Volume 9 JANUARY 15, 1950 Number 1 THE OlD ORDER CHANGES ----- THEY 'RE DEAD BEFORE OSAGE ORANGE HEDGES FOLLOWING PASSENGER PIGEON , DODO YOU FI RE A SHOT * * "' * * * "' * * '!' * By James R . Harlan By Wilford L . ~Iiller .\.sslstant Director Reprinte d from Outdoorsman Many quail hunters, returning "Cut down the bag limit this from trips to southern Iowa quail year." "Shorten the hunting sea territory the past season, were son five days and restrict shooting alarmed and surprised at the num hours." "Birds are getting scarce ber of Osage orange hedges being we must save them!" uprooted and burned. There is Hunters and conservationists reason for their concern over the across the nation discuss these loss of this fine quail cover. There problems year after year. And is general opinion among hunters unless some catastrophe occurs that "find an Osage orange hedge such as a blizzard which kills most row and there you will find quail." of the game birds most sports All wildlife must have suitable men will not look much farther homes, and Osage orange is ad ahead than the next hunting sea mirably suited to many needs of son. When the subject of con the bobwhite. There is little ques servation comes up, the hunting tion but that the introduction of regulations seem to be the all Osage played an important part in Important thing. increasing the bobwhite from limit Sportsmen are convinced that ed populations when the state was their guns determine the increase fi rst being settled to almost unbe or decrease of bird populations. lievable numbers by 1900. Second might be the foxes and More Osage hedge is being re those predators that supposedly moved than at any time for many are taking all the birds. years, and in the foreseeable fu Do you hunters want to know ture it will not be an important how important you are in affecting quail cover plant in our quail terri the ups and downs of some of our tory. A substitute must be found game species? Let's look at a if quail are to continue as an im few facts about the pheasant for portant game bird. example. For several years North The story of the Osage orange Dakota has gathered mass data hedge is an interesting one When from nesting studies, roadside sur Iowa became a state in 1846, it was veys, hunter kill records, winter The modern bulldozer has sounded the d eath knell for Osage ora nge hedges. not known whether hedge would mortality investigations, and other Jim Sherman Photo make a fence in the Middle West. sources to find out bow pheasants A Delaware contributor, writing in live and die. the W estent Ohio R egzster in 1839, Graphically the picture looks said, "I will merely tell you for like this- with the circle repre CHICKADEE, TITMOUSE, NUTHATCH your own information that all senting total eggs laid. (See circle kinds of thorn used here (Dela graph page 7.) By Roberts l\Iann tufted titmouse and the white- ware) for fences are fast going to Half of all eggs laid wlll never F ores t Pre"en e Distri c t of Cook breasted nuthatch. decay. I have seen no new fences hatch! Half of all young birds Count;-', Illinoll!t P eople who roam the woodlands for the last three or four years." that do come out of the eggs in wintertime, and particularly Henry W. Briggs, writing in the will be dead before fall. Winter Of the songbirds which remain those who live near a wooded area Davis County (Iowa) Agricultu.r will add its toll to the natural in the northern portions of the and maintain a bird-feeding board al Society Report 18 years later in mortality roughly 5 to 10 per central and eastern states all at home-whether in the country, 1857: "Hedging is attracting a cent. The spring breeding stock winter, there are three very close in the suburbs, or near a park or large share of attention. We have must be maintained. The surplus ly related yet entirely different in cemetery in the city-soon come now in the county about 11 miles in normal years the hunter can appearance: the chickadee, the tit to knov. these three. They are pri- of hedge from four years old down. take. His share may be 5 to 10 mouse and the nuthatch. Else marily insect eaters, valuable be- I believe the general opmwn per cent, approximately equal to where the species may be different. cause they search for and consume amongst hedge-growers here is the natural winter kill. Rather a but m the Chicago area we have great quantities of the eggs, lar- 1that it will do, however, not one {Continued on page 7) I the black-capped chickadee, the (Continued on page 6) (Continued on page 5) Page 2 I O WA CONSERVAT IONIST - Iowa Conservationist GAME VIOLATORS PAY Publlshed Monthly By $24,000 IN NOVEMBER THE IOWA STATE CONSERVATION COMMISSION l Seven hunched fourteen arrests 914 Grand Avenue-Des Moines, Iowa f]ii~:JIIIII..,_~ for hunting, fishing, and trapping (No R1ghts Reserved) violations during the month of No vember resulted in fines and sent WM S BEARDSLEY. Governor of Iowa ences totaling $24,188 50 in fines BRUCE F STILES. D1rector and 875 days m jatl. JAMES R HARLAN. Editor Seventy ca e~ resulting in fines LOIS RECKNOR. Associate Editor of 100 or 30 days or more in jail were beard