INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY EFFORT 289 



Private Wild-Life Sanctuaries and Game 

 Reserves 



We have, fortunately, in Canada many examples of what 

 can be accomplished by individual effort to preserve the 

 wild life in a limited area. The value of such instances can- 

 not be overestimated, both on accoimt of the examples they 

 offer of what can be achieved by individuals and their effect 

 on the abundance of the wild life of the neighbourhood. 



Mention has been made in previous chapters of instances 

 of individual effort, such as the work of Mr. Jack Miner, in 

 creating a wild-life sanctuary, particularly for wild fowl, 

 near Kingsville, Ont., and of the fifteen-acre game preserve 

 of Mr. Reuben Lloyd, a farmer at Davidson, Sask. In 

 Ontario the Provincial Government has taken the com- 

 mendable step of encouraging the establishment of wild-hfe 

 preserves by individuals, and, in addition to the "Miner 

 Sanctuary," it has recently set aside the "Peasemarsh 

 Farm," on the shore of Georgian Bay in the county of 

 Grey, as a bird sanctuary, at the request of the owner, Miss 

 E. L. Marsh. We hope this example will be widely fol- 

 lowed in other parts of the country, for nothing gives the 

 owner so much real pleasure as the possession of a tract of 

 land, however small it may be, in which the wild life is 

 protected, not only from human enemies but from pred- 

 atory animals, and particularly cats, the most destructive 

 of the alien enemies of our native birds. 



The owner of a private wild-life sanctuary soon gains the 

 confidence of the creatures that enjoy his protection. Daily 

 his enjoyment of such a sanctuary increases, as his knowl- 

 edge of the wild life that he is protecting grows and as new 

 members respond to his encouragement. The changing of 

 the seasons is followed by changes in his wild-life community. 

 There is a never-ending stream of new pleasures that can 

 come only to those who are fortunate enough to possess 



