BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 347 



continuance of this preventive work rabies would quickly become as 

 disa.strous an epizootic as when its control was first undertaken. 



CONTROL OF RODENT PESTS. 



The work of rodent eradication has made a steady, consistent 

 trrowth both in territory covered and in thoroughness of orf^aniza- 

 tion. In this the bureau has continued to cooperate throuj^h the 

 States Relations Service with the State extension organizations, in- 

 cluding county agents and farm bureaus. Wherever other State or 

 local organizations were available, as State departments of agricul- 

 ture and agricultural commissions, they also have been enlisted in the 

 movenient. The Forest Service has cooperated heartily in units of 

 operation involving national forests, while the Office of Indian 

 Affairs of the Department of the Interior has joined similarly in 

 work on Indian reservations. 



This cooperation, which has united all Federal, State, and local 

 agencies in a carefully planned, concerted drive against rodent pests, 

 has greatly increased the extent and effectiveness of the work. Under 

 the leadership of bureau specialists detailed to organize and conduct 

 these campaigns, rodent eradication has become one of the major 

 projects of farm bureaus and of county agents in the territory now 

 districted. The definiteness and value of the results accomplished 

 and the promptness with which these returns on the effort and 

 investment are secured have made this work one of outstanding im- 

 portance in the movement to increase crop, forage, and live-stock 

 ])roduction. Detailed plans for the organization and conduct of 

 these cooperative campaigns are prepared in consultation between the 

 district representatives of the Biological Survey, the State extension 

 director, and the county agents. The bureau assumes the cost of 

 operations on Federal lands, the State officials on State lands, and 

 the farmers and stockmen pay the cost of work on private lands 

 either directly or through taxes levied by the counties. Concerted 

 campaigns systematically organized to destroy rodent pests over 

 large areas of Federal, State, and private lands are proving an 

 entirely practical way of coping with rodent pests, and have made it 

 possible for the first time in the historj'^ of the country to make 

 effective headway against them on a large scale. 



In addition to the advantage derived by individual landowners 

 from these concerted attacks under the guidance of bureau experts, 

 farmers and stockmen have been saved many thousands of dollars 

 a year by a plan of cooperative purchase of strychnine and other 

 materials used in the poison operations. This was devised and put 

 into effect by the bureau, and by it the enormous quantity of over 

 4 tons of strychnine has been arranged for and supplied at a very 

 material saving in cost. In Idaho officials report that not only has 

 this saving in that State alone amounted to $21,000 during the year, 

 but also they have been enabled to secure the large quantities rex^uired 

 promptly at the time needed for the most effective prosecution of the 

 campaign. This latter feature has been most important in the de- 

 velopment, without serious interruption or delay, of the extensive 

 rodent eradication campaigns during the last three years. 



The areas seriously infested by rodent pests in the States west of 

 the Mississippi River comprise more than 200,000,000 acres. Field 



