THE EXTERMINATION OF WILD LIFE 19 



they are consequent upon the economic development of the 

 country. 



The mam axiom of wild-life protection is this: A species 

 of animal must not be destroyed at a greater rate than it 

 can increase. Further, the preservation of any part of our 

 native fauna depends upon the maintenance of sufficient of ) 

 its normal range to permit unmolested feeding and breed- 

 ing. In other words, killing for recreation or food must be 

 wisely regulated, and the provision of refuges is indis- 

 pensable. 



Much of the destruction that has taken place, and is 

 taking place, is thoughtless. The remedy for that is edu- 

 cation, supplemented necessarily by legislation. The peo- 

 ple of the United States and Canada are energetic in what- 

 ever they undertake, whether business or pleasure. But 

 that energy when applied to sport may be disastrous, and it 

 must be wisely restricted by law. Hornaday has aptly de- 

 scribed the struggle between the forces tending to destruc- 

 tion on the one hand and protection on the other. He 

 says: ''In every township throughout the whole United 

 States the destroyers of wild life either are active in slaugh- 

 ter or are ready to become active the moment they are 

 left free to do so. Every beast, bird, fish, and creeping 

 thing has its human enemy. Americans are notoriously 

 enterprising, restless, and prone to venture. It is that rest- 

 less activity and indomitable nervous energy that is man- 

 fully attempting 'dry-farming' in the west, desert-farming 

 in the southwest, and the drainage of the Florida Everglades. 

 Often the joy of the conquest of nature outruns the love of 

 cash returns. Apply that spirit to forests, and it quickly 

 becomes devastation. Apply it to wild life and it quickly 

 becomes extermination. Our conquering and pulverizing 

 natural spirit is a curse to all our wild life." 



Danger in Numbers. — The very abundance of our wild 

 life has frequently been the cause of its extermination. 



