XVIII 

 MAMMALS AS SCAVENGERS 



Many mammals live to some extent upon carrion and other waste 

 and decomposing material, and are therefore somewhat beneficial be- 

 cause of that repulsive habit, but it is doubtful whether the total result 

 of their activities in that line is of much consequence, though the aggre- 

 gate amount of re fuse consumed by all the species must be large. Among 

 birds, such species as the gulls, gathering in great flocks about harbors, 

 garbage dumps, salmon canneries, etc., and feeding upon the refuse, 

 doubtless do much good. Perhaps there is among mammals no parallel 

 to this example. Vultures, crows and other birds feed upon carcasses 

 and pick up much other material which, if unconsumed, would putrify, 

 and they probably do some good in that way, but no more than is done 

 by various mammals of like habit. 



Every western rancher is well aware that coyotes consume great 

 quantities of carrion, and they take advantage of this knowledge by 

 inserting poison into the carcasses of cattle, horses and sheep in order 

 to destroy the coyotes. The scarcity of vultures ("buzzards 5 ') in many 

 localities where they were once abundant is due to the eating of poisoned 

 meat prepared for coyotes. Dixon examined many coyote stomachs and 

 discovered that 50 per cent of all the flesh of livestock contained there- 

 in, 25 per cent of the flesh of game and 12.5 per cent of the flesh of 

 rodents was carrion. 



Visitors to Yellowstone Park watch the bears gather about the 

 garbage dumps, feeding upon the refuse from the camps and hotel 

 kitchens and poking around the garbage cans in the camps to see what 

 they can find that is eatable, however unsavory it may seem to the 

 human occupants of the camps. They are sometimes found eating car- 

 casses of deer or livestock killed by mountain lions or wolves, and 

 wrongfully accused of having themselves killed the victims, though 

 they do not hesitate about killing animals when they are hungry and 

 have the opportunity. This is especially true of the grizzly. 



The house rats and mice and many other species of rodents feed to a 

 considerable extent upon refuse and garbage. Hyaenas are notorious 

 scavengers, even entering the villages in search of garbage, though they 



