ECONOMIC BIOLOGY 387 



universal, and the term ^cooii dog is everywhere understood. In the crisp 

 autumn nights, 'coon hunting with its hghts and flares, its rough and tumble 

 chase, its shouting of men and baying of hounds, takes its devotees for a 

 time to another world. It has a strong appeal for some men, otherwise 

 civilized, and entitled to be ranked among the better classes. 



Among those who cannot plead the need of food but who hunt just for 

 the fun of killing, 'coon hunting is attended by grave abuses. Carried on 

 at night, and followed wherever the chase may lead, the permission of land- 

 owners is rarely obtained, if a 'coon or 'possum is "holed up," a tree will 

 be cut into; and, if "treed," the tree often is felled. This destruction is an 

 aggravation of trespass, and is something the perpetrators would bitterly 

 resent if done on their own property. Caustic criticism has justly been 

 passed on those who will cut down a tree (not their own) worth ten dollars, 

 or more, in order to get a two-bit 'possum. 



From a humane point of view, the practices of 'coon hunting are a sad 

 throw-back to a barbarous age. The treed victim is either shaken out, or 

 dropped by felling of the tree, into a pack of eager, yapping dogs, where 

 it is literally torn to pieces while yet alive. We pretend to regard with 

 scorn the barbarities of the arena as conducted under the Roman Empire, 

 but many of the things we countenance today are just as bad; and this rend- 

 ing of raccoons by dogs, in order to provide amusement is a deplorable 

 example of barbarism. 



The finish by rending is characteristic also of fox hunting, where the 

 animal is so mangled by the dogs that only the very hairy tail, or brush, 

 which is of no interest to the bloodthirsty hounds, remains for a trophy. 

 Fox hunting is participated in by both women and men, and is often an 

 important social event. 



KILLING WITHOUT WARRANT 



Fropagcmda versus Facts 



The gun and ammunition manufacturers and the trades that cater to 

 "sport" have organized a shameless campaign of propaganda against wild 

 creatures. The "sportsmen" have shot the wildfowl and the upland birds 

 so wilfully and so recklessly that game bird shooting is near its end. Years 

 ago the industries realized that new targets must be found, if the sale of 

 sporting goods was to be maintained. 



Propaganda was first directed against the birds of prey, the eagles, hawks 

 and owls; in consequence, they too are fast disappearing; and the relentless 

 cruelty of false propaganda is now being directed against the little animals 

 of the fields and woods, hitherto rightfully regarded as the friends of man. 

 Publicity is distributed through the medium of the rod-and-gun columns 

 of every city and county newspaper, and the magazines of the out-of- 



