86 ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



on a basis of 6 per cent, would be worth $1,000,000,000, which led to 

 the observation that "the conservation of wild animals and birds is not 

 a mere fad, indulged in by those who have only a sentimental interest 

 in the subject." 5 



Adams, in an elaborate table covering the years 1921 to 1925 in- 

 clusive for all the national forests of the United States, gives the 

 following figures of 'mammals usually called game animals on all the 

 national forests in 1925: Antelope, 7568; black bear, 44,326; grizzly, 

 5593 J caribou, 143 ; deer, 605,964; elk, 72,165 ; moose, 6061 ; mountain 

 goats, 17,887; mountain sheep, I2,O52. 6 Of these animals, in most of 

 the states only the bear and deer are now to be really considered game 

 animals, as the hunting of the others is prohibited or they are not to 

 be found in most of the states. 



Of the smaller mammals in North America, rabbits are the only 

 ones of great importance as part of our food supply, though many 

 squirrels, raccoons, opossums and others are obtained. It is estimated 

 that 25,000,000 rabbits are killed annually in the United States, worth, 

 at twenty cents each, $5,000,000 for their meat, 7 while many of their 

 skins find their way into the market and the hunting of these animals 

 furnishes recreation to thousands of boys and men. In 1920 there 

 were short open seasons on rabbits in twenty-three states, mostly east- 

 ern, with no restrictions elsewhere except the usual hunter's license 

 requirements. England is said to produce 30,000,000 rabbits annually 

 and imports a large number from Belgium, but these are largely raised in 

 confinement, not wild. However, large shipments of wild rabbits are 

 made to Europe from Australia and New Zealand, where they have 

 become a serious pest. 8 



There are people who believe that hunting game animals should 

 be entirely prohibited, but they are greatly in the minority, usually 

 not entirely consistent in their views concerning the sacredness of the 

 lives of the lower animals, and often very much mistaken concerning 

 the facts of natural history. Without going too much into detail, we 

 will say that hunting within reasonable limits is both economically and 

 morally quite proper. If it is proper to kill cattle, hogs, sheep, chickens 



6 Nelson, Scientific Monthly (quoted in California Fish and Game, ix, 161, 1923) ; 

 contains a lot of statistics on game and its value. 



8 Adams, The economic and social importance of animals in forestry, with special 

 reference to wild life, Roosevelt Wild Life Bull., in, opposite p. 558, 1926. 



1 Palmer, U. S. Dept. Agric. Bull. No. 1049, 1922. 



8 Dearborn, Rabbit growing to supplement the meat supply, Yearbook U. S. Dept. 

 Agric. for 1918, pp. 145-152; Rabbit farming, Farmers' Bull., No. 1090, 1920. 



