
and 
OR some years I was accustomed 
to invite friends to shoot and fish 
on my country estate not many 
miles from New York City limits. De- 
velopment of the automobile brought so 
many strangers who hunted over my 
grounds without permission that I final- 
ly put the property under State con- 
trol as a game refuge. Up to that time 
a fair balance of nature had been main- 
tained because trappers had been given 
permission to get fur-bearing animals. 
During the next three years under pro- 
tection, there was a marked increase 
of game birds and animals on the place. 
Deer frequently came into the garden, 
quail, ruffed grouse, woodcock and 
pheasants bred near the house. Black 
ducks and wood ducks had nests along 
the stream and by the lake. Rabbits 
and gray squirrels got to be a nuisance, 
and muskrats were abundant in all of 
the still waters. 
The next thing that happened was an 
increase in predatory birds and ani- 
mals catching up with the food supply. 
According to the game refuge law I 
was not allowed to shoot or trap any of 
this “vermin.” Perhaps the most not- 
able increase was made by red and 
gray foxes, raccoons, skunks and opos- 
sums. There was a question if there 
was an increase in the breeding of 
minks and otters on the place, because 
these animals are long range travelers. 
There was a marked increase of minks, 
however, which congregated on my 
_ property because of the abundance of 
_ food there. 
I do not know whether or 
not brown weasels increased in num- 
bers, but they find an abundance of 
_ food anyway, regardless of game pre- 
_ serve conditions. 
Coopers’ hawks, red- 
shouldered hawks and red-tailed hawks 
bred regularly on the place. So did 
barred owls, screech owls and crows. 
Sometimes the sharp-shinned hawk 
_ bred there. 
[P°UBTLESS the number of snap- 
ping turtles was lessened by foxes 
_and skunks which trail females to the 
nest when they are laying eggs and then 
dig out the nests, but enough old-timers 
were left in the stream to make consid- 
_ erable trouble for water fowl and trout. 
Notwithstanding the increase in the 
predatory birds and animals, a fair bal- 
_ ance of nature was still maintained, but 
on a Game Protective 
Experiment 
the Suffering of Animals in 
By DR. ROBERT T. MORRIS 
it was impossible for me to raise any 
domesticated ducks, geese, turkeys or 
chickens without keeping them in such 
close confinement that it was hardly 
worth while. This condition of things 
at the end of three years, with a marked 
increase of both game and natural 
enemies, is what commonly occurs when 
a county or state makes a closed sea- 
son on game birds without making pro- 
vision at the same time for the disposal 
of enemies. Balance is maintained well 
enough until the protection period is 
passed. Sportsmen are then allowed to 
shoot again. When this occurs, balance 
is lost. The disproportionate number 
of undestroyed enemies means the wip- 
ing out of almost every remnant of 
game birds. Many years are then re- 
quired for getting back to a normal 
condition of things again in the same 
covert. 
1 the case of my property there was 
no opening of the protected grounds 
to sportsmen, but practically the same 
effect was brought about by a winter of 
snow and heavy crust. The ground was 
covered so deeply and for such a length 
of time that orchardists well remember 
the year as that in which so many 
fruit trees were girdled by rodents. The 
predatory birds and animals, finding it 
difficult to get their regular supply of 
rabbits and mice, turned to the game 
birds and pretty nearly exhausted the 
supply. I came definitely to the con- 
clusion that game protection laws which 
make no provision for disposal of pre- 
datory species are failures. 
My property was not placed further 
under state protection. Last winter 
and so far this year one of my neigh- 
bors has been allowed to trap as freely 
as he wished, and whenever professional 
work would allow I have run a week- 
end trap line myself just as a reminder 
of old times. In addition to wild ani- 
mals during the past winter, I have 
caught four cats and three dogs. Cats 
I always kill when they are found in, 
the traps because they are deadly when 
running wild in the woods. The in- 
crease in the number of errant cats is 
checked partly by other predatory ani- 
mals which kill the kittens, but the old 
cats which survive are large, ferocious 
and always fat, even when captured in 
the dead of winter at a time of deep 
INS 
JA Ba 
Y \ an Orr 
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Traps 
snows. One of the cats that I killed 
was a beautiful angora that had been 
living in a crevice of a cliff on my place 
for two or three years. 
HEN valuable dogs are caught in 
traps I have always allowed them 
to go, believing that one lesson would 
suffice. Right here in this connection is 
where I want to make my comment 
about the suffering of animals in traps. 
Otters, minks and muskrats seldom suf- 
fer because it is customary to arrange 
traps in such a way that these animals 
will drown themselves promptly, al- 
though recently an otter pulled a heavy 
trap and drag about twenty-five feet 
up-stream against a strong current be- 
fore escaping. 
I had always supposed that a good 
deal of suffering was inevitable on the 
part of animals which are trapped on 
land and which give evidence of violent 
efforts to escape. They bite off sap- 
lings and bushes to a remarkable ex- 
tent when the trap chain or the drag 
hinders their escape. Day before yes- 
terday I found a large old hound in 
one of my fox traps. He had broken 
up the bushes and had chewed down 
many saplings which obstructed his 
way. When I found him he was lying 
upon his side. His eyes were closed and 
he was apparently in a state of utter 
exhaustion. I spoke to him kindly and 
said, ‘Poor old chap. This is pitiful. 
I did not mean to harm you.” It sud- 
denly occurred to me that I did not 
have my heavy gauntlet gloves which 
are required when one takes a strange 
dog out of a steel trap. It was neces- 
sary for me to walk more than a mile 
in order to get the gloves and return. 
The hound had‘ changed his position 
somewhat and had broken down more 
brush. I patted him on the head while 
he lay on his side and gently as pos- 
sible pressed down the spring of the 
trap. 
HEN the hound found himself free 
he stood up, shook himself and 
turned to go through the woods, wag- 
ging his tail as much as to say, 
“Thanks, things are all right now.” He 
went on several yards to a wood road 
and then suddenly remembered that he 
had forgotten something. He came 
(Continued on page 306) 
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