DAMAGE TO FOOD SUPPLY BY MAMMALS 43 



dogs in Ohio amounted to $152,034 worth, and in Missouri $2OO,ooo. 38 

 The damage of this sort is mostly in the eastern states, the coyote 

 taking the place of the dog as a sheep killer in the western states. 



It is generally believed that deer form the customary food of the 

 mountain lion, though these big cats are also dreaded enemies of sheep, 

 pigs, cattle and colts. 39 It is estimated that in California they kill 

 30,000 deer annually, about 52 deer apiece. 40 Dixon's investigations 

 sustain their evil reputation as deer killers, but indicate that they are 

 not as great enemies of domestic stock as is generally supposed. 41 Of 43 

 stomachs examined by him, 34 (80 per cent) contained remains of deer 

 and only 2 (less than 5 per cent) contained remains of stock. In their 

 appetite for game they resemble the African lion, which is destructive 

 to almost all the large game animals of that region. Bobcats, wildcats 

 and lynxes live to a considerable extent upon rodents and other small 

 mammals, but sometimes raid poultry pens, catch game birds and kill 

 lambs. 42 They are not abundant enough in most localities to be of much 

 economic importance. The dubious economic status of the house cat is 

 discussed at some length in the systematic portion of this book, and 

 need not be commented upon here, except to say that they do some 

 good as enemies of destructive mice, and do some harm in the destruc- 

 tion of insectivorous birds that are useful in keeping down insect pests 

 of field, garden and orchard crops. 



The Carnivora, however, do not entirely confine their depredations 

 to game and stock animals. The fondness of foxes for grapes is pro- 

 verbial. Nearly everybody is familiar with the old fable of the fox who 

 was unable to reach the grapes, hence decided that they were sour any- 

 how, whence the much-used phrase "sour grapes." Some trappers have 

 discovered that green corn is an excellent bait for a coyote, though it is 

 doubtful whether these animals ever seriously damage the corn crop. 

 However, from California comes the report of coyotes damaging 

 grapes and melons, 43 and it is said that in some California localities 



^Lantz, U. S. Biol. Surv. Bull. No. 20, p. 17, 1905, citing Sheep industry of the 

 United States, U. S. Dept. Agric., 1902. Coll, Sheep-killing dogs, Farmers' Bull., No. 

 1268, 1922. Simmons, Farmers' Bull., No. 1268, 1929. 



"Roosevelt, With the cougar hounds, Scribner's Magazine, xxx, 431-433, 1901. 



40 Hunter, California Fish and Game, vn, 99-101, 1921. Bruce, ibid., vin, 108-114, 

 1922. Bell, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agric. for 1920, pp. 289-301. 



41 Dixon, Journ. Mammalogy, vi, 40, 1925. 



42 Dixon, Journ. Mammalogy, vi, 36-38, 1925. Bailey, Farmers' Bull, No. 335, 1908 ; 

 N. Amer. Fauna, No. 49, p. 149, 1926. Howell, ibid., No. 45, 1921. Merriam, ibid., No. 

 3, p. 79, 1800. 



43 California Fish and Game, x, 94-95, 1924. 



