444 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



To speak of a restoration of the " balance of nature " as desirable for the 

 improvement of Grouse moors is beside the point so long as the whole object 

 of every proprietor is to upset that balance in favour of one species only. 



How far the destruction of all animals and birds of prey as " vermin " is 

 reasonable, and which of them is most detrimental to a Grouse moor, are 

 questions which should have been settled long ago, yet the discussion as 

 to the use and abuse of vermin-killins: has now continued for more than 

 half a century, and still affords ample opportunity to gentlemen of leisure 

 to air their views in the local press. 



The controversialists may be divided into two parties. The one, the 

 more earnest and generally the more articulate, argue that to kill vermin 

 Aro-uments ^^ *^ interfere with the order of creation and to upset the balance 

 pi-eser\^n°^ of animal life on the moor. They assert that the mortality due 

 vermin. ^q u Qj-Q^gg Discasc " is of man's own making, because by the intro- 

 duction of protective measures the weak are preserved as well as the strong, 

 and thus the breed is allowed to deteriorate. They contend that if eagles 

 and foxes were allowed to multiply, all the sickly Grouse would be destroyed 

 by them, and only the fittest would survive. 



In the other camp may be reckoned those who believe in action rather than 

 in argument, the moor -owner, the sportsman, and the gamekeeper, and it is 

 to these that the present chapter is more specially addressed. There is no doubt 

 that among game preservers, and more particularly amongst gamekeepers, there 

 is a tendency to destroy vermin indiscriminately. The Committee has known 

 a gamekeeper kill cuckoos, and receive so much a head for them from his 

 master because they had barred feathers "like a hawk." Such a master was 

 worthy of such a servant ! 



Without entering into the polemics of this well-worn controversy a few 

 points not always put prominently forward may be mentioned. In the first 

 place, it may be suggested that owing to the artificial conditions which have 

 for years prevailed on Grouse moors the natural laws have little direct bear- 

 Game pre- iig on the point at issue. It is clear that if moor management has 

 artiHcmf" accomplished anything, we have long ago passed beyond the limit of 

 condition. g^^Qck that the moor would maintain if left entirely to natural 

 conditions. It is reasonable, therefore, to argue, that if we have established 

 and wish to preserve an unnatural stock of Grouse, we must not return to the 

 natural state of things. The practical moor manager is not concerned with 



