THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF GAME 75 



prairie grouse no longer occur in hundreds of counties 

 where once they were tremendously abundant, and the 

 wild ducks are never seen on thousands of ponds and 

 small lakes and streams where the shooting was fine a 

 few years ago. The wild ducks cannot nest and success- 

 fully rear their young beside waters which are overrun 

 with trespassers, and dogs, cats and rats, in addition to 

 their natural enemies, which are sufficient to check their 

 too rapid increase and to preserve nature's balance. 



Even in Great Britain, where preserves are numerous, 

 it has been found impossible to entirely exterminate ver- 

 min, and a continual war is waged against game enemies. 

 The idea that it is not necessary or desirable to exter- 

 minate all vermin seems to be gaining ground. The Rev. 

 H. A. Macpherson, a good game preserver and writer on 

 field sports, has well said, "Vermin should not be ex- 

 tirpated root and branch, but common sense requires 

 that they should be kept within reasonable numerical 

 limits." Referring to a statement of an observer that he 

 counted the remains of over thirty grouse under the 

 branches of a large fir, which had been killed by a kite, 

 Dr. Macpherson says: "Sorry should I be to do an in- 

 jury to a British kite. But our personal feelings must 

 not be allowed to overpower our better judgment, and 

 the preservation of rapacious birds, however desirable 

 from a scientific or philosophical standpoint, possesses 

 some distinct drawbacks for game preservers." 



A good rule to follow is to control the natural ene- 

 mies of game only when they appear to be doing serious 

 damage. A hawk trap recently has been invented in 

 England which captures the hawks alive. The hawks 

 which do very little damage and which are regarded as 



