The conservation of the wild life of Canada

Preface

When Gordon Hewitt came to Ottawa in the fall of 1909 to enter upon his duties as Dominion Entomologist, he fully expected to return to Manchester University in a year or so, there to continue his researches in entomology and his lectures in zoology; but the call of Canada was not to be ignored: he found work for a giant to do and he bent himself to his task.

Ten years of life in office were allowed him, and, during that time, he had the satisfaction of developing the Dominion Entomological Service from a small division, attached to the Experimental Farm, to a separate branch of the Department of Agriculture, with four divisions at Ottawa, and twelve laboratories throughout Canada, organized for the purpose of watching, combating and forestalling insect injury to forests and crops. Quarantine stations were also established to prevent the importation of foreign pests. For this work, trained, scientific men were required, and here his enviable talent for selecting the right man for the place, and in using his powers to the full stood him in good stead. Indeed, the relation that existed between my husband and his associates was like that which animates a group of friends, where each one gives the best that is in him and looks for the best in others — a bright record in Civil Service history of loyalty and disinterestedness. Commenting on his remarkable faculty of choosing his associates and attaching them to himself and his schemes. Doctor W. M. Wlieeler wrote: ''The truly remarkable record of development and public service exhibited by Doctor Hewitt's department during the decade of his administration was clearly due to the unusual abilities of the man. Combinvi PREFACE

ing a thorough training in zoology with rare gifts as an investigator, executive talent of a high order, and sympathetic insight into the achievements of other workers, not only in entomology, but in biology generally, he could not fail to secure the affection, as well as the confidence and admiration of all the men, and particularly the young men, whom he had chosen as aids in building up his department." *

In 1916 he was offered and accepted the position of Consulting Zoologist. His duties were thus enlarged, and his sphere of useful activity appreciably increased. For the new work he was especially fitted, as Doctor Wm. T. Hornaday says: "His broad mind reached out, and grasped the whole invertebrate fauna of the vast region embraced in the Canadian Dominion." f His sphere of influence extended beyond the Dominion, again quoting Doctor Wheeler: "Realizing that very many of the native and introduced animals, and the economic problems to which they give rise, are identical in Canada and the northern United States, he took an actively constructive part in all deliberations, wherever men were assembled in either of the sister commonwealths, to discuss practical matters relating to our insects, birds, and mammals," and by accepting the position of Canadian representative on the International Commission for the Protection of Nature his work became world-wide.

Inspired by Doctor Hornaday, and encouraged by Mr. James White, he commenced to write this book, which occupied much of his spare time during the last four years of his life. As he wrote the book at home in the evenings, I became familiar with it, chapter by chapter, for he liked to read aloud what he had written; also, before writing, he was eager to discuss present needs and future developments. Evening after evening in his library, easy chairs on either

* Journal of Economic Entomology, vol. XIII, no. 2.

t The statement of the Permanent Wild Life Protection Fund, vol. III.

PREFACE vii

side of the fire, a low table beside him, holding paper, reference books, and the indispensable tin of "John Cotton," while snowstorms might rage without, in imagination he was able to roam with the bison or musk-ox on the sunny plains, to climb the peaks with the mountain goat, or to hear the songs of birds in sanctuaries made safe by his effort. The facts and conclusions herein contained were gathered and matured throughout days of action, research, and travel, when he followed the pressing needs of the country, and attacked problems as they presented themselves, never resting until they were solved, and then, unsatisfied, merely using success as a stimulant to greater effort.

Pages could be written of his work in preparing and in drafting what is now known as the Northwest Game Act, and, after the biU was introduced in Parliament, of his watchful support of the measure until all opposition was overcome and it became law. The Migratory Birds Treaty also tested his powers; mternational and interprovincial arrangements and compromises had to be made, and the successful completion of this important treaty bears witness to his courage and diplomacy. During these and other less important negotiations, he would travel many miles for a single interview ; he was thankful when the cause, supported and enforced by his persuasive powers, won the day, and he was willing to try again when they failed. How rarely they failed ! The appeal of his winning personality and his earnest desire to help usually carried conviction.