in the courts, with il MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION legal fur being responsible for the bulk of heavier fines. Durmg the E G TRC r OII< ar dq - - period 12 hen pheasant shooters E. B. GAUNITZ ...... Lansing - ARTHUR C. GINGERICH...... Wellman - - were assessed fines of $100 or more. F. J. POYNEER...... Codar Rapids Four illegal trappers or fur J. D. REYNOLDS ...... Creston buyers wcr e assessed fines of C. A DINGES. .. Emmetsburg ~·1.000. three .. fiOO, one $400, with MRS. DAVID S. KRUIDENIER . ·waukee other fines for fur infractions ranging up to "375 in penalties. CIRCULATION THIS ISSUE 39.000 Farm pond s are fi '!dlng a multitude of recreational uses, lnc:ludlng swimming , skating, In addition to illegal trapping ntere>d a: second cla: at r at the> fishing, and trapp1ng. Hund reds of new farm ponds are being c:ons t ruc:ted in Iowa and hen shootmg, maximum fines PostE Off1ce at Des Momu<>, Iowa, Sept..,mber eac: h year. Iowa City Dai ly Iowan Ph oto. were assessed for shooting protect A 22, 1947, undnr the Act C'f Hnp-h 24, 1912 I ed species, exceeding bag limits, I subscript 'n ~·ears tor st.o~ per year FARM FISH PONDS GROWING IN IMPORTANC E impersonating an officer, illegal • 3 sale of fish, and hunting during Subscr. ·~ce d ,.. rvahon -- G vl4 closed seasons. ComrniSS10lo 0 Grana Av ... nue, Des I Farm fish ponds provide in Moines, Iowa Send cash, chock or money creased opportunity for recrea- Farm fish ponds can be of almost Both number· of violations and ordE:'r. any srze for stocking purposes total of fines reached an all-time 1 lional fishmg, according to the from one acre to over five acres record. The highest previous U. S Fish and Wildhfe Service Ponds as small as 1 ~ acre can pro- month was November, 1948, with Thousands of fat m fish ponds are th duce fish if carefully managed and 494 arrests. '13,000 in fines. In being established throughout the oU treated v.ith commercial fertilizer~ November, 1947, 336 arrests were " CONSERVATIONIST" various states. but they barely B to keep up the level of plant and made and $9.000 in fines assessed. INDEX keep ahead of the demands made PI small animal life that the fish usc Commission officials attribute upon our fishing resources by the for food. Ponds that small, ho\v- the increase to greater cooperation Two years have passed increased activ1ty of sport fisher to ever, do not stay in natural bal- v.. ith conservation officers on the smce a n index has been com men. de ance as well as lhe larger ponds. part of the non violating bunting piled for the "I owa Conser Conservative estimates are that WI vationist" We are workmg fishing attracts more than 20 mil P onds are stocked with spec1es and fishing fra ler nity and farmers, ed on one now covermg 1948-49 of fish that will maintain a natural plus the fact that licensed bunters tu lion indiVIduals 01 mote than any and expect to have it com other single sport. Bes1des the balance between prey and predator and fishermen have reached an all :t pleted about March 1. Many $28,000,000 a year spent for fishing species. Bluegills, \\'bich utilize time high. "County attorneys, th of our readers are plannmg the insect and small animal life of ~henffs. and judges have been es licenses, the sport is a b1llion dol th to bind their "Conservation ponds, are the prey species, and pecially cooperative in repeat cases W( lar a year business in the way of ists", and an index will be largemouth black bass arc Lhe and in the prosecution of major fishing equipment and related ex valuable If you will mail us predator species violations." penses B1 a card requesting the new In sptte of the 1mportance of If Lhe proper balance in weight I All fines collected for infractions ne index, it will be sent to you hook and line fishi ng, the amount and number of these two species of the fish and game laws are ~ without cost when completed. of available waters suitable for 1s mamtamed, maximum produc- turned ~ver t? the treasurer of the ch t10n of fish may be expected. In county m wluch the prosecution is fishing has g radually decreased. tit The pressure of Civilization has fact, this means that the ponds made and ear:narked for use as \\'] SPORTSMEN progressively destroyed habitat must be heavily fished by anglers county school funds. th NEED NOT WORRY due to silt in the water resulting lo prevent overpopulation and -- from deforestation and unwise stunted growth of fish VOGT TO DEVOTE TJ At the end of each bunting sea farm practices, and to such factors "F 1sb farmets" can expect re tb FULL TIME TO WRITING te son rumors begin to fly to the ef as mdustrial pollulJOn of waters turns of 50 to 100 pounds of fish fect that all the pheasants have With the gradual introduction of per acre in a natural pond, and up William Vogt, chief of the con Sll I t been shot out of a certain area. artificial impoundments to provide lo 300 pounds m a well managed, servation section of the Pan American Union since 1943, has so The same rumor can be heard this adequate water for cattle-and for fet tilized pond This is a greater submitted his resig:nation to devote tb year but needless to say 1t isn't other purposes-new habitat was production of food per acre lhan f ull time lo wntmg and lecturing true. created for fish. Now farm fish could be realized f1·om beef on ad tli Reports come in from sportsmen ponds have become of great Im Jacent land which could come to on con servation issu~s, the \\'Jld- arout 150 pounds per acre The hfe Mana~ement Institute. teports. to that they have driven through a portance from the point of view a of anglers production of a pound of fish in a I In ternatwnal~y recogmzed as given area of the state and haven't hi seen a pheasant since the hunting In the last few years farmers in fertilized pond might cost six lo one of Am~nca s leadmg conserva cighl cents, bul in terms of food twn_1sts, .