Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Measuring Bird Damage To Corn, John T. Linehan

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 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 Damage Control With Chemical Frightening Agents, Paul P. Woronecki, Joseph L. Guarino, John W. De Grazio

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 3rd (1967)

Birds involved in damage or nuisance situations also have beneficial qualities, and most species are protected by State and Federal laws. Programs designed to alleviate bird problems, particularly those involving blackbirds, should first seek to discourage the birds from using problem areas and not to eliminate populations by direct reductional control. Habitat manipulation and mechanical frightening devices are useful techniques for discouraging bird activity, but certain chemical frightening agents have distinct advantages in some situations. We have found these agents particularly effective when used to control blackbird damage. Chemical frightening agents can be divided into two groups, the lethal and …

Blackbird Behavior, Gordon W. Boudreau

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 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 …

Population Control Of Herring Gulls By The Embryocide, Sudan Black*, David K. Wetherbee

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 3rd (1967)

The purpose of this experiment was to test the application of a biochemical method proposed to control the hatching of herring gull (Larus argentatus) eggs in a wild population. Sophistication was considered in terms of practicality, effectiveness, selectivity, economy, humaneness, remote application and hazards to and in the environment. The herring gull, which at the turn of the century was unknown as a breeding bird in northeastern United States, now nests abundantly along the Atlantic coast as far south as Virginia. Its phenomenal increase in numbers has resulted in conflicts with several human interests, including competition with other desirable nesting …

Control Of Nuisance Pests In Suburbia, Howard A. Merrill

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 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 …

Birds And Airports, Erwin W. Pearson

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 3rd (1967)

For all practical purposes, research in this country on the problem of bird hazards to aircraft began in 1960 with the crash of an Electra turboprop that carried 62 people to their deaths and was attributed to ingestion of starlings into the engines. In this paper I intend to review the problem and present some of the answers found by investigators in this country and, to lesser extent, abroad. The discussion will be roughly divided into two parts: 1) what: causes the problem, when, and where; and 2) what has been and is being done at airfields to reduce it. …

Role Of The Agricultural Extension Service In Vertebrate Pest Control, Marvin D. Davis

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 3rd (1967)

Frankly, I often wonder what our role is in vertebrate pest control. It seems to me that we in A.E.S, are frequently treading in the "twilight zone" of pest control. This is because of the wide diversity of problems which arise within an area such as I represent. I feel it is most significant that our county was invited to cover the role of A.E.S. in vertebrate pest control and discuss the tremendous variations and considerations necessary to serve an urban/semi-urban to rural county. Those of you familiar with San Mateo County readily recognize the potential problems due to population …

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

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 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 …

The Summer European Starling Problem In Tulare County, William R. Clark

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 3rd (1967)

Summer starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are known to have caused damage to the agricultural industry of Tulare County since 1960. At this time the first confirmed appreciable damage to grapes occurred. Since that year the threat has grown considerably as populations have increased. Annual monetary losses have fluctuated but damage has increased steadily and many losses are going unreported or unevaluated by the growers. Known total monetary losses in Tulare County have reached over $28,500.00 in a single summer and the unknown or unrealized losses would probably double this figure. The diversity of crops damaged has mounted steadily, as anticipated, and …

The Use Of Live Traps To Remove Starlings And Protect Agricultural Products In The State Of Washington, Vincent Bogatich

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 3rd (1967)

Much has already been said and written about the use of live traps for the control of starlings in the State of Washington and our efforts have evidently been viewed with interest for we have received letters and questions about our program from all over the world. Our interest in the possibilities of the live trap began back in 1960 when spring and summer surveys revealed a high nesting population and an increasing percentage of bird damage to a very valuable cherry growing industry. This damage was mainly attributable to the local flocks of juvenile starlings. Over the years we …

Winter Starling Control With Drc-1339, Paul E. Levingston

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 3rd (1967)

Several years ago starling problems in cattle feed lots exploded to economic proportions. In 1964 one northern California feed lot operator reported a loss of $1,000 per day during the winter months. This resulted from daily activity of over a million starlings. Along with consuming and contaminating large amounts of cattle feed, the birds disturbed the cattle and prevented regular feeding habits. This reduced weight gains drastically. To combat what had become a state-wide problem, in 1962 a cooperative program between the California Department of Agriculture, the county agricultural commissioners, the United States Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, and …

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

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 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 roceedings: 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 …

The Status And Use Of Gophacide, Voit B. Richens

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 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 …

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

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 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 roceedings: 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 …

Biological Control Of Vertebrate Pests, Walter E. Howard

Vertebrate Pest Conference roceedings: 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 roceedings: 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 roceedings: 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 roceedings: 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.