As an example of his sincerity, and of his willingness to carry out whatever he asked others to do, before publicly advocating individual and community effort in wild life conservation, he hung nesting-boxes in the trees, and supplied an original water bath in his own garden. Little homes for bumble-bees were carefully tucked under the viii PREFACE

lilac hedges and berry-bearing shrubs were planted. The following spring he had the reward of being able to count fifteen nests and the visits of thirty-four species of birds.

His love of nature was not merely sentimental or theoretical. He was an enthusiastic, practical gardener — he liked to dig in the soil and to spread manure. He planted with the precision and skill of an artist ; he sowed seeds with equal zest; and, after a rain, he loved to fork around, and thus to make each bulb, perennial, or vegetable "comfortable." Nor were the poetical accompaniments of the craft ever absent. Morning and evening — before his office hours and after — he walked around the garden, bathing himself in greenness, and in the odour of lilacs, roses, and newmown grass. Then it was he spoke to every flower and bird, no matter how small or how shy, and held converse with the chipmunks and squirrels, who held a safe tenure within the garden precincts.

After his immediate community was convinced of the need of bird conservation, and Rockliffe Park and the Experimental Farm became sanctuaries, he went farther afield: in every province in the Dominion he addressed meetings on the subject of the conservation of our wild life.

This is but a short record of the ideals which led to the making of this book, and of the character of him who wrote it. A great deal might be said by me in faithful and thankful acknowledgment of that character, but which would, in the end, seem to me cold and inadequate. I can, therefore, only take refuge in the words of another, one who valued him level with his deserts, who truly recognized his wonderful gifts, and who appreciated the way in which they were ever employed for the brightening of this world. I quote from the memoir by his friend, Duncan Campbell Scott, in the proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada:

"His death was tragic in its suddenness. He had at-

PREFACE ix

tended the meetings of the Commission of Conservation, at Montreal, on February 19 and 20, at which he presented an important paper on -Fur-bearing Animals, Their Economic Significance and Future.'

"Soon after his return to Ottawa, on the 20th, he was taken seriously ill with influenza; this soon developed into pleural pneumonia, and he died about 11 p. m., on February 29, 1920.

"He seemed to be on the threshold of a long career, in which added years would bring even greater success, and would fulfil all that he was destined to accomplish. His gifts were varied, and his sympathies deep and general. He touched life at so many points that one cannot think that his interest ever flagged. His knowledge and appreciation of the arts and belles lettres were finely balanced by a warm love of nature, and this led him into enthusiasms for our wild life. His ideal habitation was always surrounded by a garden, and every foot of soil was made to yield either use or beauty. There was in all his work a rare combination of earnestness, with lightness of touch. Highly characteristic, too, was a fine sense of humour, which kept all things in their proper relation. His personality was of that even bearing that finds the best in all men, and gives duly the best in itself. Even his casual acquaintances had sorrow when he died. To those who knew him well there will remain a deep regret; to those who received fully the intimate charm of his personality in familiar intercourse there cannot be any mitigation of his loss, for he was a peerless friend."

Elizabeth Hewitt.

RocKLiFFE Park, Ottawa.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In the preparation of this book I have been encouraged by the assistance, so wilHngly given, of many of my colleagues and friends who have furnished data or have otherwise helped me in my endeavour to make the volume both accurate and informative. It would be impossible to mention every one to whom I am indebted for assistance, but I should like to express here my grateful appreciation of the assistance of the following: Many of my colleagues in the government service, particularly Mr. James White, Assistant to Chairman, Commission of Conservation; Mr. J. B. Harkin, Commissioner of Dominion Parks, and Doctor R. M. Anderson and other members of the staff of the Geological Survey; the officers in charge of the game-protective service of the various provinces, and Mr. F. Kermode. Director of the Provincial Museum, Victoria, B. C; Doctor Henry Fairfield Osborn, President of the American Museum of Natural History; Mr. E. W. Nelson, Chief of the United States Biological Survey; Doctor W. T. Hornaday, Director of the New York Zoological Gardens, the staunch defender of the wild life of this continent, who has been a constant source of help and encouragement; Mr. Charles Sheldon; and many others. The courtesy of Rudyard Kipling, in giving permission to use the quotation from his poem, "The Feet of the Young Men," is hereby acknowledged.

