THE WAR ON PREDATORY ANIMALS 217 



included 213 bears, 88 mountain lions, 172 wolves, 69 wolf pups, 6,487 coyotes, 

 870 wild cats, 72 lynxes, 2 wolverines, and 6 foxes. 



It is interesting to note that only one animal was killed in Minnesota, a 

 bear. 1,430 were killed in Idaho and 1,432 in Utah. Most of the wolves were 

 killed in New Mexico, most of the bears in Oregon, most of the mountain 

 lions in Arizona, and most of the coyotes in Colorado, Idaho, and Utah. 



Chief Forester Graves says: ''The total number killed was 12.5 per cent 

 less than in 1910. There was a falling oif of 21 per cent in the number of bears, 

 10 per cent in the number of mountain lions, 53.5 per cent in the number of 

 wolf pups, 11 per cent in the number of coyotes, 25 per cent in the number of 

 wild cats, and 45 per cent in the number of lynxes. There was, however, an 

 increase of 25 per cent in the number of grown wolves killed. These reductions 

 are probably due to a general reduction in the number of predatory animals 

 infesting the National P^'orests and adjacent ranges. 



"The work has served as an example and a stimulus to the settlers within 

 and adjacent to the forests, who have themselves killed many thousands of 

 animals. On the Wallowa National Forest, in Oregon, the spread of rabies 

 among the coyotes during the summer of 1910 caused widespread apprehension 

 and resulted in serious losses of live stock. At the request of the settlers, 

 the district forester assigned several of the best qualified forest officers in the 

 State to the work of destroying the coyotes. They were so successful that 

 this spring some of the permittees allowed their lambing bands to graze un- 

 attended throughout an entire day without suffering any loss whatever from 

 wild animals, a condition practically without precedent in the history of the 

 country." 



SOME MORE THRILLERS 



Many of the rangers are famous hunters and in any ranger's camp or at a 

 rangers' meeting in the west the visitor may be entertained, as long as he 

 desires to hear them, with stories of thrilling experiences. Few of the rangers, 

 being modest men, will talk about themselves and the most famous are usually 

 the most reticent, but they tell about the adventures of each other with 

 eagerness. One of the best known, Jim Owens, who worked In the Kaibab 

 National Forest district, is one of the most reticent of men. lie killed 52 

 mountain lions along the Grand Canyon section in one year and when asked 

 to tell of his experiences said, ''I just shot 'em." 



Some of their adventures are amusing as well as thrilling. Harold S. 

 Pierce, supervisor at Sheridan, Wyo., and two assistants, were examining 

 timber in a mountain section. They were armed with note books and foun- 

 tain pens, when, at a spot thirty miles away from the nearest town, they saw 

 a bear, a cnb. Foolishly they tried to capture him, although they knew his 

 mother must be close by. He ran into some underbrush, and following they 

 almost ran into the arms of his mother. She did not wait for an introduction. 

 The nearest tree was 100 yards away and it was not a big one at that. Pierce 

 thinks he did the distance in less than ten seconds and he was the last to arrive, 

 with the bear so close behind that she almost annexed a section of his trousers 

 as he shinned up the tree. They had the pleasure of looking down upon the 

 bear until nightfall when, in disgust, at their exclusiveness, she departed. 



