Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Prairie Naturalist Vol. 4, No.1. March, 1972

The Prairie Naturalist

EDITORIAL: Advertising by Power Suppliers ▪ William A. Buresh

FIRST FLOWERS OF TREES, SHRUBS AND VINES IN THE FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA AREA ▪ O. A. Stevens

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS FOR NORTH DAKOTA—1971 ▪ Robert N. Randall

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION IN NORTH DAKOTA—EXPECTATIONS AND REALITIES ▪ Paul B. Kannowski

SEASONAL NOTES ON PLANKTON ALGAE OF EAST STUMP LAKE, NORTH DAKOTA ▪ Dean W. Blinn

A SKUNK WITH A GLASS COLLAR ▪ Peter W. Rakowski

SPRING MIGRATION OF BIRDS IN NORTH DAKOTA IN 1971 ▪ Paul F. Springer, Douglas H. Johnson and John T. Lokemoen

NOTE

Red throated loon observed on Lake Ashtabula, …

Solutions Of The Two-State Potential-Curve-Crossing Problem, John B. Delos, W. R. Thorson

Arts & Sciences Articles

A general theory of the two-state curve-crossing problem has been developed, with a complete solution of an accurate model for "close" crossings (including numerical computations for strong coupling). Results clarify the position of the Landau-Zener approximation and its improvements by Nikitin and others, provide a general way of extending these approximations into regions often treated incorrectly (including the high-energy limit), and can be readily adapted to simple, rapid calculations.

Opening Remarks - Fifth Vertebrate Pest Conference, Rex E. Marsh

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Fifth Vertebrate Pest Conference. It has been 10 years since the first Conference was held in Sacramento in February of 1962. The attendance has grown at each successive conference and, from the looks of the audience this morning, we shall surpass all previous records. It would, however, be wrong to judge the significance of this conference on attendance alone, for we are equally or more concerned with the quality of the conference and its ultimate contribution to the specialized area of wildlife management. The Conference is sponsored by the California Vertebrate …

Keynote Address - Vertebrates: A Resource Needing Management, Donald A. Spencer

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

A veritable storm of concern for wildlife - approaching biotechnology - is currently sweeping the nation. Some of this concern has a sound basis. But the very best of ideas and programs can be carried so far that they become irrational. We appear to be driving head-on into irrational actions with respect to environmental good housekeeping. The vegetative cover in the United States has changed markedly as the result of Man's occupancy, reducing the habitat on which some wildlife species depend and greatly enhancing that of others. Competition, a no-holds-barred struggle, continues unabated between all living things for the finite …

The Extending Of Cotton Rat Range In California - Their Life History And Control, Dell O. Clark

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Cotton Rats (Sigmodon hispidus eremicus Mearns) are known to have reached the Imperial Valley in 1921 from the Colorado River along canal banks. Recently (1967-69) cotton rats were found distributed throughout the irrigated portion of the Imperial Valley, Imperial County, California. Limited crop damage has occurred and is described. Life history information is included. Control measures are listed.

Status And Control Of Nutria In California, Frank Schitoskey Jr., James Evans, G. Keith Lavoie

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Although feral nutria (Myocastor coypus) have been present in California since the mid-1940's, they are quite scarce and at present are causing little or no agricultural damage. Present state regulations and pest detection activities will probably prevent them from becoming a serious economic pest. Should control ever become necessary, studies in other areas indicate that shooting, trapping, and baiting with zinc phosphide should be effective.

Muskrats In Central Europe And Their Control, Kurt Becker

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

An account of the introduction of muskrats into Europe and their spread over the countries of Europe is presented. The reasons why the animal should be controlled are discussed. Legal regulations often do not keep up with the requirements and economic and political circumstances and frequently have encouraged the spread of muskrats. The use of traps alone does not solve the problem of their control. Therefore research is looking for suitable poisons and a good practice to apply them. At present this question cannot be answered satisfactorily.

