Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Role Of Pest Control Operators In Vertebrate Pest Control, Philip J. Spear

Proceedings of the 2nd Vertebrate Pest Control Conference (1964)

The National Pest Control Association, which I represent, accepts for membership those persons or firms which are actively engaged in the performance of structural pest control services for hire to the public at large and which are in sympathy with the purposes of the Association. The pest control operator in this context might be called a commercial pest control operator to distinguish him from those doing similar work but who are employed by governmental agencies or within large commercial organizations. Pest control is a growing industry with a gross annual income of 300-350 million dollars. It is estimated to contain …

Second Vertebrate Pest Control Conference: Contents, Schedule, And Participants

Proceedings of the 2nd Vertebrate Pest Control Conference (1964)

PROCEEDINGS SECOND VERTEBRATE PEST CONTROL CONFERENCE
Charter House Hotel Anaheim, California March 4 and 5, 1964
SPONSOR:California Vertebrate Pest Control Technical Committee
GENERAL CHAIRMAN OF CONFERENCE: James W. Koehler, Chief, Weed and Vertebrate Pest Control, California Department of Agriculture, Sacramento, California
PROGRAM AND PUBLICITY:
Maynard W. Cummings, Chairman Extension Wildlife Management Specialist, University of California, Davis
James W. Koehler, Chief, Weed and Vertebrate Pest Control, California Department of Agriculture, Sacramento, California
Walter E. Howard, Associate Vertebrate Ecologist, Department of Animal Physiology, University of California, Davis, California
Keith F. Murray, Senior Vector Control Specialist, Bureau of Vector Control, California Department of …

Opening Remarks, James W. Koehler

Proceedings of the 2nd Vertebrate Pest Control Conference (1964)

The purpose of this Vertebrate Pest Control Conference are several. They are to: 1. Get acquainted with other persons in the field of vertebrate pest control ; 2. Learn the best and safest methods of vertebrate pest control; 3. Hear what is going on in the various fields of research; 4. Stimulate new research; 5. Improve communications between research workers and between research workers, pest control operators and industry developers of materials used in the field of vertebrate pest control; 6. Inform the public about the true role of vertebrate pest control and why it is sometimes necessary, and 7. …

Animal Population Ecology And Control Fundamentals, Kenneth E. F. Watt

Proceedings of the 2nd Vertebrate Pest Control Conference (1964)

Expensive, extensive and apparently lethal control measures have been applied against many species of pest vertebrates and invertebrates for decades. In spite of this, few pests have been annihilated, and in many cases the stated goals have become progressively more modest, so that now we speak of saving foliage or a crop, rather than extermination. It is of interest to examine the reasons why animals are so difficult to exterminate, because this matter, of course, has implications for the type of control policy we pursue in the future. Also, it has implications for the problem of evaluating comparatively various resource …

Starlings In The Pacific Northwest, H. Nelson Elliott

Proceedings of the 2nd Vertebrate Pest Control Conference (1964)

As is the case in many sections of the country today, starlings are causing increasing concern in the Pacific Northwest. When these birds were first recognized in Washington, Oregon and Idaho in the early 1940's only small numbers were seen, usually with blackbirds. During the 50's, however, the number of wintering starlings increased from a few birds, to thousands, with estimated flocks of 25,000 to 50,000 in western Oregon and along the Snake River Valley in Idaho and eastern Oregon. During the past five years winter resident populations in these areas have been estimated by the 100,000's, with some observers …

Soil Conservation : Contour Banks Must Be Maintained, D J. Carder, G. W. Spencer

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The wet winter of 1963 showed up faults in many contour bank systems and emphasised that banks won't last forever without maintenance.

This article tells where to look for weaknesses and how to treat them.

Cultivate Saltland And Protect It From Grazing, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Cultivate and protect to reclaim

Water For Agriculture. 6. Control Of Algae In Water Supplies, R C. Gorman

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ALGAE are primitive forms of plant life that are common and normal in surface waters. They are fonnd in every water supply exposed to sunlight.

Their presence is not normally detectable until there are enough of them to make their presence obvious.

