212 AMERICAN FOKESTKY 



quick and a sure shot. He fired as the big bear arose to his towering height 

 and the bullet struck rather high in the shoulder. With a terrific roar of 

 pain and rage Toto charged down the slope, slashing at the aspens with his 

 fore paws. These aspens were from three to four inches in diameter, and 

 close together, yet in his charge Toto tore through them and snapped them 

 off as if he was rushing through a field of corn. 



Moody fired steadily, and as it was afterward found every shot took 

 effect in the neck, shoulders or chest. Some knocked Toto down or staggered 

 him, but they did not stop his deadly charge and with blood pouring from his 

 wounds and wild with rage he lurched onward until, when Moody fired the 

 last shot in his magazine, putting the bullet through Toto's brain, the blood 

 from the wounded bear spurted over him and he had to jump back to avoid 

 being crushed as Toto fell dead at his feet. 



THE NEED OF EXTERMINATION 



This is but one of the many thrilling stories told of the adventures of forest 

 rangers in their persistent fight to exterminate predatory animals, yet the 

 records of these thrilling escapes from death, these daring attacks, or pro- 

 longed hardships, are not found in the records of the Forest Service. It is 

 no part of the duty of the brave and hardy rangers to exploit themselves. All 

 they do is to report the number of animals killed and to tell how region after 

 region is now being rid of the animals that prey upon the stock and the 

 property of the ranchers and the farmers. 



That the extermination of these animals is necessary is evident when it 

 is stated that Toto killed, it is estimated, $40,000 worth of stock ; that a full 

 grown wolf will destroy about $1,000 worth of stock a year, and that the 

 average family of wolves will get about $3,000 worth yearly. Mountain lions, 

 lynxes, wild cats, coyotes and others are almost equally destructive. It is 

 estimated that in Wyoming and Montana wolves kill from fifteen to twenty 

 per cent of the increase in the herds. They usually select the calves and 

 yearlings for slaughter, but if these can not be had cows, and often full 

 grown steers are attacked and killed. 



The problem of exterminating these predatory animals is one that calls 

 for determined and persistent labor by men who are skilled hunters, who 

 thoroughly know the country in which they operate and who are familiar 

 with the habits of the wild animals. Bullets, traps and poison are used and 

 the rangers have done most effective work. Thousands of animals have been 

 killed and already several districts have been entirely ridden of these beasts 

 of prey. 



THE ANNUAL KILL 



In the report of Chief Forester Graves for 1911, it is shown that in the 



tates of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, 



Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, 



mmg 7,971 animals harmful to stock and to game were killed. These 



