THE WOODCHUCK 



49 



will show in condensed form the bounty situation in the counties 

 in which inquiry has been made. 



RATE AM'T PAID ON 



COUNTY (CENTS) DATE WOODCHUCKS 

 Allamakee 10 1914 (June) $112.10 



250.00 



2.50 

 8.35 



1,314.00 



1,665.15 



53.60 



1.50 



146.75 



714.20 



763.45 



2,064.80 



22.95 



6.50 



10.50 

 2,786.00 



REMARKS 



1909 offered 15c each; 1912 $1.00 



a dozen 

 Discontinued 



Discontinued 



Began paying bounty in 1911 



Discontinued 



Paid only in 1910 and 1911 



Withdrew in 1912 



No bounty 



Bounty in 1913 and 1914 only 



No bounty 



Total bounty on gophers, wolves, 

 foxes and woodchucks 



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

 paper but five are now paying a bounty on this 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 will be seen that no uniformity of bounty prevails, and 

 that the rate differs from ten cents to twenty-five cents. In some 

 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 which 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 woodchuek 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 and if every farmer 

 4 



