THE EXTERMINATION OF WILD LIFE 19 
they are consequent upon the economic development of the 
country. 
The main axiom of wild-life protection is this: A species 
of animal must not be destroyed at a greater rate than it 
can increase. Further, the preservation of any part of our 
native fauna depends upon the maintenance of sufficient of 
its normal range to permit unmolested feeding and breed- 
ing. In other words, killing for recreation or food must be 
wisely regulated, and the provision of refuges is indis- 
pensable. 
Much of the destruction that has taken place, and is 
taking place, is thoughtless. The remedy for that is edu- 
cation, supplemented necessarily by legislation. The peo- 
ple of the United States and Canada are energetic in what- 
ever they undertake, whether business or pleasure. But 
that energy when applied to sport may be disastrous, and it 
must be wisely restricted by law. Hornaday has aptly de- 
scribed the struggle between the forces tending to destruc- 
tion on the one hand and protection on the other. He 
says: ‘In every township throughout the whole United 
States the destroyers of wild life either are active in slaugh- 
ter or are ready to become active the moment they are 
left free to do so. Every beast, bird, fish, and creeping 
thing has its human enemy. Americans are notoriously 
enterprising, restless, and prone to venture. It is that rest- 
less activity and indomitable nervous energy that is man- 
fully attempting ‘dry-farming’ in the west, desert-farming 
in the southwest, and the drainage of the Florida Everglades. 
Often the joy of the conquest of nature outruns the love of 
cash returns. Apply that spirit to forests, and it quickly 
becomes devastation. Apply it to wild life and it quickly 
becomes extermination. Our conquering and pulverizing 
natural spirit is a curse to all our wild life.”’ 
Danger in Numbers.—The very abundance of our wild 
life has frequently been the cause of its extermination. 