~e IS the author of ~~e best fd season ended, thus giving rise to Texas have built 200,000 farm fish ar ponds. Missouri ponds have in and recreation this is considered selhng Road to Survtval, whtch "no pheasants" rumors. small ' has been accla1med by critics as fr creased by 50,000 in len years. and After the snows begin lo fall, Not every farm pond can be a one of the mosl important books .of b( however, and they drive through Mississippi reports 22,000 fish fish pond, however Ponds must recent years Mr Vogt. has dis ta the same territory, they will find ponds in the last five years. Okla be planned or buill specifically for a promment role m recent 01 there are plenty of birds left and homa is another state where ponds play~d fish. They cannot be on dammed Wildlife conferences and w11l sen c P< go happily through the year with are now gaining in popularity, and streams where flood waters might as summarizer of the 15th North the thought that prospects for the FWS reports 7,000 to 8,000 to next year should be pretty good. new ponds a year in that state. wash away the fish stock or where A~ e r 1? a n Wlldhf.e Conference, there is too great a flow of walet wbtcb wtll be held m San Fran 1\' Yet, at the end of the 1950 season, Southern states have led in the the same old rumor, "all the birds introduction of farm fish ponds. fOI the small plant and animal life cisco next Mar ch. ""'ere shot out," will rear its head. and \Vestern states have trailed. to flourish Sill from erosion can === There isn't much the Game and But a great deal of new interest make a pond uninhabitable for Prospective "fish farm e r s" Fish Department can do to coun in ponds is developing in the West fish, also. Ponds may be as shal should seek help from theit· con teract these rumors unless hunters as water tables fall and artificial low as three feet in the south, but servation agencies for help in plan take the word of men who have impoundments are looked to with musl be from s ix to 15 feet deep ning fish ponds, and the stale or made lifelong studies of the pheas greater frequency for water sup in the north to prevent winter kill the FWS will provide the fish stock ant. North Dakota Outdoor News. plies. ing of fish. when the pond is constructed. IOWA CONSERVATIONIST Page 3
SPAY POEMS SELL CONSERVATION ~BER W~]a./RA . A stranger was dashing along l arrests Shop Talk From the Field trapping State Highway No. 3 in Whitman :h of Xo County, southeastern Washington, tnd sent- \Varren Wilson, conservation of- when a series of roadside signs in fines fleer for Boone and Story coun caught his eye. H e jammed on the 1 ties, writes: brakes to get a better look. Here's m fines "I sometimes feel guilty that my what was said, on different boards, re in jail contributions to 'Wardens' Tales' spaced like shaving cream ads, with iJ. are few and far between. But along the fence: nothing exciting ever happens to e for the Trees on hilltop lring the me-my hfe as a conservation of shooters ficer is actually quite common Trap the snow or more. place. After all, would you con Hold the moisture or fur sider very unusual the night that Make crops grow. nes of Officer Goeders and myself were -00, with on the spring pike run at Spirit A few miles up the r oad, the fractions Lake, and two fish spearers in a tourist got a chuckle out of more a!ties . car tried to knock us off the north signs and began to realize that trapping grade? What's exciting about here was a new sort of promotion rum fines dodging a car coming at you 60 for better farming. H ere's what he ~ protect A pair of magnific:ent white-tail buc:ks with horns loc:ked, down on the lc:e of a small or 70 miles an hour with its lights read: g !units, stream. This pair w ere separat ed and released unharmed by c:onserva tion offic: ers. off? W inter wheat •, illegal "A week or so later, though, On clover land * * * * * ~ * * * * * something did happen which I'll ~ dunng G·rows and yields GAME WARDEN SEES BUCKS BATTLE TO DEATH admit gave me a little chill. I was making a trip down the Skunk To beat the band! ions and Inf uriated Animals Lock Horns a.nd Drown in Big ioux River all-time River in Story County, and get and again: prmous Judging by all the deer stories ting along very nicely, too, when this fall, Plymouth County and furious fight, and then death by directly above roe on a high bluff Pastures grassy, 8, \\ith slow starvation. Death