Show agoa ko ito enn whim 1 alvo IV il C TA in a corilia cornfield e I 1 1 up III to five T the it 0 a am aim flocks ore are captained deml cum com in ili it n I 1 t I 1 a s hold r caucuses in numbers tint 1 blacken it field azuar have sent sentinels lite 1 who ia ia to determine what are vermin and who 15 to exterminate then them k nall X 44 01 K 0 4 by JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN UK III 1 natu nature a lovers naturalists natura lists hu inane society members and sportsmen are finding 1024 1924 an exciting year sear they are still discussing the slaughter of the american eagle in ly alaska where the inhabitants have L killed of the great birds in the lie last five years for a bounty of CO 60 cents and are now working overtime for a bounty of ono one dollar and now comes along another astonishing thing a campaign against vermin initiated by a gunpowder company and promoted by advertising and privest tile the gunpowder company poses as a public benefactor the opponents of the campaign charge that it Is purely a commercial proposition propos liton one result is a nation wide vide controversy contro ersy among all classes on various arlous aspects of the situation what are vermin ermiel er which are tile fri friends entis and which the lie enemies of mail among the various arlous animals and birds condemned by thy the gunpowder company as vermin erman erm ln who Is to decide who Is to wage war mar on them Is it advisable to destroy nat natures b balance alance Is tile the campaign beneficial or harmful the gunpowder companas comp anys list of animals and birds condemned as vermin includes snapping turtle woodchuck porcupine bobcat red squirrel water nater snake field rat gopher v weasel easel hunting house ent great horned ov owl snow ov owl goshawk crow crow blackbird starting starling english sparrow kingfisher coopers hawk sharp chinned shinned hawk experienced woodsmen woodsman woods men who are always practical know that a big snapping turtle eats many a duckling that it a bobcat Is LI a pest that a v weasel easel Is it a terror that soine home of the lie hawks and ill the a great horned owl tire are fair game that the red squirrel has little to recommend him bilm hut they would not pick on oil the kingfisher they would admit that the he porcupine kills ninny many trees and Is tin an unmitigated nuisance in a camp but they tile WO would aid not liae have it exterminated for the reason that it Is the only edible animal that an unarmed tenderfoot lost ond and starving in the woods can catch find and kill the hunting eat cat the house eat cat gone wild Is an 0 which hns has no fi lends friends among sportsmen tsin ell find and few bev defenders even cen among eat cat lovers its days das tire are numbered bcd nationwide legislation will before long exterminate this menace to bird life the I 1 he starting marling has few fe friends if tiny an eugene relin in brought birds to this country and liberated them in central park new york city from these starlings anve love come the millions that have hae spread north west and south in ili il evidence it II I 1 for example great grant locks flocks this spring were nvere using the state capitol as a roost ing place they apparently could not be kept away and the state house was tin an awful mess iness insects Insect st I 1 1 theres heres a danger mark science tells us tint dint tile the insect Is mans mails most Oung dangerous erous wem anil ami ill all the resources of science ne engaged in warfare against st the insect tribes which threaten to ont ent up III the lie world birds are natures balance against the insects recognized us as such by a document of no less importance than the international treaty between the united states and canada the upsetting of natures imbalances in the arit mal world tins has proved dangerous dong erous by experience ex perien ce the west indies imported the mongoose tc kill oft off the snakes it also killed oft off nil all small animal life and bird life australia imported rabbits and had biad to spend millions to keep from being eaten f gaw CV e out of hoase and home the united statha hits has comprehensive laws against the importation of animal ufa bf and they are birl strictly etly enforced effo ced as a of national protection the Ani american erlean nature association Is one of the organizations concerned conier ned over oer the situation its organ the nature magazine washington has this thi to say among other things what are which are predatory animals want steps should tx be taken it any agaIn sit ma tending members of the bird and animae world and who la Is to dictate these theae steps the powder company has haa apparently made a at baudy dy 0 of the question que atlon and concluded tint that the antu anlu trials on its ita list hat are v vermin ermin it advocates the pro motion of vermin hunting clubs and ana suggests the creation of 0 vermin hunting week an elaborate 8 advertising dver camp campaign also has ba ben been worked out do de ea 4 N al 4 signed to bring about concerted action against the vermin in the interests of the farmer and tho the sportsman incidentally the campaign will stimulate the market for shells shell there has arisen h however 0 wever a wide disagreement among experts about this campaign officials of the united states