GOLDEN J:AGLE. 31 



The killing of jack rabbits and cottontails in the western United 

 States is also a benefit, for these animals are often a pest. In the 

 deer forests of Europe this eagle is considered beneficial and is pro- 

 tected because it preys upon the hares that abound there. In the 

 far north of both continents, however, rabbits can not be called 

 injurious, and the eagle is therefore not to be specially commended 

 for destroying them. 



Other animals eaten to some extent by the golden eagle, and 

 whose destruction is to be treated, in large degree at least, as advan- 

 tageous, are marmots, rats, mice, and rattlesnakes. The eagle does 

 man another good turn in disposal of carrion, though this is not a 

 very regular or frequent occurrence. Good, therefore, in some respects, 

 but bad in others, the golden eagle must be considered on the whole 

 more harmful than beneficial. 



DESTRUCTION BY MAN. 



The golden eagle has few natural enemies, and when free from 

 human interference usually maintains its numbers. It is, however, 

 very easily trapped, taking she.ep, deer or rabbit bait most readily, 

 but attracted by almost any kind of carcass, and so unsuspicious 

 and eager for a meal that often several may be caught successively 

 at the same place by the same bait. In fact, it frequently walks 

 into snares set for other things; and Mr. E. S. Cameron states that 

 in Montana some j'ears ago the traps laid for wolves all but extermi- 

 nated the golden eagle over a large area. It is not easy to shoot, 

 being exceedingly war}^ under most circun.stances. It is further- 

 more apparently not affected by poisoned bait, and there are lacking 

 definite data to show that such means would be efficacious in its 

 destruction. 



The Indians prize the wing and tail feathers for their war bonnets, 

 and kill the eagle whenever opportunity offers. In some sections, 

 particularly in California, it suffers to no little extent from the raids 

 of egg collectors — all the more from its habit of returning each year 

 to the same locality. In some European countries bounties are paid 

 for the destruction of the golden eagle, but in many of the States 

 of the Union and in some of the provinces of Canada it is now pro- 

 tected along with the bald eagle. Its general extermination is by 

 no means to be recommended, for in places where it does damage it 

 usually may be kept in check by local means. 



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