232 FOOD HABITS AND REQUIREMENTS 



Such is the story in New Yoriv and throughout many parts of the Northeast. Eke- 

 where within the range of the grouse, the plant speries characteristic of each stage in the 

 succession may differ from those here named, hut the resuh.* in terms of productive grouse 

 habitat seem to i)e much the same. 



It is well recognized that good grouse coverts must include some of these openings 

 which seasonally produce an abundance of food and shelter. A brief consideration of 

 how these naturally occur, or may be made by man is, therefore, not amiss. 



Natural Openings 



These are largely the result of fire, weather, insects or diseases. Except in the case of 

 severe fires the succession is seldom set back to bare ground. When the burn is deep or 

 repeated, however, the natural |)roductiyity of the site is usually so impaired as to make 

 the re-establishment of desirable food and cover a matter of many years, although such 

 species as the pin cherry, aspens and blueberries may soon seed in. Ruffed grouse, unlike 

 the sharp-tailed grouse which habitually frequent burns, are seldom found here except 

 along the edges, near shelter. Light burns, if continued, may have the effect of decreas- 

 ing grouse food supply through encouraging the spread of grasses and weedy ground cover. 

 Reduction of the more desirable food plants, together with the gradual elimination of small 

 shelter-producing shrubs and conifers by fires, is likely so to change the habitat as to lower 

 materially or wipe out its carrying capacity for grouse. This is |)articularly true within 

 the woodland itself. 



But fire is not always detrimental. Occeisionally in a grown-up slashing a light burn 

 may set the succession back perhaps ten to fifteen years, thus allowing many desirable 

 species which otherwise would be .shaded out, to re-establish themselves. In fact, even a 

 severe burn, could it be limited to a few acres, might be useful in the same way. The 

 utilization of fire as a tool in wildlife management is discu.ssed in somewhat greater detail 

 in Chapter XVI. However, it is at best a dangerous servant. 



The effect of weather in creating or maintaining openings is more wide-spread, though 

 probably less well defined than is that of fire. Many an abandoned field in New York 

 does not grow u|) rapidh to shrub or tree species, primarily because the alternate freezing 

 and thawing to which it is subjected causes heaving that destroys seedlings. In wood- 

 lands the effect of unseasonable frosts is ofttimes strikingly evident. In 1936, in the Adi- 

 rondacks, late frosts pruned the early spring growtli (if bccrb. thus temporarily letting in 

 more sunlight to the forest floor. Occasionally, also, extremely severe winter weather may 

 kill le.ss resistant species, thus creating small openings which increase feeding opjiortuni- 

 ties for game. 



Much more violent are the effects of wind. yar\ing all the way from breaking off or up- 

 rooting individual trees to opening up thousands of acres of closed canopy woodlands. 

 The destruiti\c hurricane of 1938 that swept through Long Island and \cw England is an 

 example. Less clearly recognized is the effect of sun and air movement so drying out the 

 soil in a fresh-made slashing as to eliminate many of the le,*s adajitable trees and shrubs 

 left after lumbering. The result is to create or maintain small patches of light-loving 

 |)lanls wbicli arc fiuorcil ii\. nr can adjust themselves to the new conditions. 



An ciTeet in nian\ wa\s -iimilar is sometimes brought about by large-scale attacks of in- 

 sects such as the larch sawfU or of tree diseases, as (he chestnut i)liglit. Tliroughoul the (]ats- 

 kills in llie l.ile |9.'i()"s ibe forest lent caterpillar defoliated sugar ma|)Ie> fur several years so 