department 0 of agriculture assert that chilt certain of 0 the birds listed hated should not be widely killed at the same time they agree that some or of the dims birds nna and animals iio ii o predatory and could be classified as vermin there Is in disagreement as well among the officials of 0 the tha various states and between state laws relating to game and firearms the association made inquiries in the states nna and found that the laws relating to the open carrying of firearms range from strict prohibition except during the hunting season to no restriction at all the laws and opinions as to the vermin list arry as widely in virginia for instance the depart anent of rime game and inland ll sheres had instituted a campaign for vermin control in advance of the gunpowder company here alere Is the departments statement we ve believe that the matter of 0 vermin control in america has never heretofore received the proper attention and that a control of 0 the vermin w which prey upon useful wild life and game birds and animals Is just all necessary for or their conservation BB as tag bag limits hunting seasons and other restrictions in the interest 0 of the hunter wo we are not unmindful of 0 tile the tact fact that some of the hawks and some of the owls are probably moro more beneficial than harmful we do not belle believe veit it la is possible nor would we desire to exterminate the crow or any other e ia of bird or animal however ho weer we do believe that by b y greatly reducing the number of predatory birds and animals we can effect a great saving in useful wild life we find so ao to speak two schools of 0 thought in this matter one headed find and dominated by ultra theorists and scientists 4 the other by the dead practical man who has no vision and often walks over a precipice before lie he sees it we believe there Is a middle ground upon which practical wild life conservationists should travel and so far as we can we propose propos e to do this massachusetts allows the licensed hunter to kill at any time all the birds on oil the gunpowder com list except the kingfisher her opposes tile the campaign chios laws allow the hie killing of tile the chicken hawk blue hawk coopers chopi is hawk sharp chinned shinned hawk great horned owl english I 1 iro X 11 K t i E and goshawk tennessee protects only the woodchuck and tile game warden states that it has always been permissible to kill owls croas blackbirds tind find hawks us its they are deadly e enemies lie niles to the quail in new elaml hampshire 19 alre there Is a bounty on bobcats bob cats nature Al Mag agazIne alno goes on to sj say beyond these considerations there are questions of greater importance they I 1 hey are questions of principle and practice one effect of this campaign will be to loose in the fields and woods outside of the hunting season thousands with guns on their shoulders hould ern ready to shoot and find out what they shot not afterward it will immeasurably increase the usual hunting season hazards to the tramper the picnicker and tile the passing automobilist from tile the stray and ill III directed shot and how many who would enter such a contest merely to win arites could be trusted to spare game rr or harmless species specie provided no vermin present themselves it Is difficult even for the naturalist to distinguish the different species of hawks on tile the wing at gunshot range for every 40 turtles killed perhaps only one will be a snapping turtle the kingfisher because nature endowed him with an appetite tor for fish usually minnows may suffer surfer b because because he poaches on the sports sportsmen mens s preserves preserve 9 nature struck a balance in the wild life world it created friends and efie enemies mies protectors and attackers lac kers conservatives and liberals in an instinctive existence of wild winged and furred beings there Is danger in attempting to change that balance except upon the most final of evidence danger lurks as well in the authority given the local dealer to determine whether the evidence submitted by contestants te Is really what it la Is represented to in be valuable members of tile the bird or animal world mav be killed and add points to the score of the contest shooter the american nature association stands definitely in dav favor r of clean sportsmanship in season properly restricted and with proper penalties for its lt abuse the evidence today however Is in too indefinite and opinions too varied to grant giant to a powder company authority to declare open war upon any group of animals broin a reading of the of columns heing printed in the press of the country it appears that the controversy has haa become largely centered upon tile the crow the pros and cons of this feathered defendant are being weighed in the scales of popular opinion and it may ile be sold sald right herr bere that this alleged bandit in shining black Is an interesting te defendant lie ile lias has been clever dougli enough nou gli to sun survive he and increase notwithstanding the settling of the country lie ile has learned the of man and has adapted himself to changed run con ile he knows front from afar whether a man mr ries a stick or a gun ho he perches on scarecrows scare crows and signals anyone an j one who thinks crows cannot converse coerse after it 