Page 45 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

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CANDIDATES FOR OBLIVION 23
it. By suitable country I mean cattle-raising, mountainous territory, of which there are still vast areas, and which arc not likely to be put to any other use for a very long time, if ever, on account of the lack of water.
"While in Kern County last April, I was informed by a reliable man who lives near the Tejon Rancho that he had counted twenty-five con- dorsinasingleday,sinceJanuary1ofthepresentyear. Thesewereon the Tejon Rancho, which is an enormous cattle range covering parts of the Tehachapi and San Emigdio Mountains.
"Our present state law provides complete protection for the condor and its eggs; and the State Fish and Game Commission, in granting permits for collectors, always adds the phrase—' except the California condor and its eggs.' I know of two special permits having been issued, but neither of these were used; that is, no 'specimens' have been taken since 1908, as far as I am aware.
"In my travels about the state, I have found that practically every- oneknowsthatthecondorisprotected. Still,thereisalwaysthehunt- ing element who do not hesitate to shoot anything alive and out of the ordinary, and a certain percentage of the condors are doubtless picked offeachyearbysuchcriminals. Itispossible,also,thatthemercenary egg-collector continues to take his annual rents, though if this is done itiskeptveryquiet. Itismyimpressionthatthepresentfatalitiesfrom all sources are fully balanced by the natural rate of increase.
"There is one factor that has militated against the condor more than any other one thing; namely, the restriction in its food source. Its forage range formerly included most of the great valleys adjacent to its mountain retreats. But now the valleys are almost entirely devoted to agriculture, and of course far more thickly settled than formerly.
"The mountainous areas where the condor is making its last stand seem to me likely to remain adapted to the bird's existence for many years,—fiftyyears,ifnotlonger. Ofcourse,thisisconditionaluponthe maintenance and enforcement of the present laws. There is also the enlightenment of public sentiment in regard to the preservation of wild life, which I believe can be depended upon. This is a matter of general education, which is, fortunately, and with no doubt whatever, progress- ing at a quite perceptible rate.
"Yes; I should say that the condor has a fair chance to survive, in limited numbers.
"Another bird which in my opinion is far nearer extinction than the condor, so far as California is concerned, is the white-tailed kite. This is a perfectly harmless bird, but one which harries over the marskes, where it has been an easy target for the idle duck-hunter. Then, too, its range was limited to the valley bottoms, where htmian settlement is increasingly close. I know of only two live pairs within the state last year
"Finally, let me remark that the rate of increase of the California condor is not one whit less than that of the band-tailed pigeon! Yet,