THE WOODCHUCK 



49 



will show in condensed form the lioimty situation in the counties 

 in which inquiry has been made. 



Rate Aii't Paid on REiiARKs 



County (Cents) Date Woodchucks 



Allamakee 10 1914 (June) $112.10 1909 offered 15c each; 1912 $1.00 



a dozen 

 1915 Discontinued 



Buchanan 25 1913 250.00 



1915 _ Discontinued 



Clay 25 1913 2.50 Began paying bounty in 1911 



1915 8.35 



Clayton 25 1913 1,314.00 



1915 1,665.15 



Dallas 15 1913 53.60 ^. 



..QH- Discontinued 



Davis 25 1913 1.50 



1915 146.75 



Delaware 20 1913 714.20 



1915 763.45 



Fayette 20 1910 2,064.80 paid onlv in 1910 and 1911 



1915 



Henry 20 1913 Withdrew In 1912 



1915 No bounty 



Union 15 1913 22.95 Bounty in 1913 and 1914 only 



1915 No bounty 



Wapello 25 1913 6.50 



1915 10.50 



Winneshiek 10 1913 2,786.00 Total bounty on gophers, wolves, 



1915 foxes ai'd woodchucks 



Of the sixty-two counties visited during the preparation of this 

 paper but five are now paying- a bounty on tliis animal, although 

 some others have paid a bounty in times past. The most common 

 answer to the question as to why the bounty on woodchucks was 

 discontinued is that it has been too great a drain upon the county 

 funds in proportion to the results obtained. In looking over the 

 table it wdll be seen that no uniformity of liounty prevails, and 

 fhat the rate differs from ten cents to twenty-five cents. In snme 

 cases the rates in adjacent counties present a considerable differ- 

 ence and animals killed in the county offering a small bounty 

 are often taken to the county in Avhich a larger bounty is paid. 

 It would seem that the bounty in order to be at all effective and 

 fair to everyone concerned should be uniform in all parts of the 

 state. However, the bounty system is not here advocated as an 

 effective method of dealing with the woodchuck situation. In lo- 

 calities where the animals are plentiful and a cause of consider- 

 able damage, trapping may be resorted to with excellent results. 

 Woodchucks are easily caught in steel traps nnd if every farmer 

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