Development Of Water Quality Criteria For Aquatic Life, Clarence M. Tarzwell

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Staff Publications

It is now recognized that water pollution is an important problem, that it becomes more widespread and serious as population and industry expand, and that something must be done if aquatic life resource are to be saved and their productivity maintained. In the past there has been a great deal of uncertainty in approaching this situation and a general lack of understanding of the details and ramification of the overall problem. In the efforts for the abatement of pollution, only a few clearcut objectives have been established. Knowledge is lacking as to what the objectives should be. There is still …

Interbasin Movement Of Ground Water At The Nevada Test Site, Isaac J. Winograd

Publications (WR)

The present paper presents hydraulic evidence for the interbasin circulation of ground water through carbonate rocks of Paleozoic age at the Nevada Test Site. An integral part of this evidence is the discovery that aquifers in alluvium and tuff, formerly thought to be the principal aquifers at the Test Site, are semiperched above a thick tuffaceous aquiclude that separates them from the carbonate rocks.

This paper is based on one of the studies being made by the Geological
Survey for the Atomic Energy Commission. These studies seek to evaluate
the risk that may arise if ground water should be contaminated …

Review Of Current Vertebrate Pesticides, D. Glenn Crabtree

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

For the purpose of this brief review, emphasis will be placed on development, physical properties, physiological action, experience and limitations of vertebrate pesticides primarily of current opera¬tional importance in the control of field rodents and predatory animals.

STRYCHNINE (C21H22N2O2)

SODIUM MONOFLUOROACETATE (FCH2-CO-0Na)= "1080"

THALLIUM (Thallous-Sulfate TL2SO4)

ZINC PHOSPHIDE (Zn3P2)

CYANIDE (Compounds Yielding HCN on Hydrolysis)

RED SQUILL (Urginea maritima)

ANTU Alphanaphtylthiourea (l-(l-Napthyl)-2-thiourea)(C11H10N2S)

ANTICOAGULANTS--warfarin, diphacinone

TRACKING POWDERS

ARSENIC ERIOXIDE (AS2O3)

ENDRIN (1,2,3,4,-10, 10-hexachloro-6,7-epoxy-l,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-octa-hydro-1,4-endo,endo-5, 8-dimethanonaphthalene)

CALCIUM CYANIDE (CaCN2)

CARBON DISULFIDE (CS2)

PYROTECHNIC (GAS) CARTRIDGES

Ectoparasite Control In Public Health , Allan M. Barnes

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

The inclusion of a chapter on ectoparasite control in a work otherwise devoted to vertebrates has a great deal of justification; the ecologies of vertebrates and their invertebrate parasites are inseparable, thus, the vertebrate control specialist is brought into intimate contact with ectoparasites and ectoparasite problems. In many cases, the need for vertebrate and ectoparasite control problems is one, and knowledge of techniques in both areas is required. The term "ectoparasite" groups a broad array of invertebrate animals externally parasitic on larger animals, many of them blood feeders in at least one stage of their life cycles. The ecological relationships …

Concluding Remarks Of Appreciation With Comments On Histoplasmosis And Cryptococcosis, Philip J. Spear

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

The record of this meeting will stand as a permanent tribute to Dr. Walter Howard and his associates. It should remind them for years to come of their worthwhile contribution in conceiving, organizing, promoting, and handling the details of this first Vertebrate Pest Control Conference. Those of us privileged to attend will be grateful for the opportunity to enlarge our acquain¬tance with the workers in the vertebrate pest control field, and to share in this exchange of information. The National Pest Control Association, whose members provide among other services, control of many vertebrate pests, draw information and guidance from many …

Methods Of Sewer Rat Control, Joe E. Brooks

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

The control of rats in the urban environment involves more than merely dealing with the above-ground populations. The average urban sewage system provides a vast labyrinth of passages and nesting places for the Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus. Here, in a protected underground habitat the rodent population is free to reproduce and ultimately expand to the maximum number that the environment can support. Eventually, the population outgrows its environment. At this point population pressures force animals to move out of the system. Rat burrows begin appearing in front yards, under sidewalks and driveways, and in flower beds, and rats themselves are …

Commensal Rodents, W. W. Dykstra

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

The evolution of effective rodent control has been greater in the past 20 years than during the previous 200 years. Mankind need no longer fear the "black death," typhus, and other rodent-borne diseases. Likewise, there is no longer any reason why we must bear the cost of serious economic losses because of commensal rodent damage to property. Unfortunately, the latter still totals many millions of dollars each year. Damage and contamination of food products by house mice now probably equals or exceeds that caused by rats.

