Digital Commons Network^™

Rats, Bombs, And Paradise - The Story At Eniwetok, William B. Jackson

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

At Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands, rats have been involved in an intriguing story. Polynesian rats were probably the only rodents present until after World War 11 when roof rats were brought in along with supplies and equipment for the atomic test program in the late 40's or early 50's. Some islets of the atoll, originally covered with coconut plantations, were denuded by heat, shock, and tidal waves following the detonation of devices. Initially radiation levels were high, but radioactive decay and dilution reduced the radiation hazard, and today the background radiation is well within the safe range. Many …

Blackbirds - Depredation, Research And Control In Ohio And The Midwest, Thomas M. Stockdale

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

The earliest settlers in Ohio and the Midwest suffered losses to birds. First it was animal losses to birds of prey, then crop losses to passenger pigeons. Today it is blackbirds! In 1900, F. E. L. Beal conducted an analysis of the digestive tracts of blackbirds collected in the Midwest and found that the preferred food in the summer months was soft seeds. A similar study which I conducted on redwinged blackbirds in 1959 showed that 90% of their diet was composed of soft seeds, primarily milk and dough stage corn during the late summer and early fall. Presently we …

Measuring Bird Damage To Corn, John T. Linehan

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

When corn is damaged by birds, kernels are eaten or "milked" and the affected ears are left with fewer intact kernels. The resulting damage, or loss, can be expressed in terms of the number, weight, volume, or value of the kernels that were removed or pecked. Assessment of loss thus frequently entails measuring, counting, or estimating from evidence of kernels lost. Estimates of loss resulting from the activity of birds should express the difference in value between a crop grown under the conditions that prevail and the value under the hypothetical condition of no adverse bird activity. To offset the …

Blackbird Behavior, Gordon W. Boudreau

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

A knowledge and understanding of a bird's habits and behavior patterns is prerequisite to any intelligent approach toward solving problems created by that species. This also applies to associated species commonly observed with it. Since my subject today is blackbirds I will confine my observations to species in this group, particularly red-winged blackbirds. The Red-Winged Blackbird, (Agelaius phoeniceus) is numerically and economically the most important. Several sub-species or races are recognized and in California the most important of these is the Bi-colored Blackbird, (A. p. californica). The ranges of subspecies commonly overlap, particularly in the Southeast, and field identification is …

Control Of Nuisance Pests In Suburbia, Howard A. Merrill

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

To a rancher or high-rise apartment dweller, problems with vertebrate pests in suburbia may seem insignificant. But when one stops to consider that last year over 2 million acres of farmland were converted into urban and industrial use, then it takes a different perspective. Some mammals are protected—game animals and fur bearers are usually protected by Fish and Game Departments. Cottontail rabbits, deer, and tree squirrels are examples of game animals, and muskrats, foxes, badgers, and raccoons are examples of fur bearers. In California a number of birds and mammals have no protection; these are English sparrows, American or black-billed …

Starling Control In Livestock Feeding Areas, Richard R. West, Jerome F. Besser, John W. Degrazio

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

The Denver Wildlife Research Center has been investigating methods to combat starling (Sturnus vulgaris) problems at livestock feeding areas since 1960. A variety of chemicals, baits, and methods of bait placement have been tested. This paper summarizes these investigations.

CHEMICALS TESTED About 500 chemicals have been screened for toxic and stupefacient effects on starlings. Although several chemicals have been found that immobilize starlings in the laboratory, they have been largely ineffective in the field; most starlings regurgitate the treated baits, and seldom have substantial numbers been affected. Of the toxicants screened, four compounds, TEPP, DRC-632, DRC-1327, and DRC-1339, have shown …

Winter Starling Control In Idaho, Nevada, And Oregon, Homer S. Ford

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

This paper is intended to bring you up-to-date on the progress of various winter starling control projects conducted by our Bureau on feedlots in Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon. This report briefly covers the field work accomplished since that reported by the late Mr. H. Nelson Elliott in his paper delivered to the second meeting of your conference held in Anaheim, California, in March 1964. Prior to the winter of 1960-61 we experienced a tremendous build-up of starling populations in feedlot situations throughout the Pacific Northwest. The expanding livestock feeding industry was receiving great economic losses from starlings eating livestock feed …

