of the burrow. (I would like; to write something about the bene- 

 ficial ti'aits of the eoyote, but 1 am not looking for trouble.) 



Our friejul {'I), the house-eat, is supposed 1o be a ck'stroy(;i- 

 of rodent i)ests. To a certain extent that is true. They also kiU 

 young chickens, ducks and useful birds, and are also a disseminator 

 of disease, tuberculosis, tonsi litis, scarlet fever, small pox, hydro- 

 phobia, etc. They are also commonly infested with a skin disease 

 known as ring-^^orm. The scratch or bite of a cat has been known 

 to produce tetanus or lockjaw. Most cats are good mousers, so are 

 traps and poison. House-rats are hard to trap or poison, so are 

 rat-catching cats hard to find. Feed cats well and they are, as a 

 rule, poor mousers. Don't feed them and they are better mousers. 

 They also kill more birds and chickens, paw over more manure 

 and garbage, and thus become germ infected. 



In Colorado we do not have many stray cats, but the Atlantic 

 states have them by the thousands, where they destroy untold 

 numbers of useful birds. 



The writer has always made it a point to kill, if possible, all 

 stray cats he finds in the fields or woods. (Also some that are 

 not strays, if they are far enough from home.) So let us eliminate 

 the house-cat as an important factor in. rodent control, and, on 

 account of their habit of feeding on useful birds, place them where 

 they belong, a household pet of doubtful character. 



You seldom read an article, bulletin or circular on either 

 snakes or rodents but what the writer elaborates on the beneficial 

 traits of snakes, from their habit of feeding on injurious rodents. 

 The writer has been guilty of the same offense in times past, but 

 of late years we have had a change of sentiment on this subject. 



Snakes are cold-blooded animals, their food is taken whole, 

 and usually alive, and the food is slowly dissolved by the acid 

 juices in the stomach. On account of snakes being cold-blooded, 

 digestion is slow, about two weeks' time being required to digest 

 the ordinary ground-squirrel. On account of this fact, and as the 

 period of snake activity is short, they are of very little importance 

 economically compared v\^ith warm-blooded animals, where diges- 

 tion is rapid and a large amount of food is required. 



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