26 
Game Preserve law the creation of these sanctuaries is more flexible 
and I am confident many more of these tracts will he offered for the 
use of the Commission for periods of ten to twenty years. 
FEEDING OF GAME. 
While last winter very little feeding of any kind was necessary 
due to the lack of snow, in anticipation of more severe winter weather 
all officers were some time ago instructed to get in touch with sports¬ 
men throughout their respective territories and make arrangements 
to have game of all kinds fed whenever necessary, also to make a 
special effort to trap a number of envoys of quail in the new traps 
supplied last year in order that the birds may he cared for during the 
winter time and properly paired off next spring. Wherever necessary 
the assistance of Special Deputy Game Protectors under pay at a 
reasonable rate will be secured as heretofore to help cover the re¬ 
spective counties thoroughly, and in the portions of the State where 
there are goodly numbers of wild turkeys considerable special as¬ 
sistance will be employed, so that nothing may be left undone in the 
way of supplying food wherever possible. The sportsmen throughout 
the State have in the past rendered splendid assistance in the feeding 
of game of all kinds, and I am sure will do their utmost during the 
present winter If necessary. While most species of game birds and 
animals can survive a most severe winter fairly well without feed, 
still if supplied food they will come through in better condition and 
produce more young with far more stamina than would otherwise be 
possible, so that the feeding of game birds and animals will at all 
times be a profitable expenditure of time, energy and money. 
BOUNTIES. 
The people throughout the Commonwealth Interested in bounties 
are very much pleased with the new system for the payment of boun¬ 
ties and the increase in the bounties for the weasel and the wild cat 
is without question causing people to take more interest in killing 
these game destroyers than heretofore. There has always been room 
for doubt as to whether or not the reward or bounty was any addi¬ 
tional inducement over and above the inborn desire of all hunters 
and farmers to kill game and poultry destroyers, or whether many of 
the animals classed as vermin would not be caught in traps set for 
the purpose of securing furs regardless of the bounty offered. To a 
certain degree both these positions are correct and the offering of a 
reward does not cause the destruction of any additional animals in 
many such cases, but on the other hand I am thoroughly convinced 
t t c h o s > r 1 i is an incentive to put forth a special effort to catch 
animals on which a bounty is offered. Only recently I personally ac¬ 
companied a man around his trap line where traps had been set 
almost exclusively for wild cat, and whenever this trapper found a 
weasel was working on his bait he also judiciously placed a weasel 
trap and in this way annually catches many weasels that the average 
trapper would not bother about were it not for the bounty. 
In some portions of the State I find trappers dislike that feature 
of the new bounty law compelling the sending of all skins to Harris¬ 
burg for examination at the time the affidavit is sent, but when it is 
« 
27 
explained that this was done to safeguard their interests and to keep 
unscrupulous individuals from stealing their money through false 
claims they are entirely satisfied. All valuable furs are returned by 
insured mail, and the same identical skins we receive are returned in 
each case to the claimant, and I believe that after a time this dissatis¬ 
faction will be entirely overcome. At any rate, the prompt payment 
of claims under the present system from our office and the increase 
in certain bounties will far overbalance the inconvenience of sending 
skins to Harrisburg. The amount now being paid out in bounties 
daily varies from four hundred dollars to seven hundred dollars and 
extra help is necessary to handle the large volume of work until the 
rush season is over the latter part of March. From time to time we 
still have men who try to collect bounty money fraudulently. All 
claims that appear unreasonable are promptly investigated by a 
capable officer and then finally disposed of after receiving a com¬ 
plete report in each such case. If attempts are made to collect money 
fradulently prosecutions follow forthwith, there having been about 
six such cases during the past year which were successfully prose¬ 
cuted to a satisfactory conclusion. Only several days ago we re¬ 
ceived the skins of four grey squirrels with the flesh side out, the 
hair on the tails clipped and blackened with either stove or shoe 
polish, and the edges of the fur blackened or smudged, which the 
man in his affidavit swore were weasels and that they had been killed 
on certain specifically named dates, which dates ’ happened to be 
prior to the opening of the season for squirrels. This case is being 
investigated and prosecution will follow promptly. We are also re¬ 
ceiving almost daily one or more “wild cats'" belonging to the various 
breeds familiarly known as Maltese, Angoras, etc., which in the great 
majority of cases I believe are sent us in good faith by persons, igno¬ 
rant of the species necessary to secure the bounty. While hunting 
they find these animals in the forests far from any place of habitation 
and take it tor granted they are wild cats or else they would not be 
in that place. No prosecutions have in the past been brought in 
such claims as those killing such animals have been doing God's ser¬ 
vice for the sportsmen and should be encouraged rather than dis¬ 
couraged. 
In the latter part of this report you will find a detailed statement 
of the bounty claims from each county during the past fiscal year, 
also a statement showing the claims passed by months which will 
show the months during which our force in the Bounty Division is 
compelled to work both early and late to keep up with the rush at 
that time. 
* 
11 L i i V 
USE OB' 1 POISON IN DESTROYING VERMIN. 
This method of destroying vermin of various kinds has not been ex¬ 
tensively employed and lias been used mostly in the game sanctuaries 
of the State. When used elsewhere it lias been placed with extreme 
care well hack from habitation so that dogs or other domestic 
animals in their proper place would not be destroyed, and then it has j 
been placed in dens, hollow logs, etc., in a vehicle "that will decompose 
quickly unless taken. No poison of any kind except strychnine is per¬ 
mitted, which from numerous experiments does not injure such game 
birds as might find and eat same. 
