276 AXNUAL r.EPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGPJCULTURE. 



California, Texas, Utah, and Washington made direct appropriations 

 amounting to $688,000 to be expended in this work during the two 

 folloAving years in cooperation with the Biological Survey. 



Wherever work has been undertaken the rapid growth of coopera- 

 tive funds and the increase in the number of men particij)ating fur- 

 nish a practical demonstration of its success and usefuhiess. The 

 bureau is in constant receipt of urgent requests for additional help 

 far beyond the limits set by its available funds. 



Estimates based on information supplied by farmers and stockmen 

 indicate that the destruction of more than 32,000 predatory animals 

 under the direction of the Biological Survey during the j'ear re- 

 sulted in a saving of live stock valued at approximately $5,000,000; 

 and the destruction of prairie dogs and other rodents resulted in a 

 saving of enormous quantities of forage, and also of crops valued at 

 not less than $14,000,000. 



PREDATORY ANIMALS AND RABIES. 



Of the total funds available for the campaign against injurious 

 animals, about $375,000 was provided for use in destroying wolves, 

 coj^otes, mountain lions, bobcats, and other stock-killing animals and 

 for the suppression of wild animals affected with rabies. For the 

 prosecution of this work, which began in 1915, the Western States 

 have been organized into 10 districts, each with a trained inspector 

 in charge, as follows: (1) Arizona, (2) California-Nevada, (3) 

 Colorado. (4) Idaho, (5) New Mexico, (6) Montana, (7) Oregon- 

 AVashington, (8) Texas, (9) Utah, (10) Wyoming-South Dakota. 



During the year a force of from 400 to 500 skilled hunters has 

 been employed under the direction of the various inspectors. The 

 salaries of a part of the hunters are paid from the Federal Treasury 

 and of the others from cooperative funds supplied by the States or 

 by contributions from local organizations and individuals. As here- 

 tofore, the hunters are not permitted to receive bounties, and the 

 skins taken by each become the property of the Federal Government, 

 the State, or the organization or individual providing the money for 

 salary. Skins taken by Federal hunters during the year netted the 

 Federal Government $76,128.56, which has been turned into the 

 United States Treasury, making the total received by the Govern- 

 ment from this source to date $197,387.37. 



The number of skins or scalps of predatory animals taken by 

 official hunters during the year is as follows: Wolves, 584; coyotes, 

 27,100; mountain lions, 149; bobcats, 4,123; Canada lynxes, 43; 

 bears, 81. In addition, as a result of poisonous operations, so many 

 dead coyotes are reported by stock growers to have been found on 

 the ranges where poisoning operations were conducted that it is 

 safe to estimate the number destroyed in this way as more than 

 equaling the approximately 32,000 predatory animals of which the 

 skins and scalps were taken. 



Predatory-animal hunters are directed to consider bears under 

 ordinary circumstances as game animals and have positive instruc- 

 tions to take every precaution not to kill any except those known to 

 be destructive to live stock. Unfortunately, occasional unoffending 

 bears are taken in traps set for other animals, thus making the num- 

 ber of bears killed during the year considerably larger than Avould 



