-'- 'T— —■ I .1.
OF COYtiTES AND
"> WOl.YESi.TO OTHER ANIMALS
•’ Ki'. Ki „Kt*wart, leader of predatory
£. animal .control for the Territory of
. Alaska, in a ecent report, speaking of
, the.relation of coyotes and wolves to
D ether animals, says:
“All nature strives to keep a
- safchei .uniform balance. Herbivorous
» animals, and most of the game birds,
' wcro Jvop* in balance by natural agen
, ties, such as weather, and by the car
nivorous animals that prey upon
[.,thcjn.iuef.il man came on the scene to
take also the animals and birds on
•. which the,rapacious animals depend
ed for food. Man’s killing of the
various so-called game animals and
V birds and fur-bearers tends to keep
the balance .tipped against them per
i manei\tly. The only thing possible to
. ‘do, therefore, to offset this disturb
. ance, other than enforcing game and
, fur . laws, is to control the predatory
, animals. Man’s lessening of certain
, desirable .game birds and animals is
in the same ratio responsible for in
i creasing depradations upon fur-bear
, era by predatory animals, which is
i very marked in certain species in the
. Territory.
“In a numbe of sections in Interior
, Alaska there are found serious depra-i
, dations among foxes by coyotrs and
1 wolves,,chiefly the former. In prac
tically all the Chitina river \ alley,
. much.of .the Copper river valley, most
of the Upper Nebezna, C.iisana,
White river, and Upper Tanana river
\ valleys, there is at present either a
. total absence of foxes or a great de
pletion in their numbers. To these
. may be added the Yukon river sec
tion from the Alaskan-Yukon bound
, ary down past Eagle, Circle and Na
. tion. These are the sections where
coyotes have occurred and increased
. most over a period of years. It is
eve npossible to trace the advance of
. epyotes by a marked decrease in the
fox production, and the trappers note
it with dismay, for they are thus de
prived of a valuable source of reve
nue. The more detailed reports
, already submitted record cases . in
which evidence of these depradations
. has been observed or authentically re
ported. In many cases a family .or
. entire colon yof foxes are run out of
, their dens or are beta run out and
, killed by coyotes. Serious as are the
depredations of wolves throughout
, r.u .. of Alaska. th«. damage done to!
game and fur-bearing animals by I
ccyoter is not only far greater but isj
r rap dly increasing in extent.
“The depredations of coyotes are a |
contributing factor in the slower in
crease of ptarmigans and snowshoe
rabbits, when.the natural life cycle
, has depleted the number of these
birds an drodentts. Coyotes are espe
cially fond of the various members of
the chicken and grouse families. They
, are also fond of fish and most ro
i dents. In fact, the rodents ..seem to
be nature’s provision for the coyote’s
existence, for its function is partly
to hold them in check. In those sec
tions of Alaska where coyotes find
, rodents for sustenance, however,
their killing of them only contributes
to the lessening of this food supply
lor the more desirable 1 or-bearers.
How far the coyotes will hold back
the normal development in the peri
odical increase of the snowshoe rab
, bits and the ptarmigan, which are im
. portant items in th efood supply of
fur-bearers, especially tl.e lynx and
the fox, it is impossible even to ap
■t proximate. Whatever lout ratio is,
. however, it is certain thin the coyotee
*»re detrimental to the same degree to
Vthe well-being of those fur-bearers,
vthe life cycle of which uniformly fol
alows that of the snowshoe rabbits and
- the ptarmigans.
® 1 “While the wolves
prey for the
Mhost part upon the larger game an
i feuds, chiefly the qarbou in the in
ferior, there is no doubt that the coy
'ttes prey upon the young of the big
ifame and that during the last three
.4j*ar8 they have begun serious depre
ssions among the mountain sheep in
sections at least. A more de
Uaccount jo? this is noted in con
nection with investigations recorded
( of conditions affecting the sheep,
j Wlves mose, mountain sheep and
caribou, and at tmes foxes also. One
, reliable trapper reports finding in the
Copper river section during the sura
me of 1928 four fox pups killed but
uneaten by a wolf. Coyotes are
charged by trappers with killing
muskrats, and there is not the least
doubt that they do so at times. The
coyote s heaviest depredations among
foxes in sections where the latter are
not already reduced will be at a time
j when the natural food of both is de
; pleted. This is the time when the fox.
: is least able to withstand the attacks
of the coyote and it will be a case of
the survival of the fittest. How far
the coyote will theh prey upon the
lynx is impossible of conjecture. It
is thought .however, that coyotes may
at times kill lynxes, and some reports
fromnativc and white trappers sub
stantiate the assumption. No first
hand information of this, however,
has been obtained.
“Very few data of a specific char
acter have been obtained concerning
depredations by wolverines. They are
known to occur over most of the in
terior Alaska, and it is common
knowledge that they prey upon vari
ous game animals and some of the
fur-bearers.I Cases of their killing
beavers have been reliably reported.
They are.the. bane of the prospector
and the trapper, for they ruthlessly
rob and destroy caches of food and
the trapper's otherwise sets. Perhaps
wovlerines, of all animals, show the
greatest contempt for men. In rob
bing a cache they wantonly destroy
all that they cannot eat. A wolverine
w ill follow a trap lineisnd destroy the
fur of as many animals as it fin Is in
tiie traps, usually completely destroy
ing the value of th efur. In compar
ison to the damage done by wolver
ines, their fur is of such small value
as to warrant the placing of them on
the list of predatory animals. In any
plan directed to bring about a control
of coyotes and wolves, the control of
the wolverine can well be handled by
the same methods both in administra
tion and field practice.”