C. G. H.

Contents

PTER

I. Introduction

II. The Value of Wild Life to the Nation . . 7

Introduction

Canada is the home and refuge of the most important and desirable wild animals of this continent. The southern portion of that wonderfully rich and interesting North American fauna that ever3rwhere greeted the early explorers and settlers in the United States has melted away before the advancing tide of settlement like snow, and only in the inaccessible places and in a few protected spots has the harried remnant found greater security and an irretrievable loss been prevented. The northern part of the continent was less tempting to the earlier settlers and more hospitable to its native wild life. The impenetrable forests, trackless wilderness, and mountains of Canada afforded a sanctuary to the greater part of the wild life of the continent, and retarded settlement has proved its salvation. The people of the United States now mourn the loss of their wild life and are endeavouring to rescue the remnant from complete extermination, realizing how great an asset it is to the country and the significance of its depletion. A young country enjoys the advantage of being able to profit by the mistakes of older countries. It lies within our power to preserve for ourselves, but more particularly for posterity for whom we hold it in trust, the wild life of this country. It rests with us to prove that the advance of civilization into the more remote sections of Canada does not imply the total destruction of the wild life, but that civilization in its true sense signifies the elimination of the spirit of barbarism and the introduction of an enlightened attitude.

The problems, therefore, confronting us involve a knowledge of the following questions : Of what does our wild life consist; what is its value; what are the factors that are responsible for its reduction and ultimate extermination; what steps are we taking to conserve it, and how can we improve on present methods with a view to conserving a valuable natural resource, the constituent parts of which carmot be replaced once they are lost? In the succeeding chapters these questions will be considered. It is felt that a presentation and discussion of the status of the wild life of Canada will afford the best means of securing that wide sympathy of the people throughout the Dominion that is essential to the success of any measures that have already been taken or may be adopted in the future with the object of conserving this resource. While in this matter of wild-life conservation we have much to regret in the past, we have reason to be proud of the efforts that we are now making to remedy past mistakes, and a more general realization of our opportunities to improve our national life and welfare through these means will undoubtedly lead to further efforts. It is desirable that, before proceeding further, the classes of animals to be considered in the inquiry should be specified. The term ''wild life" naturally includes all the members of our native Canadian fauna, but it is obvious that the term must be restricted for our present purposes for the sake of adequate treatment and to avoid digressions into well-recognized groups of our fauna. Strictly speaking, it would include the game, non-game, and fur-bearing mammals, the game and non-game birds, the fishes and other members of our fauna. The conservation of our fishes will not be considered here; it has been the subject of discussion by the Commission of Conservation in other reports. In its report on "Fur Farming in Canada" the Commission has presented a fairly complete statement regarding the fur-bearing mammals of the country, and there is no necessity to duplicate the facts so presented. For that reason the fur-bearing mammals will not be considered at length, but only in so far as their conservation in the wild state necessarily constitutes an important aspect of the general problem of wild-life conservation. In this account it is proposed to deal in particular with the larger wild mammals, many of which are commonly included under the head of ''big game," and the birds of Canada, inasmuch as these animals constitute that portion of our native fauna that is in the greatest need of adequate protection with a view to preventing the extermination that will inevitably follow failure on our part to provide it.

