ss 



RECREATION. 



ago. Much praise is due Mr. Clark for 

 his fearless prosecution. 



E. F. Manntel, 

 Dep. Fish and Game Warden, 

 Evansville, Ind. 



HAD A RIGHT TO SELL THEM. 

 A doctor here, by the name of Chidester, 

 had 3 deer on his farm, said to have been 

 raised by him. They became troublesome, 

 by wandering away and getting on neigh- 

 bors' property. Dr. Chidester sold the deer 

 to a butcher and slaughter house owner, 

 one of the firm of Schaffner Bros., who 

 butchered them for the market ! Our game 

 warden here is one Rogers, and it would be 

 useless to go to him for information or 

 help. I have brought the case to the notice 

 of Arthur Dunn, constable, who was for 

 merly game warden, and a good one, but 

 had to resign because the State would not 

 back him up in a lawsuit with a dealer, 

 and he paid good money out of his own 

 pocket. He has promised to look up the 

 law on the question, and I think will act 

 if he can. Will you kindly advise me what 

 could be done in this case? If the L. A. S. 

 can possibly do something I wish it 

 would, for this was certainly a brutal and 

 inhumane act. If you can do nothing else 

 roast them and ask Erie daily papers to 

 copy. C. W., Erie, Pa. 



Unpleasant though it be, it is a fact that 

 those deer were not game, and were not 

 subject to the game laws of Pennsylvania. 

 Having been domesticated, they were 

 simply live stock, just as so many cows, 

 or sheep, or hogs would be ; and the owner 

 had the same right to dispose of them to 

 the butcher that he would have had to 

 dispose of any 3 of his other domestic 

 animals. — Editor. 



A SLAUGHTER OF RABBITS. 



I have just come in from Mantua, a 

 small town about 10 miles West, where I 

 enjoyed a little shooting. The morning I 

 arrived 600 rabbits were being shipped to 

 Pittsburgh, all having been caught within 

 a radius of 4 or 5 miles. Two boys were 

 out 2 days and came in with 285 rabbits. 

 The town is full of ferrets. 



One man sold, last year, $110 worth of 

 pelts, including everything from fox down. 

 Portage county seems to have an abun- 

 dance of quails, rabbits and squirrels of all 

 kinds, with a heavy sprinkling of pheasants 

 not difficult to bag. 



A. A. Browne, Windham, Ohio. 



The above was referred to Mr. Reutin- 

 ger, then Chief L. A. S. Warden of Ohio. 

 His reply follows : 



During the last General Assembly the 



law protecting rabbits was repealed. This 

 was brought about largely by the farmer 

 members of the Legislature, who claimed 

 rabbits were becoming so numerous that 

 they were destructive to crops, trees, etc. 

 Therefore, it would be impossible for me 

 at this time to stop the destruction of these 

 animals. The Sute is swarming with them 

 and I know that in many peach orchards 

 trees suffer considerably from being girdled 

 by rabbits. We endeavored to head off the 

 movement to repeal this law, knowing 

 quails and other game would suffer, as 

 hunters would kill all kinds of game under 

 the pretense of hunting rabbits. 



L. H. Reutinger. 



BUSINESS MEN APPROVE. 



Here is a copy of a letter writen by a 

 prominent business man of Burlington, 

 Iowa, to Congressman Hedge of that 

 State, which shows how the majority of 

 reading and thinking sportsmen of this 

 country view the important question of 

 game protection : 



Burlington, Iowa. 

 Hon. T. Hedge, M.C., Washington, D. C. 



Dear Sir — I enclose herewith a circular 

 issued from the New York office of the 

 League of American Sportsmen. I have 

 been much interested in the work of this 

 Association for some years. It has done 

 much good in the line of protection for 

 our fast vanishing game against the aver- 

 age game destroyer, whose idea of the 

 value of game is regulated by its market 

 price. From your long acquaintance with 

 me you know I formerly killed a great deal 

 of game, but my sons and I have in the 

 last few years realized much more than 

 formerly that game is worth a great deal 

 more alive than dead, and should be de- 

 stroyed sparingly to obtain the greatest 

 value for the human family. There are 

 many others in Iowa who will voice my 

 sentiments in this matter, and you will 

 do the cause of game protection great 

 good if you will insist on the passage of 

 the Lacey Bill H. R. No. 10.306. If you 

 will take time to read this bill I think 

 you will agree with me as to its value 

 toward the protection of game. 



Yours truly, Carl Leopold. 



DEPENDS ON THE LOCALITY. 

 I note that you are roasting people for 

 killing too many rabbits. Please tell me 

 what is your object in protecting rabbits? 

 If every one, cottontail or Jack, were dead, 

 this country would be better off. They are 

 the worst of pests. There is more damage 

 done to orchards by rabbits than by any- 

 thing else. One farmer had a large orchard 

 and rabbits killed two-thirds of his trees. 

 I am a reader of Recreation and enjoy it. 



