Page 316 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

294 OUR VANISHING WILD LIFE
ruthlessly been swept away according to law! Ohio is a striking example ofthedeplorableresultsoflegalizedslaughter. ThespiritofOhioislike that of North Carolina. Her "sportsmen" will not have an automatic gun law! Oh, no! "Limit the bag, shorten the season, and the gun won't matter!"
To-day, the visible game supply of Ohio does not amount to any- thing ; and when the last game bird of that state falls before the greediest shooter, we shall say, "A gameless state is just what you deserve!"
ItisuselesstomakeanysuggestionstoOhio. HershootingShylocks want the last pound of flesh from wild life, and I think they will get it verysoon. Ohioisintheareaofbarrenstates. Theseedstockhasbeen too thoroughly destroyed to be recuperated. I think that Ohio's last noteworthyexploitinlawmakingforthepreservation(!) ofhergamewas in 1904, when she put all her shore birds into the list of killable game, and bravely prohibited the shooting of doves on the ground! Great is Ohio in game conservation!
Oklahoma:
For a state so young, the wild-life laws of Oklahoma are in admirable shape; but it is reasonably certain that there, as elsewhere, the game is beingkilledmuchfasterthanitisbreeding. Thenewcommonwealth must arouse, and screw up the brakes much tighter.
Recently, an observing friend told me that on a trip of 250 miles westward from Lawton and back again, watching sharply for game all the way, he saw only five pinnated grouse ! And this in a good season for "prairie chickens."
Oklahoma must stop all spring shooting.
The prairie chicken must have a ten-year close season, immediately.
Next time, her legislature will pass the automatic gun bill that failed last year only because the session closed too soon for its consideration.
Oklahoma is wise in giving long protection to her quail, and "wild pigeon, " and such protection should be made equally effective in the case ofthedove. Sheiswiseinrigidlyenforcingherlawagainsttheexporta- tion of game.
The Wichita National Bison herd, near Cache, now contains forty head of bison, all in good condition. The nucleus herd consisted of fifteen head presented by the New York Zoological Society in 1907.
Oregon:
The results of the efforts that have been made by Oregon to provide speciallawsforeachindividualshooterarepainfultocontemplate. Like North Carolina, Oregon has attempted the impossible task of pleasing everybody, and at the same time protecting her wild life. The two propositions can be blended together about as easily as asphalt and water.