94 REPORT OF THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



It is commonly believed by hunters and others that the fur-bearing 

 animals feed primarily upon game and that these animals are re- 

 sponsible for the scarcity of game. Such, however, is not the case. 

 Years ago, when game was more abundant than today, all fur bearers 

 were also more abundant. 'The quail and other game knew how to hide 

 their nests and to protect their young and themselves from those ani- 

 mals with which they were familiar. As soon as the human equation 

 came in, then the game began to lose out. At first the muzzle loading 

 gun was used, then as game became scarcer and more difficult to secure, 

 the breech-loading gun, and at present the automatic, first with five 

 shells and now in the duck regions with nine. Why not put the blame 

 for the scarcity of game where it belongs and not hold the fur-bearing 

 animals responsible! The natural food of the fur animals consists of 

 small rodents, rats, mice, gophers, ground squirrels, etc. Of these we 

 have more than an abundance in California. Of native species and sub- 

 speei&s there are 7 moles, 17 shrews, 73 mice, 39 rats, 16 ground 

 squirrels, 19 gophers, besides the common domesticated rats and mice, 

 a total of 175 species. Mice and rats are most prolific breeders. Seaton, 

 in "Life History of Northern Animals", in referring to the breeding 

 capacity of the meadow mice, says : 



' ' To breed like rabbits is an old measure of fecundity, but those who 

 established the standard were not fully acquainted with the IMicro- 

 tinae. These mice can marry, multii)ly and raise to independent age a 

 whole family before the rabbits get much beyond the period of gestation. 

 They begin in the early spring or even late w^inter, and seldom stop 

 before snowfall. Meanwhile the young of the first breeds are at work in 

 assisting the noble work of multiplying the race, supplying further 

 toilers for the task of converting a world of vegetable matter into a 

 world of sublimate flesh and blood, for the service and subsistence of 

 the vast tribe of mou>:e-parasites known as birds and beasts of prey 

 * * * "An animal which multiplies itself by six every six weeks 

 would in six years possess the earth and more than fill its possession if 

 something were not done about it. The voles (meadow mice) are very 

 near such rate of increase. Fortunately there are numberless able re- 

 ducers of the vole population eager to do their very excellent best but 

 these do not any more than strike a balance. If they relax their efforts 

 or fail in the least, the mouse millions break forth in devastating 

 hordes." 



The fact that destructive rodents are held in control by the fur bear- 

 ers should not ])e lost sight of, as without doubt if mice and other 

 rodents should be allowed to multiply without check, California as an 

 agricultural and horticultural state would be a thing of the past. 

 Respectfully .submitted. 



(Signed) J. S. Hunter, 

 Assistant Executive Officer. 