by drown mes. In other counties northward along the I heard a terrific explosion. I Cattle sleek; Big Sioux River are reliving the ing is even more rare, and for looked up in time to see the sky ,ts were someone actually to see it happen Mortgage clear, ~se~sed . pioneer days. above me full of rocks. The boat The latest is the story of a battle has never been reported before. and I parted company, but fast, So's the creek. attribute This incident occurred near the operation to the death between two big buck and I headed for a low-hanging Supervisors of the North Palouse village of Klondike, in the wilder bank. For what seemed like hours c: on the deer. These two bucks were district thought up the idea. They weighed and their meal distribut ness along the Big Sioux. Klondike I watched rocks crashing down on hunting is about eight miles north of the decided to sponsor a jingle contest farmers, ed among various charitable insti the river and my boat. That Ames among kids in the g rades and the tutions in Lyon County. Thus Big Sioux bridge which connects rock quarry really does a job, be 3 bunters Canton, S. D., and Inwood, in Lyon high schools at both Garfield and !d an aU· it is known definitely that one of lieve me. I'll bet they're still load Palouse. the bucks weighed 305 pounds and County.- LeMars Globe Post. mg rock from that blast. torneys, They enlisted the cooperation of the other an even 300 pounds. They "The next week I thought I had been es· the c o u n t y superintendent of were white-tailed Virginia deer. a story, but decided it lacked news eat cases WATER SHORTAGE schools. Then they had a field trip The fight, on a sandbar in the appeal. Officers Garrett, Pike and bf major By Ted Lorenzen for students, who were transported Big Sioux River, was actually wit myself were checking a stretch of in school buses to see examples of uractions nessed by Conservation Officer Water shortages, to those of us nver north of Fraser on the Des Moines River. We were test rid different soil and crop practices. Jaws are Harold Brucklacher, who is in who reside a long the banks of the mg my new three-day-old Ford. Bankers of the two towns do ·er of the charge of Lyon and Osceola coun big Mississippi, are somewhat diffi Coming up to a bluff along the nated $25 in cash for prizes for !cution is ties. The fight was m progress cult of comprehension. It is only when Mr. Brucklach er arrived. river, we parked the car and got the best jingles. The district gave r use as when one gets away from the big They were battling on a sandbar river that the importance of water out. Over the bank I went, but appropriate books as prizes. In all, 421 jingles a b o u l conservation that stretched out to deep water. to the people IS brought home. At before reaching the bottom I heard The infuriated animals continued the moment, New York City's Garrett yell, 'Jump, Warren!' I were submitted. The best ones :>TE their battle without paying any at water shortage captures the head leaped to one side just in time to were put onto boards and were UTING tention to the conservation officer, lines, but in a thousand other avoid being run over by my new posted along the roads. snorting and trampling on their towns in the United States the Ford, which was following me like A local minister became so in the con· httle spit of solid ground, the only water supply is a matter of con a dog to the river. I now own the terested he based the service in his :he pan· sound being their breathing and cern. only amphibious Ford on the force. church on soil conservation one 1943, b8S the clashing of their antlers. Since coming events usually cast "Maybe I missed a story when Sunday.- The Northwest, Pub to de\'ote As Mr. Brucklacher approached, the1r shadows before them, a peek I helped recover a body from the lished by Northern Pacific R R. tee turing the bucks got their horns locked into the history books will reveal river or when our boat turned over :he \\'iid· together, and before his very eyes that as far back as 30 years ago in the swift waters of the 'Little The chuckwallas, a species of liz e reports: a tragedy took place that has the eminent students of conser Eddy.' I don't think so, though. ard, can increase its lung capa city, consequently its thorax size, 300 per 1ized as happened thousands of times be vation were forecasting water If anything exciting happens in conser\·a· fore when deer battled. The tired cent to prevent extraction from its shortages for the United Slates. my territory, I'll let you know burrow by enemies. 