Nature has laid on the shoulders of the Canadian people an obligation, and at the same time an opportunity, of a peculiar character in so far as the preservation of the wild life, not of this hemisphere alone but of the whole world, is concerned. In the gradual evolution of the great land masses of the earth's surface it has come about that by its geographical situation and physical characteristics the greater part of Canadian territory constitutes a distinct faunal region, differing from other regions of the world by reason of the fact that it contains certain species of animals not found elsewhere. In some cases these animals are related to forms in other regions of the world; in other cases they are distinct and unrelated. In the Canadian region, to mention a few of the larger forms of wild life, we find the moose (Alces machlis), which is related to the elk* of

* It is unfortunate that the word elk has come to be used in North America as an alternate name for the wapiti. As popular names must naturally be used for these animals, it seems very desirable to confine the name elk to the European Alces or moose, and use the Shawnee name, wapiti, for Cervus canadensis.

INTRODUCTION 5

northern Europe and Asia; the wapiti {Cervus canadensis), which is closely allied to the red deer of the old world, and the caribou {Rangifer species), which very closely resembles the reindeer of northern Europe. The bison or buffalo is related to the European bison, which has suffered a serious reduction in numbers and is now confined to the primaeval forests of Lithuania, Moldavia, Wallachia, and the Caucasus, where it is artificially preserved.* The mountainsheep (Ovis species), so characteristic of our Western mountains, are well represented in the old world, the centre of their habitat being the immense mountain ranges of Central Asia. The musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus) is an animal allied to the sheep family, that is particularly distinctive of our region of the world, ranging as it does over the barren grounds and arctic regions of the north and eastward to Greenland. The Rocky Mountain goat {Oreamnos montanus and its sub-species) is found only in the Rocky Mountains. Finally, the most interesting of all our mammals is the prong-buck or antelope {Antilocapra americana), which forms by itself a distinctive family of the ungulate or hoofed animals. It is entirely confined to a region comprising a portion of the Prairie Provinces and the Western States. While it is allied in certain respects to the antelopes of the old world, it is unique among all hollow-horned ruminants by reason of the fact that, like the members of the deer family, it sheds its horns every year.

* According to Dr. Theodor G. Ahrens, "The Present Status of the European Bison or Wisent," Journal of Mammalogy, vol. 2, no. 2, May, 1921, pp. 58-62, the Lithuanian herd nunribered 170 or 180 in 1918, but after the German revolution it seems that all or nearly all the remaining bison were shot by the inhabitants and the retiring German soldiers, among whom discipline had been undermined by the revolution. Later the war between Poland and Russia passed over the region. Since the Russian revolution the Kuban Cossacks have demanded the return of their old hunting grounds in the Caucasus, so that extermination of the bison in that region is also to be feared. Besides the few introduced specimens still extant in Pless and possibly in Ascania Nova there remain a few specimens in zoological gardens. Summing up, he concludes that the extinction of the species is imminent. — R. M. A.

Certain of the foregoing animals extend their range southward into the United States, but Canada is their natural habitat and in Canada they attain their maximum development, apart from the fact that in the United States they have been seriously reduced in many instances.

Our responsibilities in the matter of the conservation of these animals are therefore unmistakably clear. It is our bounden duty to prevent the extermination of all but the noxious species on the higher grounds of our obligations to the people of other countries, as guardians of our portion of the wild life of the world, and to future Canadians, the heu's of a region so richly endowed.

Chapter II The Value Of Wild Life To The Nation

In order to secure the interest and active support of the people of Canada in the conservation of our wild Hfe, it is necessary at the outset to indicate as clearly as possible the economic significance of such measures as are now being taken and of those that should be adopted with a view to the preservation of our native animals. A consideration of this aspect is not rendered necessary by any lack of appreciation on the part of Canadians generally as to their moral obligations in this matter or because reasons of sentiment carry no weight. It is rendered necessary largely on account of the rapid opening up and development of the country, and because such development comes into direct conflict with the ability of many important forms of our wild life to survive.

Utilization of N on- Agricultural Lands. — The basic industry of Canada is agriculture, and the extension of this industry involves the bringing under cultivation of new areas of land which were formerly the home of our wild life. Therefore, in order to justify on economic grounds the conservation of our wild life its economic value as compared with agriculture in the first place must be set forth.