The Need Of Surface Sprays For The Control Of Microtine Rodents, Mogens Lund

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Four Microtine species, the field vole (Microtus agrestis), the continental vole (Microtus arvalis), the water vole (Arvicola terrestris) arid the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) are the most harmful rodents in forests, fields, orchards and gardens in Northern and Central Europe. Except for the latter they are all herbivorous, their food consisting to a very low degree of seeds and grain. As a consequence dry poison baits are not well accepted most of the year. The only economic and effective control method until now has been surface spraying with the chlorinated hydrocarbons endrin and toxaphene. As these chemicals are now black-listed …

Protecting Coniferous Seeds From Rodents, Andrew Radvanyi

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

For almost a half century now repeated failures in direct seeding operations on cutover forest lands in North America had been largely blamed on the unproven destruction of the seed supply by small mammals. In 1960, the Canadian Wildlife Service undertook a research project to ascertain the possible fate of white spruce seeds placed into the natural environment and the influence which small mammal populations may have upon such a seed supply. By equipping each seed with a microscopic radio-transmitter (radio isotopes), the seeds could be left in the field for up to one year and then recovered intact or …

Methodology For Measuring Taste And Odor Preference Of Rodents, R. D. Thompson, S. A. Shumake, R. W. Bullard

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Taste enhancers and olfactory attractants are needed to improve bait acceptance for rodent control, but most methods for evaluating preference for taste and odor stimuli are not suitable for screening large numbers of such compounds. This paper describes two automated preference testers designed for this purpose. The taste preference apparatus is based on the principle of the brief-exposure, foods-together technique, whereby the animal briefly samples each food alone, in alternate sequence, before the two foods are presented together, in alternate positions. The odor preference tester is based on an open-field maze, whereby the test animal samples each of four odor …

The Strategy For Controlling Rodent Damage To Pines In The Canadian Mid-West, C. H. Buckner

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

The transitional zone between prairie and boreal forest in Manitoba and Saskatchewan is more suited to the needs of forestry than to agriculture. Tree production is difficult in this zone for a number of reasons, one of which is the depredations of small mammals, especially the meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord.). Vole populations peak every 3 to 5 years and on the average irruptions of serious importance occur about every 10 years. Populations in the transitional zone are generally higher than those in the treed areas of adjacent zones: areas of extreme populations coincide with areas of greatest forestry concern. …

Barrier Fencing In Wildlife Management, William D. Fitzwater

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Barrier fences have been used to control animal and human depredations since ancient times. They have exerted considerable influence upon the culture of the "protected" areas even though protection was rarely complete. The following materials have been used in construction of fences: earth, vegetative materials, wire, electric shock, and synthetic materials. Fence designs must consider the size, strength, intelligence and/or instinct, and physical agility of the species to be repelled as well as the attraction of the crop or area for potential depredators. Against deer, the 8-foot upright, vertical overhanging, outrigger and sloping fences are more successful than electric fences. …

A Preference-Testing System For Evaluating Repellents For Black-Tailed Deer, Dan L. Campbell, Roger W. Bullard

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

In a program to evaluate repellents for protecting Douglas-fir(Pseudotsuga menziesii) seedlings from browsing by black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), a preference-testing system was developed to supplement preliminary pen tests. The system uses an apparatus that presents individual test deer with a choice between two foods (usually feed pellets treated with a candidate repellent or a marginally palatable standard). The two foods are presented, in alternating positions, only long enough for the deer to make a choice; results are recorded in terms of percent choices made for the candidate repellents, or percent consumption. Tests thus far with a number of candidate …

Good Practice Statements−Developing Guidelines For The Safe And Efficient Use Of Pesticides, Harold S. Stein Jr.

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Because pest control, vertebrate and invertebrate, is an applied science, a disciplined technology is mandatory. The National Pest Control Association, through its technical committees, is developing guidelines for the safe and efficient use of pesticides and for the execution of specific forms of pest control. These guidelines known as "Good Practice Statements" not only reveal a methodology utilizing the cooperative efforts and experiences of commercial pest control operators, representatives of the scientific community, and specialists from pertinent governmental regulatory agencies, but in them-selves as physical documents add to the total expertise of everyone connected with the problems and responsibilities of …

Related Laws On Exotic And Native Wild Animals, Donald F. Stork

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

This paper is submitted in an effort to acquaint the personnel of allied State agencies with related laws which control the public and private possession of live exotic and native wild animals. The need for this common knowledge of related laws by agencies with law enforcement responsibility is readily apparent when the annual number and related problems from imported or resident wild animals in California are examined. In addition to resident wild animal populations, millions of fish and thousands of mammals, birds, and reptiles enter California each year through the utilization of most methods of transportation. Most of these imported …

The Oregon Ground Squirrel In Northeastern California; Its Adaptation To A Changing Agricultural Environment, Loring White