'the beSt· animals struggled with renewed How tight these men were is only but gosh, it's sure dull!" ·!," whic~ frenzy, and in their desperation now being disclosed. That the Some shrimplike animals live on the critics a~ both fell into the water. They tried people of the United States have Conservation Officer Harold edges of the ice near the North Pole, . books of to swim, but of course their efforts others are found in the boiling waters . di.. ;. been profligate in the use of water Brucklacher, in charge of Lyon of hot springs. h85 • opposed one another and so, in resources now becomes a fact in- and Osceola counties, writes: ,n recent panic, they drowned. ste::td of a conclusion. "Upon receiving two complaints ·tt .;erre The conservalton officer tried WI • The abuse of our water resources of beaver damage from the Osce ;th ~ortb to drag the animals out of the probably began back in the days ola County board of supervisors "A nation deprived of nterence. water, but he couldn't manage of our timber barons. A growing recently, I proceeded to investi liberty may win it, a nation J n fran· their combined and awkward 605 ,a nation demanded lumber, lots of gate. The first landov.rner's com divided may reunite, but a pounds in time to save their lives. it, and on the theory that limber plaint was well founded, and after Battles lo lhe death between resources were inexhaustible, no the necessary investigation I drove nation whose natural re buck deer have been only \'ery effot t at reforestation was made on to the site of the second re sources are des troyed must rarely witnessed. More often, by the timbet O\vners or lumber ported beaver damage, which was inevitably pay the penalty of hunters find the skeletons of two companies. Even worse, huge piles supposed to be at the bulkhead of poverty, degradation, and de bucks somewhere in the woods, of slashings left m the forests a drainage ditch. ca y "- Gifford Pinchot. their horns interlocked, in mute made splendid tinder which fed the "I found the landowner at home I testimony of , ..·hat happened a Co n t in u~: d o n page :--) I (Continu~tl o n page S) L------1 Page 4 I O WA CONSERVATIONIST - I trace this bird and report on it BANDED PIGEONS later.
B~ )Iilo GE' r ry I Carrier or homing pigeon fan Ciers have clubs m the United Mrs Jack Carter, 420 Chestnut States and Canada and stage com Street, Waterloo, found a homing petitive races with their birds. pigeon this fall that had identifi- The racers are shipped to some cation bands on 1Ls legs. Conser- other c1ty by a•r or express and vat10n Officer William Ellerbrock released The first bird to arrive referred her to an item which ap- and ente1 its cote is declared the peared in this column in Septem- winner. be~ which ~entione~ George C Clubs are located in New Jersey. Ba•.~ey, -~untmgton, ~ Y .. Kno\v~ , Massachusetts, Kansas, Maryland, as . rad1o s tracer of lost p1ge?ns, and Ham1Iton, Ontario The leg Bailey makes a hobby of ra•smg end of numbers and bands identify P•geons and also traces the owner- the assoc•a lion which issued the ship of birds for people who find band and the individual clubs are them. 1dentlfied by other letters. Serial The bird ~Irs Carter found was numbers are placed on the bands taken from a cat \Vhich had cap- for the O\\.'Der's identification. tmed it in 1ts exhausted condition The longest recorded flight of a The p1geon was fed and cared for homer was from Arras, France, to by the Carters for a couple of Saigon, Indo-China. The distance • days, but did not recover. is about 7,200 miles over seas, Bailey subsequently traced its mountams and deserts. An army Th One of the rarest birds In existence, the whooping cra ne Is fighting a grim ba ttle against O\'\'Dership to Robert i\Ietesch of bird traveled 2,100 miles from eJCtinctlon. Formerly common on Iowa's prairies, It has been extin ct In this st ate for ma ma ny yea rs. Jack Musgrove Photo. Joliet, Illinois. Vanceboro, 1\Iaine, to San Antonio, bee * * A local sportsman was shooting Texas. Another bird flew from car barnyard pigeons near the c•ty Venezuela to Brooklyn, a distance cuh WHOOPING CRANE BIG TRUMPETERS I this week and k1lled a homing of 2,200 miles. INCREASING ly INCREASE p1geon which was feeding with the The fastest recorded flight of a I farm variety. The leg bands bear homing pigeon was one which Trumpeter swans, which num Col Four young whooping cranes the code numbers of the American started at East Moline, Dlinois, bul have returned with 29 adults to bered a scant 73 m 1935, chalked Racing Pigeon Union, Jersey C1ty, and flew 250 m1les with an average up another gain last year, and lha their wintering grounds in Texas, New Jersey The metal band speed of 71 7 miles per hour. per givin g the big white b1rds new there now are 451 of these b1g bears the letters AU 49, Chicago, The hommg instinct is drilled birds in the Un1ted States, the Opi headway in their race against ex and the number 810. Two rubber into these feathered travelers by tra tinction, according to John H . Wildlife Management Institute re leg bands were also recovered special training and prelimmary Baker, president of the National ports. sue which were stamped with the let- flights until the desire to get back is s Audubon Society. Wbile the threat of extermina ters W 431 and W 416. Bailey will I losses? No, it's not the predator! In most states agricultural oper ations account for the biggest Joss - up to 75 per cent of all nests de stroyed. Skunks, house cats, badgers, and other predators take a share. E arly in the season when cover is sparse, the crow may be EGG MORTALITY enemy number one. Most game managers agree that weather is the determining factor of juvenile mortality. Favorable weather