Food Safety Program: Endrin Monitoring In The Mississippi River, Arthur F. Novak, M. R. Ramachandra Rao

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

Twelve successive monthly samplings and analyses of representative fish and shellfish and of mud and water from the lower Mississippi River showed neither a high concentration of endrin nor a time-ordered change in the concentration. The general absence of endrin from the samples indicated no significant contamination.

The Fate Of Pesticide Residues In Soil, Russell S. Adams Jr.

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

Pesticidal chemicals may be lost from or inactivated in soil by volatilization, leaching, sorption, chemical' degradation, microbial decomposition, or plant removal. The persistence of o pesticide in soil depends upon the chemical nature of the pesticide and certain characteristics of the soil. Soil mineral and organic colloids sorb these compounds very tightly and restrict microbial decomposition of the pesticide. Conditions favoring microbial activity in the soil also favor the disappearance of pesticide residues. Factors that contribute to the persistence of o pesticide ore the some factors that increase its persistence.

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 …

Development, Verification, And Use Of Methods To Model Chemical And Thermal Processes Lakes Mead And Powell, Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

PURPOSE

The purpose of the proposed research is to quantify the effects that Lakes Mead and Powell have on the salinity in the Colorado River system, and to evaluate changes that cap be made to the operating system of the reservoirs (within legal/institutional constraints) to enhance salt precipitation and/or minimize evaporation within the reservoirs. The effect of any changes (i.e., selective withdrawal uses, pumped storage, etc.) on reservoir evaporation could also be evaluated with a goal of minimizing evaporation. This will be accomplished through the development of a mathematical model of the reservoirs as described below.

BACKGROUND

Two major problems …

The Starling, John L. Long

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

Despite their pretty colour and their song, starlings cannot be considered beneficial, especially in the fruit and grain-growing areas of W.A. where they are declared vermin.

MILLIONS of starlings inhabit the settled parts of eastern and south-eastern Australia, but so far they have not reached Western Australia.

Starlings In California, Charles C. Siebe

Vertebrate Pest Control Conference Proceedings: 2nd (1964)

In 1959 Dr. Walter E. Howard, in an article printed in the Bulletin of the California Department of Agriculture, stated: "Even though the starling may be unwanted in California, it is now here and there is little chance of extirpating it". This statement is as true today as it was five years ago. At present we have in California a resident population that is increasing each year and will most probably continue to increase. Nesting starlings have been found from Imperial and San Diego Counties in the south to Modoc County in the north. To-date damage has been confined primarily …

Methods Of Controlling Blackbird Damage To Field Corn In South Dakota, John W. De Grazio

Vertebrate Pest Control Conference Proceedings: 2nd (1964)

One of the most widespread bird problems in the Western United States is damage to ripening cereal grain crops. Crops such as corn, rice, and sorghum, when grown close to favored roosting areas are often subject to serious damage from large flocks of feeding blackbirds. The redwinged blackbird is the most numerous species and causes most of the damage, but other blackbird species, including the yellow-headed blackbird, the common grackle, the brown-headed cowbird, and Brewer's blackbird, also contribute to damage problems. The Denver Wildlife Research Center is actively investigating methods to combat blackbird depredations to field corn in the vicinity …

Sound In Vertebrate Pest Control, Hubert Frings

Vertebrate Pest Control Conference Proceedings: 2nd (1964)

The best known vertebrate pests, as the papers presented at this meeting show, are birds and mammals. Other vertebrates, however, may become pests also: sharks, lampreys, toads (they fall into swimming pools), geckos, tortoises and snakes, for example. Without considering them, however, the depredations by birds and mammals alone are so varied that no single method of pest control can ever be all-embracing. Certainly, no one would suggest that acoustical methods would be, but, with further study, acoustical pest control should be much more widely used. I hope to point out here the possibilities and a few realities in bio-acoustics …

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

Vertebrate Pest Control Conference Proceedings: 2nd (1964)

The policy of the Cape Provincial Department of Nature Conservation is based on the concept of "wise management" of wildlife resources. Where crop damage is real, control measures are essential. These, however, must be adapted to the species concerned and applied only where the damage is taking place. Blanket measures which also kill many useful species must be avoided. For this reason, the control of problem animals should be vested in the agency concerned with wildlife conservation.

Pest Control Methods And People, John E. Swift

Vertebrate Pest Control Conference Proceedings: 2nd (1964)

Frankly I am not sure what "Pest Control Methods and People" really means. When I asked what I should cover, I was told to give a general discussion on pesticides. I am not sure this is appropriate even though the laws and regulations that pertain to other pesticides apply equally to those materials used in vertebrate pest control; the conditions of use, the types of chemicals used, their effect upon various animal species, and the number of chemicals available are so different from the pesticides used in controlling invertebrate pests that generalizations may not cover the topic. There are, however, …