11 fashion of their own N i not familiar with their ways was the counts in the indictment against the alio crow tire many the farmer charges that lint lie can devastate dea state 11 i of young corn in less time tilt than it takes to plant it that lie eats cuts fruit anti melons anti and vegetables that lio lie attacks young chickens in ili tile tho barnyard alint ili he emeji plucks out tile tho eyes of 0 and anjul ell sheep sportsmen say that ho hunts out the nests of quail anti anil rats tile the eggs nit ka ture lovers accuse him of prey ing on oil the young soung of birds and of at email ald lid life in madison and A 0 C tle the far lieve liac an idea that tle the crows spread cholera gernis they tho hava bulled balled to get tile alio leg legislature Isla turo to of for fer a ten cent bounty so they have hae established esfer asfor tin an annual crow round roundup up tip last year oar they killed 1 cows tills this year tar hunters in two das killed mid and retrieved and a 0 to few w over our the crows crowso feet were mere put on exhibition tile tho town ton of tilden played host there was a banquet a theater party and it a dance dalice the far west and southwest have a very ery different feeling about tile tho crow lie is 13 protected in california and a group of neighboring r baates late 9 tile tho humane hulate association of 0 california depre settling ao 30 allied humane organizations called upon tilt the gunpowder company tu dose close its unwise unwarranted anti rud contest and withdraw its offered prizes me association ams tin 4 tile opinion of state scientists that tha t the crow does doea far moru more goo good d than harin manifestly atly the C row crow it if lie Is to bo be acquitted bo fore the bar 0 of r public opinion must bo be pro ved to bo be a clinin plon d destroyer es troyer of insects T gilbert pearson president of tile the notional national association of audubon societies declares the accused is not a miu anu unu 11 were bolter better understood lie ho would have more friends than toes foes ile iio eats cats a great many harmful insects and in this way makes amends for tile sins sing in the cornfield tile tha crow Is nn an economic factor in farm life and the present organized effort to annihilate the species recalls the mob anoli spirit which wall waa hloyd ca aroused against the pelican tor for its legendary ravages upon fish the court of last resort la is undoubtedly till ali united states department of agriculture that department lias has issued n bulletin by 13 it II balm bach of 0 the bureau of oc biological survey some of tile hie complaints against tile the crow mr says bays aro are well nigh traditional while a few of its beneficial habits hove long been matters matter of common knowledge irreconcilable differences difference of opinion regarding the crows worth have often been tile the ru rule to among residents of a find and it has been only recently that lint sufficient clent anfor matlon lins has been assembled from most part s ol of tile birds range to allow a thorough study of its habits and lie goo goes 4 on what a bird cats cata or floes does not eat Is the first ques tion to be answered in ili nn an inquiry into its econom economic lo status about 28 per cent 0 of tho the yearly food ot of tile the adult crow consists of 0 animal matter in this are found insects spiders crustaceans snails the remains of 0 reptiles amphibians wild birds and their eggs poultry and their alic lr eggs small mammals manit nals and carrion i over two th thirds ads of 0 the animal food or about a 8 fifth of the whole diet ot of the crow la Is composed ol of insects and aid 1 these include many ot of the most moat destructive tive p pests eats with which tho the farmer lifts has to deal beetles of various kinds constitute about 75 76 7 5 per cent of 0 the crows annual food they are a pro lot some gome beneficial some son to neutral and others which comprise the major portion highly busts ousts injurious including grasshoppers locusts and ana crickets form orni about an equal quantity but tile tho damage this order ot of inflicts tar far exceeds that done by tho the various bodies beetles eaton eaten the short horned grasshoppers especially are destruct ive ve and while these theae insects have if vever ever been 0 buch uc h I 1 serious posts in tile the eastern sta states tea nl at in some parts parti 0 of the west tho the annual toll taken by them through the country amounts to many of 0 dollars in august and september grasshoppers form nearly one fifth of the crows food caterpillars form orm about 16 15 per cent of the diet ot of the adults adult 61 As clingo however eat nearly four times as nuch much r the size and the voracious ull of 0 crows make these birds especially valuable in times of outbreak of ono one or another 0 of the lined pests upon which they teed feed in feeding on marn mammals mals the crow supplements the good work of and owls by tending to hold in check rodent hefts As a carrion feeder the crow ably supplements auppl ants the good work of the turkey buzzard bui asard along river banks bal tidal flats the offenses offen sea of which the crow hag ben been accused outnumber its rood good deeds but title ills do does a not mean they alfr ar equal in importance many of va fio crows depredations may LIA lii |