in May and June is one of the most vital factors affecting the survival of young upland game birds. Cold, wet hatching periods What happe ns to a hundred phea sant eggs. usually result in fewer young birds In the fin al analysis the hunte r has little to do with the up and down of game populations they're dead before you fire a shot. Cu t courtesy Oklahoma Game and Fish News. * * * * * in the hunters' bags in lhe fall. ., * ,~ * * * '!' * * * * Since the normal life span of most I greatest possibilities for increased They're Dead ... upland birds is about three years, bird populations. Successful nest- (Continued from page 1) small slice of the potential bird a succession of two or three unsuc- ing IS largely a matter of undis- population, isn't it? cessful hatching seasons will be turbed cover. Uncontrolled burning disastrous. and "clean farmmg" are enemies What happens to all the eggs and young birds? A complete list of Even after the broods are fully of the birds. Unused fencerows, all the factors of mortality would grown, natural mortality continues corners protected from grazing, :bickadee. make you wonder how any birds every day. If the surplus is to be • roadsides, woodlots, and similar survived. Here are a few of the harvested by the hunters, the soon- places should be suitable for nest- * er the season can be opened the ing. Hundreds of small places berries destroyers: adverse weather dur ing cntical hatching periods; hail, more birds will be available for would be more productive than one r. the gun. or two large areas in a community. mtit. or rain, floods, drought, blizzards; The next period of high natural Man IS directly and indirectly is apt plowing, seeding, mowing, and other agricultural operations; acci kill occurs during the winter responsible for the greatest losses feeding dents from traffic, collision with months. Starvation is not the in eggs. Agricultural operations 1d dart wires, and numerous other causes; chief cause of winter loss as is destroy most of them each nest ;amer it bacterial, fungus, and parasitic dis popularly believed. In fact, star- season in the habitat that is left Lb away eases, periodic food shortages; vation is a rarity even in the north- for game birds. Through the years .e a seed predators including the fox, coyote, ern states during years of heavy agriculture and other industries • it witb skunk, badger, m1nk, raccoon, dog, snowfall. Where winters are se- The fox takes a sma ll portion of ga me a nd a have taken away most of the its bill. large portion of abuse. Cut courtesy Okla- 'l b house cat, owl, hawk, eagle, crow, vere the availability of adequate homa Game and Fish News. SUI a le environment. Some years ~ crest, and many more. cover during blizzards is the limit- * * * * * * nature gives the birds a break by ark eyes Look at this partial list of de ing factor. On the prairies where year and we don't have much of providing extra nesting cover. Its I·u . structive agents and you will not all the low growing vegetation be- the potential population left. Sub- Again economic conditions may y gray, be amazed at the results revealed comes covered with snow the tract the birds needed for the counteract nature's helpfulness. ack. The by some of our nest studies. Dur woodlots and brushy growths re- spring breeding season, and the re- Here is an illustration: During the was bed ing the past two years only 14 per main the only cho1ce. Grouse w1ll mainder may be harvested. This five recent years when grain prices .nks. cent of all pheasant nests under burrow into the snow for protec- small surplus-the 5 to 1o per were high, 7,000,000 additional t workS observation were successful! For tion, but pheasants remain on the cent- has been receiving the big- acres went under the plow in North Jes and tunately the pheasant is a persis surface and suffocate from wind- gest part of our attention during Dakota alone. That's taking a lot tor in tent renester, so a larger percent driven snow if not near shelter. past years. of cover from tbe pheasants. of queer Winter losses normalJy are not Imagine what the loss to upland age of hens finally brought out We know that hunting restric- ud, clear beavy, but a series of bhzzards game birds and waterfowl has been broods. Incidentally, these nesting tions alone cannot bring back the , "Botb may seriously deplete an area of on a national scale during the same .r. studies were carried on in a part of birds- merely protect what we utbatcb, 1 the stale (North Dakota) where its pheasant brood stock. have. In the face of constantly years.S Jies, tree Add up tbe losses of eggs, juve- urvival of the young birds is there are no red foxes. diminishing bird populations we ff t exca\'ate What is the biggest factor in egg niles, and adult birds through the a ec ed mostly by the weather. titmouse must turn our attention from that You may say that we cannot con- an old * * * * * * * .,.,..,~·.