A Method Of Controlling Jack Rabbits On A Range Rehabilitation Project In California, Frank A. Wetherbee

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

In recent years the Bureau of Land Management's range rehabilitation program in the high sagebrush areas of northeastern California has included control of sagebrush preceded by the seeding of drought resistant grasses such as crested wheatgrass. Jack rabbit browsing and uprooting of young seedling plants has in many instances severely retarded the establishment of these grasses. Because of this it has become apparent that rabbit reduction in many of these areas is essential if a grass stand is to become established. A comparison of Figures 6 and 7 illustrates the problems jack rabbits can cause to range rehabilitation projects where …

Biotelemetry — Its Use In Vertebrate Control Studies, Wendell E. Dodge

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

Accurate evaluation of rodent control techniques has always been a laborious undertaking. It generally involves tedious pre- and post-treatment censusing by trapping, marking, track counts, reduction of activity, etc., and results, at best, must necessarily contain a significant amount of speculation by the investigator. The biologist conducting such studies has been constantly harassed by uncontrollable parameters such as trap response, immigration, emigration, predation, disease, and many others. Thus, there has been a pressing need of a more definitive technique for evaluating rodent control trials. During the last decade, a new tool called biotelemetry has become available to the wildlife biologist. …

Rodent Problems On Private Forest Lands In Northwestern California, Jarrold B. Cone

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

Rodents damage is important to forest management and is adequately described in the literature (Kverno, 1964; Hooven, 1958, 1959; Lawrence, 1958; Isaac, 1943; Kangur, 1954; Tevis, 1956a). It is not the intent of this paper to reiterate the types of damage or the rodents involved; the reader who is interested in this topic is particularly directed to the work of Lawrence, Kverno, and Hartwell (1361). This paper is concerned with the major forest rodent control efforts currently being employed in northwestern California. It will describe the background of literature and investigation from which present practices evolved, the implications that these …

The Status And Use Of Gophacide, Voit B. Richens

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

Toxicants have been widely used for several decades to reduce numbers of problem animals. The utility of these substances, however, has been limited by hazards to other animals and man, inadequate effectiveness against the target species, and restrictions on use. The ecological complexity of most habitats in which animal control is undertaken requires utilization of new poisons that are less hazardous, more effective, and more specific. Gophacide1, Bayer 38819, 0_, 0-bis(p-chlorophenyl) acetimidoylphosphoramidothioate, is generally favorable in these respects. Tests with Gophacide were initiated at the Denver Wildlife Research Center in late 1961; and more recently, this chemical has also been …

Biological Control Of Vertebrate Pests, Walter E. Howard

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

This paper briefly introduces the subject of vertebrate pest control, integrates and interprets some important ecological principles of control methodology, and intercalates these discussions with analysis of the biological backlashes and other ecological interactions that may be created whenever troublesome species of vertebrates are controlled by biological means. Insight in this area must be deepened if we are to fulfill our primary objective of learning how to manage a healthy environment in perpetuity. One important merit of biocontrol is that most people accept carefully planned ecological dislocations in nature more readily than they do the repugnant and hazardous aspects of …

Recent Developments In The Control Of Vertebrate Problem Animals In The Province Of The Cape Of Good Hope, Republic Of South Africa, Douglas Hey

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

In an earlier paper (Hey, 1964 an account was given of the topography and climate of the Cape Province, a description of the vertebrate animals and birds which might be considered to fall in the category of problem animals and the control methods used. The present paper will, therefore, deal with advances in control techniques which have since been made. At this juncture, it would be appropriate to record our sincere appreciation to the Director and Staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and particularly to the Senior Officers of the Denver Research Center, District Agents Malcolm Allison and …

Federal Wildlife Importation Regulations: The Why And Wherefore, Joseph P. Linduska

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

This is a hasty and in many ways superficial review of the motivations that started us in the business of importing new, strange, beautiful, and hopefully useful wildlife. It is a capsuled account of the high cost of ill-advised introductions and of near misses that were avoided thanks to a few individuals who viewed such transplants with skepticism and even alarm. And I have touched also on the highlights of the legislative base from which we now operate in efforts to safeguard agriculture and other values from ravages of exotic wildlife; wildlife that may succeed too well with us and …

Conference Participants

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

The Third Vertebrate Pest Conference was an enormous success with 265 in attendance, of these, 203 were registered participants. The attendance was made up of individuals having varying interests in vertebrate pest problems including foresters, agriculturalists, conservationists, pest control operators, vector control specialists, health officials, wildlife specialists, product distributors and manufacturers, instructors and researchers from twenty three states plus Washington D. C. and South Africa.