JltUG BORDERS PAIR
TO RESTRICT BIRTHS
CLEVELAND.—A decision unique
in the annals of American courts was
given ..here today by Common Pleas
Judge Harrison, W. Ewing, who im
posed a stipulation of three years of
birth control on Mr. and Mrs. Otto
Kourim when the couple applied to
him for a divorce.
“I shall not allow you to impose
more children upon yourself or upon
| society,” Judge Ewing told the couple.
| “I therefore refuse the divorce and
| inmpoae upon you three yeas of bith
I contoL”
The couple have thee children,
j ‘‘Three children in three years
should not be allowed,” the judge
added.
The husband’s salary is $24 weekly.
“The most difficult problem that
can be presented to a court,” tlyi,
judge said, “is that in which children
are involved. They are the most im
portant principals in the case.
“When this couple ran away at
their age it was a gay adventturc.
Both were ignorant of matrimonial
problems and child care.
“When the first child was one year
old some court could have given them
a lesson in birth control at that time.
They were before juvenile court at
that time. It was a shame they were
not given lessons.
“It was evident that the wofiun
could not raise more than one h id
successfully. The couple needed tv.o
lessons—a high school course and
marriage preparation. The second
wi s a medical course on how to get
ng with a small family while the
husband still was earning a smsll
salary.’
uudge Ewing sent the couple home
DO YOU KNOW THESE?
Inquiries liave been received at the
Governor’s office concerning the pres
ent whereabouts >' the following
C. W. Brady, formerly of Okla
homa, now. believed to be in Alaska
Manuel J. Azeredo, formerly of
California;; 33 years old, 5 feet 7
iricnes tall. has. brown eyes and brown
wavy hair.
Michael McHale. who is known to
have been working: on the Alaska
Railroad during1 .the construction
period 11918).. .lie is now about Ikl
years old.
Please send an- information con
cerning the above, toithrt Governor’s
| office, Juneau, Alaska.
The Reason
The authorities of New York" re
‘ cenfly ordered the withdrawal of
“Maya,” a play about -a Marseilles
courtesan, and Mrs. Harry Payne
Whitney, the noted sculptor, talking
about plays of the Maya type, said at
a reception in her McDougall Alley
studio: !
“Why are such plays written?. They
are written to make money of course.
Other reasons are always given for
their writing, but I can only accept
the first one, the true one. The others
make me laugh.
“Yes, the others remind -me of a
story.
“A tourist in the wild west went
into the leading cafeteria of Tin Gan
and ordered pie and coffee. When the
coffee came there was no saucer und
der the cup.
“ T say, you know,’ the tourist
complained, ‘what about a saucer?’
“ ‘We don’t hand out saucers in thi$
here joint no more,’ the waitresfc
said. ‘Ye see, stranger, it’s like this.
When we . useta give saucers low
brows would drink out of ’em, and
that spoiled the tone of the .place. I
tell ye, this here’s one ,'svvel! .dump.’ ”
In spite of all this, agitation “against
perjury, we notice that a Chicago mo
torist had the nerve to tell the judge
when arrested for speeding the othet
day that he was oh his way to the
dentist’s office.—vNew York Evening:
Post.
Einstein says only about a dozen}
men in. the world could probably un
derstand his new gravitation theory, .
but we don’t know about-that. A lot!
of us have -mastered the income-tax';
blank.—American Lumberman (Chi-'
cage. ‘
NOTICE OF HEARING OF FINAL
ACCOUNT.
Notice is hereby given that the un
dersigned has tiled his final report and !
account as administrator de bonis non i
of the estate of Joe Kermond, de
ceased, and that such report will be.
heard .and considered by the Probate
Judge of Otter Precinct, Fourth Divi-1
sion of Alaska, at his office at Flat,
Alaska, on the 10th day of June A. D.
1020, at the hour of two o’clock in the
afternoon of said day.
.All personsafcaving objections to
suih.report may be heard^it said time
and . place.
CHARLES E. TAYLOR,
Administrator de bonis non Es
tate of Joe Kermend, deceased, j
late of Joe Kermond, deceased.
First pub., March SO, 1029.
TABLE OF DISTANCES BE
TWEEN NENANA AND FLAT
Miles
N'enana ... ... 00 j
Tavern Roadhouse . 17 Vi
Knight’s Roadhouse . »23 Vis
Nineteen-Mile Roadhouse 68
Diamond RoadhouBe .. 76
Roosevelt .-. 89
Lake Minchumina . 116
Trappers’ Cabin . 132
Lone Star Roadhouse
Telida Roadhouse .
Slow Fork Roadhouse ...
East Fork Roadhouse
Berry’s Landing Roadhouse
Big River Roadhouse
McGrath .
Takotna .*
Bill Goss’ Roadhouse
Ophir ...
McCaflerty .
Brown Creek shelter cabin
Frit* shelter cabin .
First Chance shelter cabin
Schermeyer R. H.
Iditarod .
Flat .; -
Bonanzza sheler cabin,
from Flat.
Crooked Creek shelter cabin,
wiles from Bo.ns.iws*
12
118
... 169Vfc
.... 187 |
.) 206 j
... 227Vi
.... 241 |
. 263 ;l
280
191 j
300
.... 306
318
333
346
260
... 376
384
mile*
19
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■jwaggv
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Babeescb Moosehide Mitts- and Boots
Furs Bought and Sold Clothing
All Kinds of Nice Fresh Groceries and Fruits
I
Canned Goods of All Kinds Beds and Bedding
A. R. Eldridge - McGrath
TAKOTKfi ROADHOUSE
» Best of Meals and Rooms
"• 'Where Everything Is Homelike and
'Where Yeu Are Cordially Welcomed
• GOOD DOG HOUSES % BATHS,
- Ivar Ghilstrom - Prop.
t
Rough and Dressed Lum
ber of All Kinds
i
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