THE GAME BREEDER 



181 



More Coons. 



More coons are being taken in Texas 

 than ever before according to the fol- 

 lowing clipping sent to The Game 

 Breeder : 



Marshall, Tex., Feb. 16. — •Coon skins are 

 bringing wealth to the negroes of East Texas. 

 The hunting of these animals is now a com- 

 mercial pursuit instead of being merely a sport. 

 The skins are now selling for $2.50 to $3 each, 

 instead of 25 to 35 cents, as they were only a 

 few years ago. 



Coon hunting is so profitable that many 

 farmers are unable to. keep their negro labor- 

 •ers. It is not unusual for a negro to trap or , 

 kill as many as ten coons in a. single night. 

 Although trapping is the favorite method of 

 capturing the animals, the coon dog is still 

 used extensively. The swamps around Caddo 

 Lake and extending into Louisiana are over- 

 run with coons. Their habitat, however, ex- 

 tends throughout all the wooded portion of 

 East Texas. 



Hundreds of negroes and many white men 

 Tiave established camps in the more likely 

 localities. The skins are assembled at the dif- 

 ferent railroad shipping points, where they 

 find a ready market. 



Raising Game for the Market. 



In many parts of Oregon there are un- 

 cultivated places that might be used to 

 good advantage in raising deer, elk and 

 other wild animals. There is nO' reason 

 why deer or elk cannot be handled much 

 the same as domestic animals. According 

 to the tagging law, which was passed at 

 the last session of the legislature, deer or 

 elk, when raised in captivity, can be sold 

 in market the same as a sheep or a calf 

 is sold. 



A deer recently sold in one of the Port- 

 land markets according to the tagging 

 law attracted wide attention and brought 

 a good price. It also was the cause of a 

 large number of complaints coming from 

 hunters who did not know of the tagging 

 law, but who thought the game laws were 

 being violated. 



A very profitable industry might well 

 be started, especially through the Wil- 

 lamette Valley, in rearing game birds for 

 market and for breeding purposes. A 

 farmer who can make a success at rais- 

 ing turkeys can readily raise Chinese 

 pheasants. The demand for pheasants is 

 very large. Oregon is known through- 

 out the United States as the home of the 



Chinese pheasant. Orders for these birds 

 come from far and wide. F'or table use 

 the Chinese pheasant brings a price of 

 $1.50, while a chicken of the same size 

 will sell for half the amount. For breed- 

 ing purposes these birds retail from $4 

 to- $6 per pair. 



The demand for Chinese pheasants and 

 other game birds is much greater each 

 year than can be supplied. If some of 

 our energetic farmers could only be in- 

 terested in the . matter, there is no rea- 

 son why our markets and hotels could 

 not be supplied with pheasants through- 

 out the year just as they are supplied 

 with chickens. 



It is a very easy matter to govern 

 the marketing of these birds by the tag- 

 ging system and their rearing in large 

 numbers would mean an attractive re- 

 source to Oregon.- — Oregon Sportsman. 



Night Trapping. 



A reader said to the editor not long 

 ago that he knew he had plenty of rats 

 and other vermin about but he was afraid 

 tO' set traps because he knew his young 

 chickens and turkeys would get caught. 



He will find a useful hint in reading 

 what Owen Jones says in the note "How 

 to Detect Vermin" in this issue. He set 

 the trap at dusk and ordered it sprung 

 at daybreak if necessary. It turned out 

 not to be necessary since the game en- 

 emy was captured. Many traps can be 

 set safely at night, the time when game 

 enemies do the most damage, and sprung 

 in the morning before the game is liber- 

 ated or before it is astir if it be wild 

 bred. 



Most amateurs do not use nearly 

 enough traps. The traps are very cheap 

 and since their use is followed by an 

 abundance of both hand reared and wild 

 bred game we would strongly urge our 

 readers to use plenty of traps. 



Pole Traps. 



We again advise our readers to set 

 their traps for hawks and owls and crows 

 on high poles and in tall trees and not on 

 fence posts and low branches which are 

 frequented by quail and song birds which 

 should not be destroyed. 



