300 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Sept. 7, 1912 
Bird Preservation in Florida. 
It does not take long for the birds to learn 
when they are safe from molestation. One of 
the most interesting sights I saw at Ft. Myers 
during a recent visit to that town was a flock 
of about 200 lesser scaup ducks that spent most 
of the time about the steamboat dock, and it 
required but a few moments at any time of the 
day to get them together by throwing food into 
the water. They would come within a few feet 
of you and seemed almost devoid of fear. 
These ducks as well as the pelicans and gulls 
are protected and are an attractive feature of 
this beautiful town. 
One photographer, whose studio is close to 
the river, sells pictures of the ducks feeding, and 
invests the proceeds in corn for them, a good 
thing for the birds as well as himself. The little 
blackheads are very numerous, both up and down 
the Caloosahatchie from Ft. Myers; in fact, they 
were the only kind of ducks I saw during my 
stay in that vicinity. 
Crossing Tampa Bay immense numbers of 
this species were seen running up into the thou¬ 
sands, fairly blackening the water in large 
patches. Pelicans and gulls also appreciate that 
they are safe from harm and were seen in large 
numbers, the former being especially numerous 
at St. Petersburg where they frequent the docks 
and eagerly take any fish that happens to come 
their way, sometimes seizing the fish before they 
can be landed and occasionally swallowing hook 
and all. It is an interesting sight to watch these 
big awkward fellows fishing, but notwithstand¬ 
ing their unwieldy bulk and clumsy actions they 
manage to get all the fish they need and some to 
spare for the gulls at Pass-a-Grille. I noticed 
that the Florida cormorants were especially nu¬ 
merous, long lines of them flying toward “Bird 
Island’’ across the bay, where there is a Gov¬ 
ernment reservation on which no one is allowed 
to trespass. This flight occurred late in the after¬ 
noon and probably contained several thousand 
birds. Herring gulls, laughing gulls and royal 
terns were very numerous here, while loons and 
grebes were always in sight. 
The evident increase of all these birds in 
Florida waters is due largely to the untiring 
efforts of the Audubon Society, and is very 
gratifying to all who are fond of wild life, but 
the need of the hour is to save the remnant that 
remains of the once countless flocks of egrets 
that formerly adorned this State. Unless some¬ 
thing is done, and that promptly, these beautiful 
birds will become a memory only. I noticed 
quite a good many of the large egrets around 
Ft. Myers. One bunch containing upwards of 
200 were seen about ten miles up the river asso¬ 
ciated with large numbers of the little blue and 
Louisiana herons, but none of the little snowy 
herons was seen. 
These beautiful birds are almost gone, one 
little bunch on an island on Orange Lake being 
about all that I know of. This breeding place 
now belongs to, and is guarded by, the National 
Audubon Society. It contains less than fifty 
acres of low-lying swampy ground, covered with 
a dense growth of willows and low shrubbery, 
but thousands of white ibis, glossy ibis and water 
turkeys, with some eight or ten species of herons, 
gallinules, rail, etc., make it their breeding 
ground, and under the careful protection of a 
warden it is hoped they will rapidly increase. 
The fate of the parakeet, the ivory-billed wood¬ 
pecker and, we might almost say, of the limpkin, 
will soon overtake the egrets, unless speedy pro¬ 
tection is afforded the few that remain. 
Thomas H. Jackson. 
Wild Animals From Africa. 
BY RALEIGH RAINES. 
Wide discussion of the plan to import into 
this country wild animals from Africa has been 
revived by the reintroduction of a bill in the 
House of Representatives by Representative 
Broussard, of Louisiana, which appropriates the 
sum of $250,000 with which the Department of 
Agriculture is directed to import, domesticate 
and breed various species of deer, hippopotami 
and camels in the waste places of this country. 
The chief exponent of this policy was the late 
Dr. W. N. Irwin, of the Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, who really was the originator and foremost 
supporter of the idea. The scheme has met with 
considerable opposition, especially among the 
animal husbandry experts of the Department 
who have freely expressed their reasons in op¬ 
position to the idea. 
Representative Broussard introduced his 
measure for the importation of these animals 
during the session before last Congress, but 
owing to the tariff and reciprocity measures occu¬ 
pying the energies and attention of the members, 
he failed to secure consideration of the bill, 
which condition of affairs generally prevailed dur¬ 
ing the recent session. Although the advocates 
of the proposition have been seeking to obtain 
an appropriation for more than two years, so 
far no steps have been taken to import any of 
the animals. Neither the Federal Government 
nor the individual States have brought in any 
foreign species to use for commercial purposes, 
and until the experts of the Department of 
Agriculture can be satisfied of the feasibility of 
the scheme, it is probable that the plan of Dr. 