Pigeons, Starlings And English Sparrows, G. L. Hockenyos

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

This paper deals with the control of excessive numbers of pigeons, starlings and English sparrows in urban situations in the Midwestern region of the United States. Control procedures should always be based on a survey of the factors involved in the problem so that the most feasible methods can be determined. There is no one tool of bird control that fits all situations, and in most cases more than one tool is indicated. Since the feral pigeon is the most common pest species, emphasis will be placed on pigeon control methods. Urban bird control, like urban rat control, may involve …

Infectious Disease Hazards To Pest Control Operators, Paul Arnstein Dvm, Mph

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

One of the primary reasons for controlling most vertebrate pests is the role these creatures play as links in the infection chain of certain agents pathogenic to man. It is reasonable to assume that the persons engaged in the eradication or removal of pests are at some risk of contacting zoonoses - diseases transmissible from animals to man. Unfortunately, histories or epidemiological data of occupational infections among pest control operators are not available; perhaps this society may become a future assembly point for statistics in this field. The hazards therefore have to be approached theoretically: diseases known to be associated …

Federal Law And Vertebrate Pest Control, Justus C. Ward

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

Shortly after the passage of the Federal Insecticide Act of 1910, mammal control specialists in the Bureau of Biological Survey began to consider a similar law to cover the chemicals with which they were concerned. Work on the project went slowly and spasmodically, but reached the point of having a Federal Rodenticide Act available for study and possible revision in 1928. At this time, the mammal control chemicals in use were limited to strychnine--alkaloid and sulphate-arsenic, barium carbonate, thallium sulphate, phosphorus, sodium and calcium cyanide, carbon disulphide, and red squill. Strychnine alkaloid was about the only predatory animal control agent, …

Control Methods For Snakes , Elbert M. Brock, Walter E. Howard

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

Of the various types of wildlife that home owners find undesirable, snakes are probably the leading offenders. Because of much false teaching, many persons have a great dread of even non-venomous snakes; hence control often is practiced when not needed. Nevertheless, very few people are willing to accept the presence of snakes in their gardens or their yards, especially if there is a concern for children playing in the area. For this reason snake control is often desirable about homes and suburban housing areas. Other situations where controls might be justified are recreation areas, farms, bird sanctuaries, duck nesting marshes, …

Ground Squirrel Control In California, Richard H. Dana

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

The control of ground squirrels in California is important in two ways. First, it is necessary to prevent destruction of agricultural crops. Second, it is important from a health standpoint where rodent-borne diseases have been demonstrated to be present. Ground squirrel control in this State is the responsibility of the county agricultural commissioners, the State Department of Agriculture and on Federal lands the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. Most control measures are concerned with but two of the nine species of ground squirrels found in California. These include four subspecies: Beechey ground squirrel (Citellus beecheyi beecheyi), Douglas ground squirrel …

Methods Of Controlling Coyotes, Bobcats, And Foxes, Weldon B. Robinson

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

In reviewing methods of predator control, it would first seem appropriate to define what is meant "by "methods" and what is meant by "control." Taking the last term first, control, as applied to the predatory coyotes, bobcats, and foxes, may be defined as regulating the numbers of these animals to the point where the economic losses for which they are responsible will be reduced to a practicable minimum. In some situations, area control, i.e., limiting the numbers of the offending predator over wide areas, may be necessary for satisfactory reduction of economic losses; in other situations, spot control or localized …

Methods Of Controlling Starlings And Blackbirds, Adolph Zajanc

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

Most people have accepted the fact that all living things can be beneficial to mankind in some way or other. This is especially true of our wild birds, since they provide enjoyment and wholesome recreation for most of us, regardless of whether we live on farms or in the city. But despite the fact that wild birds are for the most part beneficial, at times individuals or populations of certain species can seriously affect man's interests. When such situations occur, some measures of relief are desirable and usually eagerly sought. This report is not intended to answer all the questions …