Not all lands are suitable for agriculture. Even in the best agricultural sections of the country areas unsuited to agriculture occur. In some cases, as will be shown later, such areas have been set apart as forest reserves; in other cases a struggling population endeavours to eke out a meagre existence on the sparse products of the unfertile soil. The problem of the best method of dealing with such non-agricultural lands has already received some consideration by our governments. In the future it will demand more attention than we have hitherto thought necessary. And it is here primarily that the practical application of the principles of wild-life conservation should receive serious attention, for it will afford one of the most important methods by which the unproductive or scarcely productive areas can be rendered productive. However, it is of the gravest importance to remember this, that while the question as to the utilization of such lands is under consideration we do not permit the means whereby their productiveness can be secured, namely through the taking advantage of the presence of our wild life, that is, by the utilization of our natural resources, to disappear through our neglect to appreciate at the present time their potential value to the community at large.

Deer as a Meat Supply. — One of the most serious problems of the present day is the gradually increasing cost of food, particularly meat. Every effort is being made to increase mixed farming and to encourage the live-stock industry. And yet a potential source of meat is left to the mercy of sportsmen or gunners and their dogs. I refer to our native deer, and particularly to the white-tailed deer which frequents the Canadian woods and forests east of the Rocky Mountains. Here is an excellent meat animal which is hardy, and with proper protection, by which is meant the prohibition of unwarranted slaughter, will increase rapidly in numbers. There are hundreds of square miles of land unsuited to agriculture, and forest land that might be producing not only timber but meat also, and in every way such production would be profitable.

That such an idea is not theoretical but eminently practical is demonstrated by the experience of the State of Vermont. In common with the adjoining States the people in Vermont some years ago had reduced the numbers of

VALUE OF WILD LIFE TO THE NATION 9

white-tailed deer, formerly so abundant, to the verge of practical extermination. So far as could be ascertained the species was practically extinct in Vermont by 1870. In 1875 thirteen white-tailed deer, comprising six bucks and seven does, were procured by a number of sportsmen of Rutland, Vt., and liberated in the forests adjoining that city. For twenty-three years none were killed, except a few that were illegally shot. They increased in numbers and were sufficiently abundant by 1897 to permit the establishment of a short open season, when 150 were shot. Their increase during subsequent years is indicated by the figures given by Hornaday.* '^n 1901, 211 were killed; in 1902, 561; m 1905, 791; in 1907, 1,600; in 1908, 2,208, and in 1909 the grand total was 5,261. For the year last mentioned, 1909, the average weight of the deer killed was 155 pounds each, which for some reason was far below all preceding years, and suggests an error. f The total weight of venison taken was 716,358 pounds. Computed at the lowest reasonable valuation, twelve cents per pound, the total value for 1909 would be S85,962."

As the deer gradually spread over the State they did some damage to agricultural crops, and it was wisely decided to compensate the farmers for such damages. Such a practice is followed in England in the case of damage inflicted by foxes which are preserved for hunting purposes. During the two years, 1908 and 1909, the total amount paid in damages was $4,865.98, and the value of the total number of deer legally killed during those two years was $107,790, which indicates the soundness of the policy of indemnification.

The example of Vermont is a valuable object-lesson. There is no reason why a similar policy should not be

* "Wild Life Conservation," p. 106.

t In the years 1905 to 1908 the average weights ranged from 196 to 207 pounds.

adopted throughout eastern Canada, where we have large areas that are unproductive so far as the food supply is concerned and where deer will thrive abundantly, as it constitutes their native home. On economic grounds the possibilities of the wild meat supply should receive the serious consideration of the provincial governments and of the people. We cannot afford to neglect so valuable an opportunity. It involves nothing more than a sane and judicious protective policy, adequately extended and applied. It would mean that our non-agricultural areas would be made productive and our forest areas more productive.

