Appendices 
I. Value of Wild Animals* 
BY 
C. D. Ricnarpson, West BROOKFIELD, Mass. 
HOSE beautiful wooded dells should be the haunts of the wild 
creatures, as when first discovered by the white man. Too long 
they, with their wild life, have been given over to the pot hunter 
and to him who would despoil them of their true charm. There is a 
growing recognition that the stiain of modern life can be best endured 
by often fleeing to the wilds, which calls at times to all, but louder to 
some than others. 
All over this great country of ours there are vast stretches of 
waste land, with their variety of woods, swamps, and hillside, which 
yield but little profit to the owner. Let us look a little into the future. 
Suppose we make something of this land, fence it in, reforest it, and 
stock it with game. It will require little care and the average farmer 
may lealize from it more than he now does from his tilled acres. The 
fence problem is practically solved in the use of woven wire, and a large 
tract may be enclosed at a comparatively small expense. 
The food problem, too, is a simple one, as grouse, pheasants, quail, 
etc., subsist almost wholly upon insects which, if unchecked, would 
destroy all vegetation, on noxious seeds, and on buds of unimportant 
trees, while the larger game animals, especially those of the deer family, 
feed almost wholly on twigs and leaves of vegetation which is of no 
real value, if not a menace to the farmer. In fact, the finest grazing 
ground for such animals is an old brush pasture in which the ordinary 
domestic animals would starve, but which furnishes to the wild crea- 
tures their most natural food. 
The question of vermin—the fox, weasels, skunk, cat, etc., the 
natural enemies of the bird—must be considered and a systematic war- 
fare waged against them. An English moor of from 100 to 500 acres 
often rents for £300 ($1,500) a season, just for the shooting privileges 
of the grouse alone. When the vermin is disposed of, the increase 
in bird life on such a tract is simply enormous. 
*From American Breeders’ Association Annual Report, 1911. 