·,. _ _....._'!' small 5 or 10 per cent the hunter trol the weather so nothing can be !llaterial, takes to 75 per cent killed other- done about the loss. Remember wise. We should be trying to re- though, that good cover is a pro~ :>een seen duce "egg mortality" and "juvenile t ,squirrel's ection against the elements any mortality". Sportsmen and game season of the year. Poor survival :a wood- managers must realize how even a rates may occur regardless of very slight reduction in these fields of mortality will result in a tre- cover if rain and cold weather per- mendous increase of birds avail- sist during the hatching season. But when favorable years do come, able to bunters in the fall. For 1C'n1 tlnued on page 8) example, in a brood of 12 pheas- ants, if three individuals could be * • • * * * made to survive instead of two, there could be a doubled population in two years. We have too much time and money recorded on the wrong s1de of the balance sheet. We must do 1 more work to increase the percent ages of eggs hatched and of young that survive at the same time that we are trying to regulate the shoolable surpluses. Otherwise we are going to find no surpluses to regulate some of these years. 1, Egg mortality, the largest i tern of loss, should receive first con- Early In the nesting season when cover Is sideration. Improvement of nest- sparse crows hunt for, find and destroy Half of a ll pheasant eggs laid are d estroyed before hatching. Here spring marsh . . many nests. Cut courtesy Oklahoma Game burning has destroyed 19 potential pheasants. mg facilities offers one of the I and Fish News. Page 8 I O WA CO N S ERVAT IO NIST Experimentally and by public de They're Dead ••• mand they have tried artificial (Continued from page 7) propagation and restocking, refuge will you have sufficient winter and programs, closed seasons, bounty nestmg cover to provide for the in systems for predator control and crease in birds? A population is ~ll have been found wanting. They defimtely hmited by either the have offered the paths of least re wmler cover or the nesting cover - SIStance or satisfied the demands wh1chever IS lhe poorer. Nature of the sportsmen in the past w1ll kill off the excess birds by one Now the state conservation de means or anothe1 when the car partments are workmg toward a rymg capacity of an area is basically sound program preserv reached- regardless of weather, ing areas of suitable environment predator control, or huntmg re for wildhfe and restoring in as far strictions. as practicable a portion of the Wmter mortality may not be hundreds of mlllions of acres of high in normal years even in the habitat destroyed in recent years not thern stales. But the sheller No one state or national agency Volu provided must be sufficient for the can do the job alone. It will re unusually severe wmters that do quire the co-operation of the state come Trees alone do not guaran conservation departments, the Soil tee adequate protect10n They must Conservation Service, the U S be planted so that snow will not Forest Service. and all existing fill the grove completely. In lhe organizations that are working case of so many of lhe shelterbelts with the landowners for soil and planted by the U S Forest Service water conservation. Increased wild in the plams slates m past years life populations will accompany 2,0 the snow bas drifted throughout better farming practices and a For the first time one of the Conserva tion Commission's 120-ton hydra ulic: dredges has the narrow belt, leaving httle or wiser use of our nation's soil and been moved to a new lake without d isma ntling. Art Ba rrett, Jr., Photo. no shelter for the birds water resources. * * * The problem of the predator un What can you sportsmen con DREDGING COMPLETED AT BROWN'S LAKE doubtedly bas come to your mind tnbute? First get the facts on before this. Conservation and reslo wildlife problems See who or what Some 60 acres of 300-acre I a lion through control of natural is kilhng your game birds and ani leasing them gently and slowly to enemies bas always been a popular mals. Then back financially, po Brown's Lake m Woodbury County the soil, preserving underground have been dredged with approxi subject. Volumes could be written litically, and morally every pro pi~ water levels, and providing spark on the role of the predator in game mately 750,000 cubic yards of silt gram that will restore natural ery ling water for the multitude of management, the success or failure bavmg been removed. The giant food and cover for wildlife. It's \\1ld wells and growing things. of the expensive bounty system for gomg to be a slow job with no trol hydraulic dredge, weighing more The third phase of abuse prob than 120 tons, bas been transferred control of predators, and related spectacular. immediate results. Stat ably came during the first World subjects. The point to be made here But look back ten. twenty, or thlr ml!