Development of Northwestern Territories. — How often has our pride in the possession of so enormous an area as Canada comprises been touched to the quick by the reminder that our vast undeveloped Northv/est Territories and barren lands are practically unproductive, if we leave out of consideration the fur trade, which has seriously diminished. But there is no reason for depression. On the contrary there is every ground for confidence in the potentialities of our northern territories and their profitable development, provided we will adopt the correct attitude towards the conservation of the wild life of those territories. The economic development of northern Canada is dependent upon the proper conservation of the wild life of that section of the Dominion. If adequate measures are adopted to conserve upon proper lines the game and fur-bearing animals of those portions of the Northwest Territories unsuited to agriculture, and such portions constitute by far the greater part, there is no reason why the whole of that area should not be productive and contribute to the wealth of the country. The possession of such territories would become a matter of pride rather than of reproach.

How is it possible to regard the countless numbers of caribou that inhabit those regions, and to which fuller reference will be made later, except as an inestimable food sup-

VALUE OF WILD LIFE TO THE NATION 11

ply? In view of the fact that the fur-bearing animals of the north furnish not only luxuries but also necessities, what greater opportunity could we have of establishing the fur-bearing industry on a sound, practical basis? It was not without reason that furs constituted the first lure that attracted the outside world to Canada. This country contained the greatest variety of valuable fur-bearing animals, for the possession of which men risked everything, including their own lives. Now our agricultural lands constitute that lure, but the remnant of those fur-bearing animals is still with us. Conservation of our natural resources is taking the place of exploitation. We should apply the doctrine to the fur-bearing animals and thus secure their full value to the community. And it cannot be stated too often that conservation means the protection of natural resources from injudicious exploitation and their provident utilization. Our northern territories, under proper administration, could become not only a valuable source of food supply, but also one of the chief fur-producing areas of the world.

The mineral wealth in our northern territories constitutes a valuable natural resource awaiting development, and it should be remembered that such development will be rendered more possible by the presence of an adequate food supply such as I have mentioned, which fact indicates another economic aspect of this problem.

Barren-ground Caribou as Source of Meat and Clothing. — The development of a "wild" food supply, by which I mean the caribou in our northern territories from the Labrador coast to the Yukon, would fulfil three objects: First, it would supplement the meat supply from domesticated animals and add to the area of productive land in the country. Caribou furnishes one of the finest of meats, and under proper protection and adequate supervision there is no reason why we should not in the future develop a caribou meat industry, and export frozen caribou from the north.

Secondly, it would furnish an important means of subsistence to those whose work carried them into those regions where transportation and food supplies constitute a serious problem. If reindeer could be employed for hauling purposes they would prove superior to dogs, owing to their ability to find food available, such as the northern mosses and lichens, whereas the food question in the case of dog transport is always a serious one. Thirdly, the presence of such a food supply would enable us to keep those regions populated to a greater degree than would be otherwise possible, thus facilitating the task of developing those areas to the extent that their valuable natural resources, particularly minerals, render desirable. The musk-ox is also an animal of undoubted potential value in the development of our northern and arctic territories, and its utilization is discussed in later chapters.

Relation of Natives to Wild Life. — The necessity of a native food supply in northern Canada demands serious consideration. Among the important aids at the present time in the utilization and development of the northern territories are their natural inhabitants, the Indians, and, to a lesser degree, the Eskimos. Further, our moral obligations to the Indians render it necessary that means shall be taken to ensure them an adequate food supply and a potential source of revenue. This opens up the large question of the relation of the Indians to wild-life conservation to which further reference will be made later. But it cannot be too often remarked that the Indian, when unspoiled by white men, is traditionally a conserver of wild life, that is, he uses it but does not exterminate it. The Indians and the Eskimos knew what the results would be if they conducted a policy of extermination, and they took common-sense precautions accordingly. The Indians had their traditional hunting-grounds, and under the guidance of the recognized trading companies, particularly the Hudson's Bay Company,