Page 342 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

320 OUR VANISHING WILD LIFE
Saving the Gulls and Terns.—But for the vigorous and long- continued efforts of the Audubon Societies, I think our coasts would by this time have been swept clean of the gulls and terns that now adorn it. Twenty years ago the milliners were determined to have them all. The fight for them was long, and hotly contested, but the Audubon Societies won. It was a great victory, and has yielded results of great value to the country at large. And yet, it was only a small number of persons who furnished the money and made the fight which inured to the benefit of the millions of American people. Hereafter, whenever you see an American gull or tern, remind yourself that it was saved to the nation by "the Audubon people."
In times of grave emergency, such as fire, war and scarcity of food, the wild creatures forget their fear of man, and many times actually surrenderthemselvestohismercyandprotection. Atsuchtimes,hard is the heart and low is the code of manly honor that does not respond in a manner becoming a superior species.
The inost pathetic wild-animal situation ever seen in the United States on a large scale is that which for six winters in succession forced several thousand starving elk into the settlement of Jackson Hole, Wyoming,inquestoffoodatthehandsoftheirnaturalenemies. The elk lost all fear, partly because they were not attacked, and they sur- rounded the log-enclosed haystacks, barns and houses, mutely begging forfood. Previoustothewinterof1911,thousandsofweakcalvesand cows perished around the haystacks. Mr. S. N. Leek's wonderftd pictures tell a thrilling but very sad story.
To the everlasting honor of the people of Jackson Hole, be it recorded thattheyroselikeMentotheoccasionthatconfrontedthem. In1909 they gave to the elk herds all the hay that their domestic stock could spare, not pausing to ascertain whether they ever would be reimbursed for it. They just handed it out ! The famishing animals literally mobbed thehay-wagons. To-daythenationalgovernmenthasthesituationin hand.
In times of peace and plenty, the people of Jackson Hole take their toll of the elk herds, but their example during starvation periods is to be commended to all men.
A Slaughter of Restored Game.—The case of the chamois in Switzerland teaches the world a valuable lesson in how not to slaughter game that has come back to its haunts through protected breeding.
A few years ago, one of the provinces of Switzerland took note of the fact that its once-abundant stock of chamois was almost extinct, and enacted a law by which the remnant was absolutely protected for a long period. During those years of protection, the animals bred and multi- plied, until finally the original number was almost restored.
Then,—as always in such cases,—there arose a strong demand for an open season; and eventually the government yielded to the pressure of the hunters, and fixed a date whereon an open season should begin.