PREDATORS 
 
(Continued from page 13) 
the rodents or the insects as they are inac- 
tive and not in need of any food (luring 
the winter period. 
These smaller competitors have, however, 
under conditions as they normally exist, in 
primitive areas, one real handicap, which is 
their small size, a thing which makes them 
vulnerable to a great many more predators 
than the bigger species. Thus, the large 
grazing animals benefit considerably from 
having plenty of predators that will feed 
on their small competitors and make things 
tough for them. The story being not unlike 
that of the wealthy, well entrenched corpo- 
ration that doesn't at all mind tough times 
now and then, that will starve out some 
of their smaller competitors who are not 
in a position to weather through as well. 
Thus we see that the functions of preda- 
tors in a primitive animal community are 
many, and only insofar as we can take over 
 
and1 pert  m Lju II  unC L o    eI   a( 
are we wise in eliminating them from any 
area. 
When domestic grazing animals are com- 
pletely substituted for wild ones we can- 
although we don't alvays-do a fair job 
of carrying out most of these important 
functions. We control populations to pre- 
vent over-grazing by shipping the annual 
crop to market, and we carefully select the 
breeding stock for next year before making 
such shipments. We isolate and cure or kill 
diseased and heavily parasitized animals. 
We invariably include in the market ship- 
ments animals that are getting old and past 
their prime. If an animal dies of some 
disease such as hog cholera, we burn or 
bury it at once. We commonly keep species 
especially subject to disease such as turkeys 
in small separate flocks, and what game 
farmer doesn't know tI e dangers of not 
moving the raising ground for young pheas- 
ants each year. Finally, we even try, al- 
though not too successfullv, to combat on 
behalf of our cattle and shcep their rodent 
and insect competitors for the life-giving 
grass. 
Now let us see how many of these func- 
tions we are in a position to take over on 
wild areas, where we still seek to perpetuate 
wild grazing animals? If we interfere with 
nature's methods of solving these problems 
in advance of definite plans as to how we 
are going to solve them ourselves in the 
absence of predators, we do so at great risk 
to the health and stability of the whole 
animal community of the area. The pres- 
ent condition of deer and elk populations in 
a number of areas where predators have 
been largely eliminated, is an indication 
that in many cases we haven't even solved 
the first and simplest of these problems- 
the regulation of population levels. Look, 
for instance, at the conditions that existed 
this very winter among the deer herds in 
Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York, to 
mention only a few. 
The answer to the question of whether 
predators are today being over-controlled 
on any particular area can best be obtained 
by inquiring as to whether there are still 
enough predators left to perform those of 
their important natural functions that man 
,cannot perform, on the areas in question. 
Richard H. Pough 
 
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