Epizootic Ecology In The Training Program Of The Vector-Borne Disease Section, Harold E. Stark

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 3rd (1967)

To fulfill the primary objective of the Vector-Borne Disease Section of NCDC to reduce the incidence of vector-borne diseases - a series of courses on vertebrates and arthropods and their role as reservoirs, vectors, and disease-causing agents is presented. Literature is prepared and a museum is maintained. One of these courses, Epizootic Ecology, illustrates some of the aspects dealt with in these courses. Definitions and concepts are presented followed by a brief review of principles of epidemiology and ecology. Specific examples constitute the bulk of the course. One of these, tularemia, is especially useful for the purposes of this course …

Arkansas Water Resources: Supply, Use, And Research Needs, Jared Sparks

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The purpose of this study is to identify Arkansas’ water resources research needs against an economic backdrop of water supply and use conditions existing in the state. In the aggregate Arkansas has an abundance of high quality water relative to present use. There are local conditions that give rise to water problems, but, in general, critical water problems in Arkansas are emergent and potential rather than actual. The causes of these problems are to be found, in large part, in the economic, legal, and social institutions surrounding water use--and particularly in the economic institutions. Research designed to improve economic efficiency …

Cattle : And The Ord Irrigation Project, W M. Nunn

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

No abstract provided.

Water Blooms, T E H Aplin

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

WHEN a body of water becomes discoloured with a super-abundance of free-floating, microscopic plant or, in rare cases, animal life, it is said to develop a "water bloom."

This article discusses some aspects of the appearance of water blooms, particularly those caused by algae, and with the effects that certain toxic algae have on livestock.

Fox-Prey Relationships In Eastern South Dakota, Robert L. Drieslein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Relationships between red foxes (Vulpes fulva) end their principal prey, particularly ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), were studied on four units in eastern South Dakota from December 1964 to September 1966. Each unit was composed of a 100-square-mile "reduction area," on which fox populations were reduced, and a 100-square-mile "check area," on which fox populations were not reduced for the study. Indices to populations of foxes, pheasants, mice, eastern cottontails (Svlvilagus floridanus) and whitetail jackrabbits (Lepus townsendi) were obtained and used to evaluate food habits and the effect of predator reduction on prey populations. Four-hundred seventeen stomachs and 104 female reproductive …

Seasonal Movements Of Prairie Grouse In South Dakota, Warren W. Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From 1962 through 1966, 1,401 plains sharp-tailed grouse (Pedicecetes phasianellus jamesi) and greater prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupide pinnatus) were trapped in Gregory and Lyman Counties in south-central South Dakota. Cannon-projected nets and funnel traps were used to capture prairie grouse on breeding grounds and winter baitsites. Some birds were marked with backtags and leg-markers. Movement information was obtained from field observations, hunter reports, sharp-tailed grouse collections, and by recapturing banded birds. Male birds moved less than two miles from winter baitsites to breeding areas; most movements over five miles were made by immature female birds. Seventy-seven percent of the hunter …

Effects Of Dieldrin On Reproduction Of Penned Hen Pheasants, Thomas Donald Atkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pen studies to determine the effects of dieldrin on reproduction of the hen pheasant were conducted for two breeding seasons, Hen pheasants were caged individually and administered encapsulated dieldrin at weekly intervals. The first season, treatment levels were 0, 2 or 4 mg of dieldrin per hen per week. Hens receiving 4 mg weighed more and laid heavier eggs than the controls. However, these differences were not attributed to the effects of dieldrin, but to the condition of the hens when first treated. Hatchability of eggs from the 2 mg group was significantly higher for an undetermined reason. Feed consumption, …

Engineering For The Human Environment, Frank E. Moss

Reports

President's Introduction: The environment of man has been the subject of intensive studies in recent years as the dangers of pollution became increasingly evident. The atmostphere we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, all are endangered by defilement. Thre resolution of the conflict can came only through a asystematic reordering of the national way of life so that man himself will not fall victim to the wastes of his civilization. For forty years Utah State University has been vitally concerned with the problems of pollution. Utah State surveys and studies have revealed the effects of pollutants on …

Proceedings Of A Symposium: Pollution Control Of Industrial Wastewaters, Calvin K. Sudweeks, Lynn M. Thatcher, Elmo Morgan, Franklin J. Agardy, R. E. Pailthorp, John C. Merrell Jr.

