ES.--Complaints have come to me, at various times, of
great destruction of lambs by eagles; of trout by blue herons; of crops
(on Long Island) by deer; of pears destroyed by birds, and of valuable
park trees by beavers that chop down trees not wisely but too well. I do
not, however, include in this category any cherries eaten by robins, or
orioles, or jays; for they are of too small importance to consider in
this court.

[Illustration: A FOOD SUPPLY OF WHITE-TAILED DEER
The Killing of the Does was Wrong]

To meet the legitimate demands for the abatement of unbearable
wild-animal nuisances, I recommend the enactment of a law similar to
Section 158 of the Game laws of New York, which provides for the safe
and legitimate abatement of unbearable wild creatures as follows:

Section 158. _Power to Take Birds and Quadrupeds_. In the event that
any species of birds protected by the provisions of section two
hundred and nineteen of this article, or quadrupeds protected by
law, shall at any time, in any locality, become destructive of
private or public property, the commission shall have power in its
discretion to direct any game protector, or issue a permit to any
citizen of the state, to take such species of birds or quadrupeds
and dispose of the same in such manner as the commission may
provide. Such permit shall expire within four months after the date
of issuance.

This measure should be adopted by every state that is troubled by too
many, or too aggressive, wild mammals or birds.

But to return to the subject of big game and farming. We do not complain
of the disappearance of the bison, elk, deer and bear from the farms of
the United States and Canada. The passing of the big game from all such
regions follows the advance of real civilization, just so surely and
certainly as night follows day.

But this vast land of ours is not wholly composed of rich agricultural
lands; not by any means. There are millions of acres of forest lands,
good, bad and indifferent, worth from nothing per acre up to one hundred
dollars or more. There are millions of acres of rocky, brush-covered
mountains and hills, wholly unsuited to agriculture, or even
horticulture. There are other millions of acres of arid plains and
arboreal deserts, on which nothing but thirst-proof animals can live and
thrive. The South contains vast pine forests and cypress swamps,
millions of acres of them, of which the average northerner knows l