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

As early as 1918, populations of the Oregon ground squirrel [Citellus oregonus (Merriam)] were reported to be increasing in northeastern California, presumably because of “the extensive clearing of the sagebrush and seeding of these clearings to grain and hay." Populations of this locally important field rodent have continued to increase since that time with the further development of agriculture. Observations of the author during the past quarter of a century indicate that ground squirrels in the most intensively farmed areas are changing their habits; and may be evolving into an ecotype markedly dissimilar to that which existed in the pristine …

Zinc Phosphide−A New Look At An Old Rodenticide For Field Rodents, Glenn A. Hood

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Of the many toxicants tested to control field rodents, compound 1080 (sodium monof1uoroacetate), strychnine alkaloid, and zinc phosphide are the only effective single-dose rodenticides currently available. Considering the federal requirements for use in food and feed crops, zinc phosphide is the toxicant most likely to be registered for field rodent control. It is generally well accepted by rodents, is relatively safe for nontarget species, and does not seriously contaminate the environment. It is already registered, with an established tolerance, for use in one food crop (Hawaiian sugarcane). The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife is conducting research, some in cooperation …

Experimental Population Suppression Of Richardson's Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus Richardsonii) In Alberta, Dale E. Alsager, Robert Yaremko

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Richardson's Ground Squirrel is one of the most economically harmful rodents in east central Alberta. In an effort to develop an effective, safe, economical and practical method of long-term population control over large areas, experimental field testing was begun in 1970 to evaluate a variety of potential control techniques. Although tests with a machine bait applicator proved unsuccessful due to the unique soil structure, its potential in other areas of the province is discussed. Use of portable baiting stations is limited by the manufacturing and maintenance costs as well as the limited attractabi1ity of the stations. Attractabi1ity of the stations …

Vertebrate Pests In New Zealand; Research And Control, J. Andrew Peters

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

New Zealand has been considered a classic among the world's natural laboratories where free-roaming wild mammals demand, and obtain, a rather overwhelming national attention. The enormous devastation by erosion processes is the consequence of intentionally introducing exotic species of mammals, for food, for sport and for fur. By its isolation in the Pacific, the flora of New Zealand evolved in the absence of a grazing and browsing fauna. There were no native mammals, save for the seals and two species of bats. The land has been the home of a most diverse fauna of flightless birds -kiwis, the giant moa, …

The Extension Trapper System In Kansas, F. Robert Henderson

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Kansas is unique because it is the only state that has an organized state-wide program that is administered through the State Cooperative Extension Service and where that program is the only form of a governmental predator program in the state. Missouri and the eastern part of South Dakota have Extension Trapper Systems administered through the state wildlife conservation departments. These states also pay bounties on predatory animals. Kansas does not. To fully appreciate the Kansas system, it is important to understand the agency that administers the program. Let us briefly review the Cooperative Extension Service, Created by the Smith-Lever Act …

Methiocarb, A Chemical Bird Repellent: A Review Of Its Effectiveness On Crops, Joseph L. Guarino

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Since 1964, when the effectiveness of methiocarb for preventing pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) from damaging sprouting corn was proven in South Dakota, an aggressive program has been carried out by personnel of the Denver Wildlife Research Center and many cooperators to develop methiocarb as a broad spectrum avian repellent. The successful use of methiocarb for preventing damage caused by several species of birds to sprouting corn in several states and to sprouting soybeans in South America is reviewed. Recent results obtained from spraying methiocarb on ripening rice in California, ripening sorghum in Colorado and Oklahoma, cherries in Michigan, and grapes in …

Some Approaches To Controlling Depredations By Crows And Jays In Tulare County, George Simpson

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

In 1966 Tulare County nut growers became keenly aware of an ever increasing problem to their industry--the common crow. Growers requested help in solving this problem. The Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner's Office undertook this program with the assistance of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California State Department of Agriculture. Growers in the county estimated losses to be anywhere from 6% to 18% of their nut crops. Monetary losses to almond growers have reached estimates of over $85,000 during one season. Walnut growers have reported observing crows carrying off nuts day after day, amounting to hundreds of pounds …

Bird Damage To Peanuts And Methods For Alleviating The Problem, Donald F. Mott, Jerome F. Besser, Richard R. West, John W. Degrazio

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Investigations from 1969 through 1971 of bird damage to peanuts in south-central Oklahoma have shown that losses are caused mainly by common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula). These losses, as high as $36 per acre, have been reduced primarily through the use of exploders and early harvesting of the crop. A fright-producing chemical, 4-aminopyridine, was also effective in scaring grackles from windrowed peanut fields. Banding has shown that many of these grackles breed in western Nebraska and Kansas and winter in northeastern Texas.

