Cx\LIFORNL\. FISH AND GAME. 



39 



of club members would be out shooting 

 at the club grounds, which are not on 

 the rice fields, but on open water and 

 tule marsh lands adjacent thereto. Thus 

 the ducks would be driven from the club 

 and open shooting grounds back to the 

 rice fields, where the rice farmer does not 

 permit trespassing while the rice is grow- 

 ing. Consequently, the club members 

 would be the only ones benefited by an 

 early season, while the rice would suf- 

 fer more than at present. 



Before night shooting was prohibited, 

 and before the use of smokeless powder, 

 some of the best duck shooting ponds 

 have been spoiled by shooting after dark 

 and by using black powder. Any duck 

 hunter of long experience can testify to 

 this. Ducks will not return to a pond 

 that has been shot on at night. The 

 idea of using bombs came from this 

 experiment. Smokeless powder is used 

 in fixed ammunition because it does not 

 frighten game, for it makes very little 

 noise and smoke. The use of smokeless 

 powder to scare ducks is money wasted. 

 This form of ammunition is made to kill, 

 not to frighten, but it has been used by 

 the rice grower and he receives no relief 

 except from the bird he kills. 



Although the experiments above out- 

 lined were tried on a limited area only, 

 they demonstrated that there is a feas- 

 ible method of protecting crops from the 

 depredations of birds. 



We are sure that if the rice growers 

 themselves will cooperate, a plan of 

 defense can be worked out as suggested, 

 which will make it unnecessary to 

 threaten the extermination of the wild 

 duck without obtaining relief from the 

 other birds which are the worse menace. 

 But the growers should eliminate the 

 voice of the man who is not a rice 

 farmer, and who only takes up the cry 

 for the purpose of slaughter. He does 

 not kill mudhens or blackbirds, because 

 he does not eat them and cannot sell 

 them. — George Neale. 



BLACK BEAR WORTH PROTECTING. 

 The recently enacted "bear law" was 

 one of the best measures the Fish and 

 Game Commission has ever succeeded in 

 placing before the state legislature. It 



will effectually put a stop to the ruthless 

 slaughter of these animals at a time 

 when they are utterly valueless. I have 

 heard owners of two-bit "bear hounds" 

 boast of having killed as high as forty 

 bears in one summer in order not to 

 "spoil" the pro-German dachshunds who 

 had treed them. One bear is of more 

 value to the community than a dozen of 

 these worthless sausage hounds, who 

 make the ni;;hL hideous with their fiend- 

 ish howls, as they chase the does and 

 fawns up and down the mountainside. 



To the average mountaineer bear meat 

 is preferable to venison. To mention 

 bear meat in their presence is to cause a 

 sensation similar to that produced by the 

 mention of "sweet 'taters an' 'possum" 

 in the presence of the congregation at a 

 colored camp meeting. 



The meat, lard, and pelt of a three- 

 hundred pound bear in prime condition 

 represents an actual value of over thirty- 

 five dollars. In addition to this, outside 

 hunters whose love of bear hunting 

 attracts them to the mountain regions 

 doubtless spend in transportation, license, 

 food supplies and indicentals, an actual 

 value of over one hundred and thirty 

 dollars to the community. The small 

 amount of damage done by an occasional 

 "hog killer" is greatly offset by his value 

 as an asset to the state, and as a source 

 of food supply to the residents of the 

 districts he frequents. The lard and oil 

 extracted from a bear in good condition 

 sometimes amounts to as high as fifteen 

 gallons, but five gallons is probably the 

 general average. This lard and oil, if 

 used for culinary purposes, will prove 

 very acceptable to the delicate stomachs 

 of those afflicted with dyspepsia or other 

 stomach ailments. 



During the open season there will 

 undoubtedly be many hunters who will 

 kill bear for the pelt alone, and the meat 

 will be left as food for coyotes. At any 

 time and more particularly at the present 

 time, when it is our duty to conserve the 

 nation's food supply, it is a crime to 

 allow this meat to become a total waste, 

 and we sincerely hope that immediate 

 steps will be taken to prevent it. — 

 Feank B. Hoffman. 



