Page 113 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

DESTRUCTION BY THE ELEMENTS 91
driven out of the Yellowstone Park at its northwestern corner by the deepsnow,fledintoIdahointhehopeoffindingfood. Theinhabitants met the starving herds with repeating rifles, and as the unfortunate animals struggled westward through the snow and storm, they were slaughtered without mercy. Bulls and cows, old and young, all of the seven hundred, went down; and Stoney Indians could not have acted any worse than did those "settlers."
On another occasion, it is recorded that the prong-horned antelope herd of the Mammoth Hot Springs wandered across the line into Gar- diner, and quickly met a savage attack of gunners with rifles. A number of those rare and valuable animals were killed, and others fled back into the Park with broken legs dangling in the air.
In the interest of public decency, and for the protection of the repu- tation of American citizenship, one of two things should be done. The northern boundary of the Park should be extended northward be- yond Gardiner, or else the deathtrap should be moved elsewhere. The case of the town of Gardiner is referred to the legislature of Montana for treatment.
Beyond question, the highest sentiments of humanity are those that arestirredbythemisfortunesofkillablegame. Duringthepastthirty years, I have noticed some interesting m.anifestations of the increased s^^mpathy for wild creatures that steadily is growing in a large section ofthepublicniind. Thirt}^yearsago,theappearanceofadeerormoose in the streets of any eastern village nearly always was in itself a signal for a grand chase of the unfortunate creature, and its speedy slaughter. Today, in the eastern states, the general feeling is quite different. The appearance of a deer in the Hudson River itself, or a moose in a Maine village is a signal, not for a wild chase and cruel slaughter, but for a general effort to save the animal from being hurt, or killed. I know this through ocular proof, at least half a dozen lost and bewildered deer having been carefully driven into yards, or barns, and humanely kept and cared for until they could be shipped to us. Several have been caught while swimming in the Hudson, bewildered and panic-stricken.
The latest capture occurred in New York City itself.
A puma that escaped (about 1902) from the Zoological Park, instead of being shot was captured by sensible people in the hamlet of Bronx- dale, alive and unhurt, and safely returned to us.
In some portions of the east, though not all, the day of the hue and cry over "a wild animal in town" seems to be about over. On Long Island some humane persons found an injured turkey vulture, and took it in and cared for it, —only to be persecuted by ill-advised game wardens, because they had a forbidden wild bird "in their possession!" There are times when it is the highest (moral) duty of a game warden to follow the advice of Private Mulvaney to the "orficer boy," and "Shut j'cr oye to the rigulations, sorr!"
Such occurrences as these are becoming more and more common. The desire of "the great silent majority" is to SAVE the wild creatures;