Harmful and Beneficial Mammals of the Arid Interior

by Austin Bradstreet Fletcher, Bernard Hazelius Rawl, Clarence Elias Quinn, David Arthur Brodie, David Ernest Lantz, Gifford Pinchot, Henry Prentiss Armsby, J. M. Westgate, Lawrence Green Dodge, Lore Alford Rogers, Marion Dorset, Myer Edward Jaffa, Richard West Hickman, Vernon Bailey, Walter David Hunter, Wilfred Hudson Osgood, William Allen Orton, William Fairchild Hubbard, William Henry Scherffius, William Renwick Beattie, Duncan Stuart, H. (Henry C.) Woosley, C. A. Mahan, George Mason Whitaker

1909

The domestication of deer and elk offers an interesting field for experiment, as well as remunerative returns for the investment of capital. The wapiti and the Virginia deer can be raised successfully and cheaply under many different conditions of food and climate. The production of venison and the rearing of both species for stocking parks may be made profitable industries in the United States. Instead of hampering breeders by restrictions, as at present, state laws should be so modified as to encourage the raising of deer, elk, and other animals as a source of profit to the individual and to the state. Safeguards against the destruction and sale of wild deer in place of domesticated deer are not difficult to enforce. For this purpose a system of licensing private parks, and of tagging deer or carcasses sold or shipped so that they may be easily identified is recommended. It is believed that with favorable legislation much otherwise waste land in the United States may be utilized for the production of venison so as to yield profitable returns, and also that this excellent and nutritious meat, instead of being denied to 99 per cent of the population of the country, may become as common and as cheap in our markets as mutton.