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is found in any part of the yards, no time should be lost in digging 
it out. With the help of a good dog, a rat will rarely ever get away. 
In my many years of experience in raising pheasants, compara- 
tively few birds have been lost through rats. I attribute this mainly 
to the presence of one or more Airedale dogs. These dogs take to 
the hunting and killing of rats naturally and willingly, without 
guidance or training. With persistence and un- 
daunted courage, yet quiet and even-tempered, the 
Airedale is the pheasant breeder’s dog. He com- 
bines, more than any other breed, everything that is useful for the 
pheasant farm. R. M. Palmer, in his book “All About Airedales,” 
Says: 
The Pheasant 
Breeder’s Dog 
“Airedales were seemingly created to fill a well 
defined want and need for just such a dog as they 
are.”’ 
Pheasants soon become accustomed to one dog around their 
yards, but become greatly alarmed upon the approach of a strange 
one. At the present time I have a pair of Airedales that have the 
full run of the farm. With many visitors during the day time they 
are always quiet and agreeable, yet at night they never permit a 
stranger to enter the place. 
Of the various members of the hawk family that prey upon game 
birds, perhaps the western red-tailed hawk, because of his abund- 
ance, is the most difficult to control, notwithstanding the nice 
things said of him by our leading ornithologists. The 
Predatory 
: Cooper hawk is another offender. When it comes to 
Birds 
destroying both game and other birds’ nests, the com- 
mon crow heads the list. The Department of Agriculture has 
classed the crow as a desirable 
citizen. Since the crow him- 
self is a great destrover of bird 
life, by his persistent hunting 
for and destruction of nests, 
it is hard for those actually 
familiar with the subject to 
place him in the beneficial 
column. The examination of 
any number of crow stomachs 
during the year does not prove 
the crow beneficial to the 
Crow Eating Pheasant Egg farmer, the poultry raiser or 
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