Factors Relating To Alarm Stimuli In Bird Control, Gordon W. Boudreau

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

I'm sure all of you have often heard of bird control methods which were successful in one place and failures elsewhere. Perhaps you have experienced these results yourself. Quite often, bird control apparatus or concepts are condemned as failures when actually other factors are responsible. Today, I shall explain some of the reasons these discrepancies occur. My observations, over a period of 15 years, reveal that birds' responses to alarm stimuli varies with environmental conditions, clocktime, physiological requirements, social structure, species, and other factors. All of the observations reported herein were made under natural conditions while researching methods to reduce …

Starling Control In Sonoma County, Harry F. Mccracken

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

The European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, began the invasion of California from the north and east as early as the late 1930's. In the winter of 1954, 20,000 of these birds were reported spending the winter in or near the Sonoma, Mendocino Coast. Then in 1961, Walter Ball, at that time the Chief of the Bureau of Rodent and Weed Control in Sacramento, in a talk to the Agricultural Commissioners at the Spring Convention, stated Starlings had been reported from nearly every section of California. In reviewing Walter Ball's paper given at that time, it is somewhat surprising how accurately the …

Avian Thermoregulation And Its Significance In Starling Control, Robert G. Schwab, Vincent F. Schafer

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

The ability of birds and mammals to maintain a relatively stable internal body temperature while under a considerable range of ambient environmental temperatures results in distinct ecological and physiological advantages. A constant body temperature facili-tates the activity of homeothermic (warm-blooded) animals in cold environments because the many temperature-dependent physiological and biochemical processes of the body are un-impeded. Conversely, poikilothermic (cold-blooded) animals lack the ability for precise thermoregulation and can function at top physiological efficiency only when ambient environmental temperatures are within a rather narrow optimum range. Homeothermia is accomplished by a system of physiological feed-back mechanisms which maintain a thermal …

Efficacy Testing Of Vertebrate Pest Control Agents, Paul Ochs

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Justification for efficacy testing is provided under the present FIFRA, and the PR notice 70-15 requirements. In addition, the Pure Food and Drug Laws, the Delaney Amend-ment and other laws effect the requirements of registration of all economic poisons. Basic preliminary registration information such as toxicological data, chemistry data, must be provided on all chemicals proposed as economic poisons. Once the basic chemical and toxi-cological properties have been determined, the applicant must consider basic efficacy requirements. Efficacy requirements should consider the effects of particle size and shape, taste and odor, impurities, diluents, stickers and solvents, volatility, mode of action, and …

The Problem Of Anticoagulant Rodenticide Resistance In The United States, William B. Jackson, Dale E. Kaukeinen

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Resistance of commensal rodents to anticoagulant rodenticides is not a new phenomenon. Its confirmed presence in several areas of northern Europe is wel1-documented (Jackson 1969, 1972; Bentley 1969; Lund 1969). Not until 1971 was a similar situation with the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) to be demonstrated in the United States (Jackson et al. 1971). Because it represents an initial occurrence, the site and background observations will be described in some detail. The rural area involved around Cleveland School in Johnson County is 25 miles SE of Raleigh, N. C. and about five miles in diameter (fig. 1). The typical farm …

House Mouse Behavior And Its Significance To Control, W. D. Klimstra

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

It seems explicitly evident that animal control practices must now, and especially in the future, emphasize fuller appreciation of the habits of each kind of animal. Further, this will require consideration be given to behavioral aspects as expressed by a population as a whole of a given species, as well as each individual animal within that population. Animals react with one another and with all characteristics of their environment; and, this in turn results in an identifiable reaction or behavior of each population as a unit of social organization. Although within broad limits some aspects of these responses, whether individual …

The Influence Of Attractants And Repellents On The Feeding Behaviour Of Rattus Norvegicus, J. O. Bull

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 5th (1972)

Poison baits are extensively used for commensal rodent control; considerable folk lore exists regarding the use of additives to induce rodents to come to and eat poison baits. This paper describes a rational evaluation of attractants and the influence of different odours in inducing Rattus norvegicus to feed at given locations. The influence of certain repellents was also examined. Tests consisted of attempts to induce rats to feed at non-preferred sites or to repel them from preferred sites. Place preference was the dominant factor in feeding by rats, and odours failed to influence feeding activity significantly.