224 PROBLEMS IN WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



the Chicago market during the closed season. Efforts were 

 made to catch them during the time when they were hunt- 

 ing, and when these were unsuccessful it was decided to 

 watch the highways leading into Chicago. 



A screen of state officers was thrown out over the roads 

 on which the poachers would most likely travel, with the 

 United States protector in charge of the round-up. A party 

 of three men traveling in two cars, without licenses, con- 

 taining well over five hundred ducks, was caught by a state 

 highway patrolman and turned over to the United States 

 protector. In this instance the federal district attorney was 

 very anxious to cooperate and fought the case through with 

 great vigor, succeeding in obtaining a jail sentence of six 

 months plus a fine for one of the defendants, and fines of 

 $300 and $100 for the other two. 



It would have been possible to prosecute this case in the 

 state courts also, for the same deed constituted a violation 

 of the state closed-season law, but as a general rule the 

 conservation authorities are satisfied with one successful 

 prosecution. The general understanding seems to be that 

 for petty offenses covered by both state and federal law, the 

 violation will be tried in the state courts because a more 

 speedy trial is possible. For more serious offenses the par- 

 ticular circumstances in each case are considered. 



Enforcement as the Warden Sees It: The average Amer- 

 ican is not accustomed to think of the game patrol as 

 dangerous work, yet in the wilder parts of the country it 

 may be. The arrest in any case of an armed man who may 

 through fright or on purpose fire his gun is a ticklish 

 business. 



In the wilderness areas of the northwest the dangers are 

 greatly increased. There the arrest is often made far from 

 civilization and the warden operates against men who are 

 known to have bad criminal records. These men will fight 



