BIS APPEARING GAME 187 



nothing about to-morrow. The animals are 

 there and they believe they should have a 

 chance at them now. These are the people 

 everywhere who bring pressure to bear on local 

 members of the legislature belonging to their 

 districts, and the members, fearful of losing ad- 

 herents and with nothing more than a passing 

 interest in the game themselves, introduce laws 

 and give their vote without regard to the future 

 of the game and in accordance with the wishes 

 of the selfish ones, relying upon the fact that 

 the remaining majority have too little interest 

 in the subject to be influenced by their course. 



Mountain sheep have three great enemies 

 that naturally retard increase, even when there 

 are no open seasons as in Colorado — the 

 poacher, the cougar, and the golden eagle. 

 These are the enemies, in fact, of all game ani- 

 mals, not only here, but throughout the game 

 districts of the West, wherever they exist, and 

 unfortunately the poacher is to be found wher- 

 ever there is game, East and West, though here 

 and there I found localities where a strong 

 game-protection feeling has grown up and 

 poaching is not common. 



Practically wherever I went I encountered a 

 strong feeling of sympathy for the poacher. In 

 some sections ranchmen and mountaineers ex- 



