THE GAME BREEDER 



147 



Pheasants, a Dog and a Trap. 



A game breeder who recently called at 

 the office of The Game Breeder said a 

 dog dug under his pen and killed all of 

 his pheasants, a good lot of birds, in one 

 night. An Oneida trap, set for the dog, 

 caught him the following night but the 

 damage had been done. 



We told him his wire should have been 

 run under the ground and turned out- 

 ward for a foot or more in order to 

 prevent such occurrences, and that any 

 animal digging would leave a sign which 

 would indicate where to place the traps. 

 He said he knew that now ; and he would 

 begin right next time. The pen was 

 boarded at the bottom, as all pens should 

 be to prevent passing animals from 

 alarming the birds, but the dog easily 

 dug under the boards. All that is neces- 

 sary is to run a plough around the line 

 of the proposed pen and to turn the sod 

 out. The wire is then bent so as to lie 

 flat in the furrow and the sod is replaced- 

 over it. A small mesh wire is best since 

 it will keep out rats and other small ver- 

 min, and if traps for various enemies be 

 placed outside the fence they will con- 

 trol any vermin which may seek to get in. 



Every good game farm and preserve 

 should have an abundance of traps. They 

 are most important aids to the game 

 preserver. Those who have not done so 

 should write to the Oneida Community, 

 Ltd., Oneida, N. Y., and get their excel- 

 lent little book. The Trapper's Guide. 

 It costs 25 cents and it has been the 

 means of saving many game birds. 



New Game Breeding States. 



Many states enacted game breeders' 

 laws during the last winter and the num- 

 ber of game farms and preserves will in- 

 crease rapidly as soon as the people 

 know how to take advantage of the en- 

 actments permitting them to have an 

 abundance of game and excellent shoot- 

 ing during a long open season. 



We shall rapidly extend the educa- 

 tional campaign of the Game Conserva- 

 tion Society in the newly made "free" 

 states, and it will be our policy in the 

 future to give the most attention to the 



states where game breeding and good 

 shooting are legal industries. 



We are most interested in the states 

 where it no longer is criminal to produce 

 prairie grouse, quail and other indigenous 

 game. The common wild ducks, includ- 

 ing the near mallards used for sport, 

 and the common ring-necked and dark- 

 necked pheasants — including the many 

 half breeds, are becoming tremendously 

 abundant in some states and since many 

 new breeders are starting every month 

 we feel sure the ducks and pheasants 

 soon will be plentiful and fairly cheap 

 in the markets. 



It seems a pity to substitute foreign 

 fowls for our splendid quail and grouse 

 but the laws require this in Ohio and a 

 few other states. We shall push the 

 quail and grouse industry rapidly in 

 states where the laws make it possible 

 to do so and a big lot of money will go 

 to the quail and grouse farms far more, 

 we believe, than ever was sent abroad 

 for pheasants and gray partridges. 



We expect soon to have advertisements 

 of quail and grouse and their eggs and 

 the prices, obtained when they become 

 generally known soon will cause a big 

 increase in the number of quail and 

 grouse breeding reservations, game 

 ranches and preserves. We expect to 

 shoot on several places next winter 

 where the bag runs over several thous- 

 and quail in a season and we believe it 

 soon will be proper to describe these at- 

 tractive places. 



We, of course, will keep up the inter- 

 est in pheasant breeding. Our readers 

 who go in for quail and grouse will, no 

 doubt, shoot many pheasants and ducks 

 for good measure. 



We advise all of the quail "shoots" 

 to purchase and liberate a few pheasants 

 in the early autumn. They will prove at- 

 tractive in the field and on the table and 

 those which escape the guns will nest on 

 the ground, provided it be made safe and 

 attractive. 



Wild Cats and the Proper Remedy. 



The Maine Woods says : "Wildcats are be- 

 coming unusually bold. One was recently re- 

 ported seen in Augusta and an Oquossoc man 



