Doctor,
lthere are lot of different kinds
of ticks just as there are differ
|ens mosquitoes, flies and other
insects. Some carry the "fever'
and others don't. More amazin'
still is the fact that the particular
tick that has caused all this con-
tsoversy is found only in South
Fqorida-he is the Boophilus An
nulatis Australis. I didn't find out
how much that amounts to in
American money, but the eatomo-
Icgists viii tell you il amounts
to plenty in the way Of loss to
the livestock industry.
State and Federal officials
point out that the number of
deer in the limited aress af-
fected is not large and with the
elimination Of the tick. re-stock-
ing will insure larger. healthier
deer than those that exist to-
day.
The future Of Florida's grow
ing livestock industry rests on
her ability to become and remain
TICK FREE. It has been a long
and costly fight and tire battle Is
almost won. Surely we're not go
ing 70 permit a few tieky deer in
remote swamp areas To undo al
sAza has h.zsn 1a~sss,s fsekssss