56 



In some States one county has required the presentation of 

 the head of an animal for the bounty while another exacted the 

 tail. As a consequence the hunters readily collected a fee from 

 each county. Every State offering bounties while surrounding 

 States did not has had to pay premiums on the heads of preda- 

 tory creatures from other States. 



Such protection as is needed by birds, game and poultry 

 against their natural enemies must and will be given without 

 the stimulus of bounty laws. Self-interest will teach the farmer, 

 poultryman and gamekeeper to destroy any animal that is 

 known to prey on his particular charge. The trapper will 

 keep down fur-bearing animals because of the increasing value 

 of their pelts. 



Sufficient protection will be given to birds against their 

 natural enemies by the shooters themselves when they learn 

 what protection is needed. All gunners will shoot the cooper's 

 and sharp-shinned hawks at sight when they know them and 

 know their character. They will also shoot cats, foxes, crows, 

 squirrels and all the enemies of birds indiscriminately, when- 

 ever they recognize them as enemies. Hence, so long as we 

 allow the shooting of game, the shooters are likely to keep the 

 enemies of birds within reasonable limits. Crows, foxes and 

 bird-hawks may increase in some cases, owing to their well- 

 known ability to take care of themselves, but the law does 

 not protect any of these creatures, and they may be kept in 

 subjection without bounty laws. 



Some of my published observations regarding the operations 

 of special bounty laws follow: — 



While the effect of bounty laws in general is bad, the practical operation 

 of laws directed at particular species is certainly vicious. We may regard 

 a bounty on the heads of cats as impracticable for obvious reasons, not the 

 least among which might be the encouragement of a new industry, — 

 the raising of kittens for the bounty. A bounty on cats, foxes, weasels 

 and skunks would encourage trapping, which is already exterminating 

 some of the smaller fur-bearing animals. The experience of States which 

 have placed bounties on the head of the English sparrow has not been 

 encouraging. These acts are said to have resulted in a slight decrease 

 of the sparrows, and the destruction of great numbers of native birds 

 killed and ignorantly offered for bounty. To put a bounty on the head 

 of the sparrow is practically equivalent to offering a bounty on all our 

 native sparrows, many of the warblers, the thrushes, wrens and a few 