Reports

No abstract provided.

Groundwater Development In Arid Basins, Dean F. Peterson Jr., Harold E. Thomas, J H. Feth, P. H. Mcgauhey, James H. Milligan, Wayne D. Criddle, Judge Lewis Jones, Dallin W. Jensen, Calvin G. Clyde, Bartell C. Jensen, C. E. Jacob, Jay R. Bingham, E. O. Larson

Reports

Summary: Groundwater development frequently provides a means whereby tremendous new economic opportunities are opened up. If supplies are overdrawn (mined) the ensuing regional economy may be able to affort replacements from more costly sources. In the United States the Salt River Valley of Arizona and the valleys of California provide examples. Two cases are treated in this paper, Israel and West Pakistan. In Israel, besides furnishing more than half of the basic source of water suppply, groundwater development provides opportunity for both quantity and quality management, which makes possible use of surface supplies and reclaimed sewage as firm rather than …

Control Of Air Pollution Through The Assertion Of Private Rights, Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Air pollution is clearly one of the major social problems confronting contemporary American society. Yet the United States is still without an effective federal pollution control program, and those state and local control programs that do exist are largely ineffective. Until government regulation is able to keep the expulsion of air contaminants within tolerable limits, it will be necessary for those seeking to control air pollution to rely upon the assertion of private rights. In this article the author discusses the principal causes of action available to the private pollution controller, and concludes that, although traditional legal concepts may provide …

Blackbird Damage And Control--An Informal Seminar, M. I. Dyer

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

The object is to hash over a few problems as we see them on this red-winged blackbird situation. I'm Mel Dyer, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario. Around the table are Tom Stockdale, Extension Wildlife Specialist, Ohio Cooperative Extension Service, Columbus; Maurice Giltz, Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center, Wooster, Ohio; Joe Halusky, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Columbus, Ohio; Daniel Stiles, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C.; Paul Rodeheffer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Columbus, Ohio; Brian Hall, Blackbird Research Project, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario; George Cornwell, Virginia Polytechnic Insti¬tute, Blacksburg, Va.; Dick Warren, Peavey Grain Company, Minneapolis, …

Bird Control Methods And Devices--Comments Of The National Pest Control Association, Philip J. Spear

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

It may be useful to review some of the considerations that go into recommendations concerning bird management. Later I will make some comments concerning specific methods and devices being used in or promoted for bird control work regardless of whether or not they are new. Members of the National Pest Control Association provide a variety of services, such as fumigation, termite control and general pest control which includes rodent control. There are eight such categories listed in our roster, but only one member in five provides every service listed. Bird control is a rather recent development and is the newest …

Blackbird Depredations In Animal Industry: Feedlots, Donald Balser

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

Reviewing the cattle feedlot problems in the west, we have cattle feedlots near most of our large population centers and in some cases they are located near supplies of rations, such as potatoes in Idaho or beet pulp, milo, etc. Perhaps the greatest number of feedlots are in California which has our largest human population but there are also large operations in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona which have reported bird damage problems. Later on in the program we'll have a film taken by our bird project personnel of work in feedlots in Colorado so I'll …

Blackbird Depredations In Animal Industry: Poultry Ranges And Hog Lots, C. E. Faulkner

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

I'm going to move over onto poultry ranges, turkey ranges and hog farms where we have species of birds such as the herring gull, the pigeon, the starling and English sparrow. As a rule, these birds travel relatively great distances from roosts and loafing areas out to the feeding ranges. And why shouldn't they? There is ample high energy food available and usually lack of human disturbance. So they frequent these places during the daylight hours. Actually the losses from these operations are pretty hard to evaluate. Sometimes it is direct, the farmer feels the impact; other times it's indirect. …