Irwin and Representative Broussard will remain 
in abeyance. The objections to the plan as enu¬ 
merated by the animal husbandry experts of the 
Department are threefold : First, that imported 
animals are a menace in spreading their own 
diseases among the cattle of this country; sec¬ 
ond, that hippopotami, one of the favorite species 
named, are too large and strong to admit of being 
kept properly in fenced inclosures; third, that 
the importation of wild animals will mean the 
extermination of the native game of this coun¬ 
try. 
The Department declares that we have in 
the United States at this time a number of valu¬ 
able game animals, and no imported animal could 
add to the value of any of these. For example 
we have in the Rocky Mountains the Rocky 
Mountain sheep, which thrive there and are ex¬ 
cellent food, and there is no other form of goat 
or sheep that would or could thrive more readily. 
In many instances similar to this we find native 
animals of value in the districts where wild ani¬ 
mals would be placed. In addition to this fact 
the objection to the hippopotami is that it would 
be next to impossible to fence them economi¬ 
cally, for they would break down an ordinary 
fence and do great damage to the surrounding 
country. 
The possibility of infection was pointed out 
by one of the experts of the bureau of animal 
industrjr who declared that many of the African 
animals are infected with the tsetse fly, and in 
addition have other ailments peculiar to their 
own country, and to bring these animals into 
this country might mean the exposure of domes¬ 
tic animals to similar dangers. “Of course there 
is a law preventing the importation of diseased 
animals, or those that have been exposed to dis¬ 
ease,” he added, “and although the Department 
of Agriculture would attempt to prevent the en¬ 
try of any animal afflicted with disease, neverthe¬ 
less the danger of infection would be great.” It 
is pointed out that the future of the South and 
West lay in the development of the beef indus¬ 
try, rather than in the introduction of new ani¬ 
mals. “A perusal of the series of papers pub¬ 
lished by Colonel Roosevelt,” declared another 
official of the Department, “shows conclusively 
that it would be next to impossible to import 
hippopotami economically. Colonel Roosevelt 
then, too, tells how in Africa the animals pass 
over the farmers’ land and thus inflict tremend¬ 
ous damage in a single night. It has been demon¬ 
strated by the Department of Agriculture that 
cattle can be cheaply raised in any part of this 
country, and especially so in the South and West 
where beef is being raised for three cents per 
pound. Of course these cattle have not yet been 
developed as highly as they can be developed if 
corn were fed, but considering their grade they 
compare favorably with any cattle in the coun¬ 
try.” The advocates of the plan including Rep¬ 
resentative Broussard, point out that if the hip¬ 
popotami were introduced into this country, espe¬ 
cially into the swamp lands of the South, they 
would live on the acres of aquatic plants which 
now serve to dam up the smaller streams, and 
which have at times seriously impeded naviga¬ 
tion. The hippopotami would furnish a staple 
of meat food for surrounding districts, it is 
asserted, and would open up all of the smaller 
streams. Camels could be economically raised on 
the Southwestern plains, it is declared, and yaks 
and other mountain animals throughout the Alle¬ 
gheny range in the East and through the Rockies 
and Sierras in the West. 
The chief claim of the advocates of the plan 
appears to be that through the importation and 
raising of the animals mentioned, the price of 
meat in this country would be reduced. In fur¬ 
thering this scheme for the introduction of wild 
game from Africa for the purpose of raising 
cheap meat, the advocates lose sight of the pos¬ 
sibilities that might be secured through raising 
our own native game animals such as the deer, 
bison, caribou, elk and moose. These are accli¬ 
mated to the various sections of the country, 
and in many cases could be raised cheaply with 
some of the inconveniences incident to the intro¬ 
duction of the African game mentioned. Of the 
animals just enumerated the deer are probably 
the easiest raised, the venison bringing from 
twenty-five to fifty cents per pound. A promi¬ 
nent game breeder quotes to-day red deer at $60 
each; axis deer, $100 each; fallow deer, $60 
each, and Virginia deer, $35 each. Buffaloes or 
American bison are quoted at $250 each and elk 
$75 each. The latter animals are of course not 
only expensive, but are not as easily domesticated 
as are the deer. Representative Broussard pur¬ 
poses bringing his measure before the House dur¬ 
ing the next session and should he fail to have 
it favorably considered there, he will try it in 
the Senate, to which body he has been elected. 
