CONTROL OF INJURIOUS MAMMALS l6l 



a foot or two higher would be better. 6 Woolen cloths soaked in sheep 

 dip, hung in the trees by means of wires, so as not to come in contact 

 with the bark, are said to keep deer away from orchard trees. 7 



The two most destructive groups of mammals are the "beasts of 

 prey," especially the Canidae and Felidae, and the Rodentia and their 

 allies. In the control of these groups the United States Biological 

 Survey cooperates with farmers and stockmen, placing the government 

 experts in charge of the work. In such cooperative work in the western 

 United States from 1914 to 1923, the hunters and trappers killed 

 186,172 coyotes, 4916 wolves, 999 mountain lions, 83 lynxes, 23,274 

 bobcats and 579 bears, the skins of which were sold for $310,306 to re- 

 pay the government for part of the expenses of the work. 8 There is a 

 growing belief among naturalists that the campaign against coyotes may 

 be carried too far, a subject discussed- in another chapter. Poisons are 

 extensively used in such work, especially against coyotes, and many of 

 the animals are shot, but a much larger number are caught in traps 

 than are shot. Trained dogs have been found very effective in hunt- 

 ing mountain lions. 9 In California 3627 of these big cats were killed 

 under the bounty system from 1907 to 1919, then the California Fish 

 and Game Commission decided that a better way is to employ one or 

 more expert official hunters, with their dogs. 10 The big cats of other 

 lands, such as the tiger, African lion, leopard and jaguar are usually 

 taken by rifle or trap. 



Sheep and other domesticated animals may be protected from coy- 

 otes, wolves and sheep-killing dogs by a fence of three- foot woven 

 wire, five-inch mesh, with one barbed wire stretched close to the ground, 

 the woven wire set three inches above it, and above the woven wire 

 two barbed wires set six inches apart, all tightly stretched. In regions 

 where snowfall is heavy other barbed wires may be added at the top 

 or wider woven wire used. 11 



In the control of rats, mice and some other rodent pests, the first 



6 Lantz, Deer farming in the United States, Farmers' Bull. No. 330, p. 12, 1908 ; 

 Raising deer and other large game animals in the United States, U. S. Biol. Surv. 

 Bull. No. 36, p. 37, 1910. 



7 Dondero, Protecting orchards from deer, California Fish and Game, xiv, 221, 

 1928. True, ibid., xvm, 136-147, 156-165, 1932. 



"Adams, Roosevelt Wild Life Bull, in, 582-583, 1926. See also Bell, Hunting 

 down stock killers, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agric. for 1920, pp. 289-301. 



9 Roosevelt. With the couger hounds, Scribner's Magazine, xxx, 417-435,1901. 



10 Hunter, The control of the mountain lion, California Fish and Game, VTI, 99- 

 101, 1921. Bruce, The how and why of mountain lion hunting, ibid., vin, 108-114, 

 1922; The problem of mountain lion hunting in California, ibid., xi, 1-17, 1925. 



11 Bailey, Directions for the destruction of wolves and coyotes, U. S. Biol. Surv. 

 Circular No. 55, p. 5, 1907 ; ibid., No. 63, 1908 ; Farmers' Bull., No. 335, 1908 ; Wolves 



