154 WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



bounties for the destruction of "vermin" will lead to 

 the slaughter of a great number of quadrupeds and 

 birds under cover of the law, by alleged mistakes in 

 identification. The secretary of the Commission 

 has sent broadcast a stern warning to the effect that 

 no mistakes in the hunting of pests will be tolerated. 



The gray wolf has been pursued with great vigor 

 and vengefulness, and although an enormous num- 

 ber has been killed, the supply seems inexhaustible. 

 At times, "Old Lobo" drives a ranchman to 

 despair. In all-around cunning and resourceful- 

 ness, bears and pumas are mere amateurs in com- 

 parison. There is no royal road to any gray-wolf 

 pelt, but a $25 bounty is certain to reduce the wolf 

 population very effectively. A few years ago, a 

 gathering of stock-growers convened in Seattle to 

 meet an expert who had been invited and urged to 

 come over into Macedonia and instruct the popu- 

 lace on the latest methods of wolf destruction. The 

 assembly rashly concluded that it was about to 

 receive a sovereign remedy, a genuine specific for 

 the cure of stock- slaughter. 



When all had been said by the stock-men, the 

 government expert announced that the best way 

 to destroy wolves was to locate the dens and then 

 destroy both old and young. The proletariat was 

 greatly disappointed. It had expected a quick and 

 sure remedy, and it laughed the expert to scorn. 

 But the mistake was its own. There never was any 

 reason for the belief that human intelligence could 