~ to Blue Lake in Monona County \\'ar, spurred on by guarantees for is that an all out program to de ty years compare your favorite th~ west of Onawa, which will be production of basic foodstuffs, dredged dunng 1950. The dredge stroy all that prey upon your fa hunting spots of that time with in j prmcipally wheat No slope was vorite game birds is not only un was moved on two he:J.vy duty their present conditions. Then prog too sleep to feel the bite of the desirable but may be directly look ahead as many years and try trailers pulled by motor tractor, plow and land which nature in harmful for the very species you to imagine what they will be Hke if A) as an experiment that proved high \\ill tended be eternally left in grass are trying to protect. A program we don't get busy on a fundamental ly successful gam land was made to produce a crop or of local control is sometimes nec habitat restoration program In the past when dredges have two, perhaps three Those slopes essary and effective but should be be s been moved from one area to \vere not res tored, except in rare carefully investigated before being SJon another, they have been complete instances, many being the eroded carried out. Wardens' Tales ... and ly dismantled and reassembled at (Cont•nut d from pag-r ) WhiJ hillsides of today which permit the A prolific predator like the crow the site of the next dredging proj rnusl rainfall to gallop away rather than may be persecuted for years on a an d after mtroducing myself said, ect. Usually the time needed in soil slowly glide through the lush state-wide and national scale with 'I understand you have reported transportmg and setting up in the avat grasses of a yesterday out much possibility of decreasing some beaver damage on your land.' new site was from 60 to 90 days. Naturally frantic efforts are now the total populat10n noticeably " '\:Veil.' he replied, 'I bad a Tl The Blue Lake move was made in being made to restore the damage Likewise the coyote is well able to beaver in here last year, but I plan tht ee days. In moving the dredge Even so, there are those who would take care of the perpetuation of don't have any here this year but oper the cutter and gantry frames and do nothing on the theory that a h1s race. But many of our larger I'm afraid I'm gonna have one in gtou two front pontoons were removed, normal rainfall will cure every birds and animals definitely should here pretty soon.' Leal and the mam secllon was then thing. This is not true. A normal not be exterminated. The hunter "And for th1s I drove 50 miles." Ciut loaded onto the trailers. rainfall is no panacea because that must consider values to people club rainfall cannot be captured. The other than himself. Balance the Walt Hat vey, conservation offi gani raindrops no longer walk, they run harmful habits of some of the cer in Grundy and Marshall coun tl\'e Water Shortage . •• To slow down that runoff requires a condemned species yes, even the ties, writes· tarn (C'ont nucd fro!T' p .:c .)) number of things, just a few being red fox- against benefits to agri "There are qUJte a variety of 'No SOil fires that scorched millions of acres reforesla tion, restoration of areas culture, trappers, a nd other per Hunting' s1gns posted in my ter Who in the northern section of the coun damaged by unwise drainage, sons, and t he result may not be too ritory this year. Some of them cove try. The importance of trees in sound agricultural practices, soil one-sided. But it is hard for some say: 'Keep Out.' 'No Hunting.' shou relation to water resources was conservation programs, contour sportsmen to understand or accept. 'No Trespassing.' 'Private Prop loca) not recognized at the turn of the farmmg, and walet conservancy A more dan get ous accompam erty,' 'Keep Out, This Means that centm·y, in fact. the relationship distncts ment of an extensive predator con You.' 'Game Scarce, No Huntmg.' live When a great metropolitan area 'No Game, No Hunting,' 'Cross is obscure in the minds of many in trol program in a community is low1 this enlightened day \>.'ants for water, the wasteful the feeling among the sportsmen Dog.' 'Bad Bull, H unter s Go t'I Following closely on the relent practices of three-quarters century that their job is done if a few Away,' 'Game Area,' 'Game Ref 0Per less process of timber cutting came are brought home. It is to be hoped hawks and coyotes have been killed uge,' etc. Most of the signs mean cost an intensive agriculture, and along that the nation will sympathize or if a bounty law has been passed. about the same thing. the with it the cry for more farm land, with the plight of New York City, The result is the postponement of "But the sign I think is the and that out of this mcident will most impressive of all is one that especially in the fertile ~ection of the only program that will per ~~~ the nation. Enter now the era of come an awareness that the water manentlv benefit their game birds is posted near some good squirrel set\, drainage, with the destruction of resources of the country are not a "ba~k to the land" program of timber. which is no doubt over ((It countless marshes. ponds and inexhaustible.-Davenport Demo habitat restoration. hunted. This sign simply reads, and lakes, those priceless storage reser crat. Game technicians admit that 'Dammit No Hunting.' to i "At least one will remember voirs provided by nature to catch Tiny one-celled animals may digest they have no cure-all for the short cont the raindrops and bold them, re- food throughout their entire bodies. age of game birds and animals. what the sign said."