Linnets, Horned Larks, Crowned Sparrows And Woodpeckers, James W. Koehler

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

CALIFORNIA HOUSE FINCH Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis: Depredations. In California the linnet is an abundant resident throughout the State wherever food and water are available. It is most numerous on the valley floors and in the foothills where man's development has created an extensive favorable habitat. The linnet is primarily a seed eater and before the introduction of domestic fruits into California probably lived largely on weed seeds. Linnets attack the ripening fruit of the apricot, cherry, peach, pear, nectarine, plum, prune, avocado, grape, apple, fig, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry and many others. They disbud almond, apricot, pear, peach, plum, prune and …

Vertebrate Pest Control, Walter E. Howard

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

It is a pleasure and privilege for me to welcome all of you to this conference. And it is a conference, not a convention. No motions or resolutions will be entertained, as this conference is made up of representatives of many governmental agencies and countries; hence, not a place for resolutions. We are here to get acquainted with each other and to listen to experts from North America and Korea tell us about the best methods of controlling troublesome and pestiferous birds, mammals and snakes, and to discuss related problems concerning diseases and pesticides. Since the program is crowded, each …

Vertebrate Pest Control Conference: Contents

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

Proceedings of a meeting held at Sacramento, California, February 6-7, 1962. Sponsored by National Pest Control Association, 250 West Jersey Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey, and California Vertebrate Pest Control Technical Committee.
GENERAL CHAIRMAN OF CONFERENCE: Walter E. Howard, Associate Vertebrate Ecologist, Field Station Administration, University of California, Davis, California

Wolf Control In British Columbia, Canada, G. A. West

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

Up to 1949, the Fish and Game Branch employed personnel, some of whom were temporary, to attempt control of the extremely high wolf pop¬ulations of the central and northern portions of British Columbia. Coyotes were also very numerous in the central and southern regions and had to be considered because of their depredations. The field men were keen and conscientious but their efforts were not co-ordinated. Control areas were severely restricted in size as techniques were not adaptable enough and because of a lack of manpower. Eventually, sheepmen went out of business entirely over wide areas, cattlemen were subjected to …

Control Of Opossums, Bats, Raccoons, And Skunks, Howard A. Merrill

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

Opossums at times cause economic losses, especially around poultry farms, truck crops and river bottom corn fields. Under such circumstances, control may be required.

When bats invade homes and occupied buildings to establish their roosts, they often become nuisances, necessitating some measure of control. Interest in bats has increased greatly during recent years due to the transmission of rabies to humans. Rabies virus has been isolated from over 20 species of bats in 36 States. Since 1953, five human deaths have been attributed, to rabid bat bites. More recently one field investigator has reported an experience which indicated that rabies …

Mole And Woodrat Control, Rex E. Marsh

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

MOLES: In regions where moles thrive, lawns in golf courses, parks, cemeteries and home yards are often made unsightly by dirt mounds and ridges pushed up by the active little animals. In cultivated land, moles may cause consider¬able economic loss through their burrowings. Mole control can be divided into six basic categories: exclusion, repellents, gases, toxic baits, reduction of food supply, and trapping. Un¬changed over the years, trapping is still considered the most reliable of all methods of control, however, under certain conditions or situations, the other methods of control may be extremely useful. WOOD RATS: The native wood rat …

Control Of Pocket Gophers, Maynard W. Cummings

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

Pocket gophers occur only in North and Central America but within this vast area few other native rodent groups are more widely distributed (Anthony, 1928). None are more adaptable, either to natural extremes of habitat or to changed conditions brought about by agricultural development and other man-made environmental modifications. They occupy coastal areas, inland plains and valleys, desert and alpine meadow, from sea level to above timber line in a multitude of vegetation and soil types. This practically universal distribution has, of course, led to the recognition by naturalists of many species and subspecies. California alone contains at least 75 …

Controlling Muskrats, Rollo E. Talbert

Proceedings of the 1st Vertebrate Pest Conference (1962)

Today damage attributed to muskrat activities occurs both to irrigation systems and waterways serving agricultural interests as well as to power company installations, waterfowl refuges and hunting clubs. Direct damage or destruction of agricultural crops is relatively minor although the muskrat is known to feed on a variety of produce including ear corn, alfalfa, clover and carrots and frequently will cut a rather wide swath of rice near water control boxes separating rice paddies. The brief activities of fur trappers appear to have little significance as applied to alleviating these losses, so we are forced to recognize that we will …