504 ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF GROUSE 



There is. for instance, some indication that there exists an important relationship 

 hetween the weijiht of crouse in the early winter and the livahilitv of the chicks hatched 

 the following sprinp. Such a relationship may perhaps he hest measured hy a careful 

 phvsiolojrical study where all factors can be controlled. For such a studv. captivity- 

 raised birds must be utilized, for no method is known whcrcliN wild-trapped birds can 

 be handled in captivity without producing serious physiological disturbances. 



Likewise, though one may determine grouse food preferences and composition from 

 field studies and chemical analyses, it is not yet possible to translate these in terms of the 

 nutritive value derived except by feeding various items to captive grouse and measur- 

 ing the results. 



GROUSE LIBERATIONS 



The prime reason behind most efforts to raise wild game in captivity is the thought that it 

 may some day lead to the production of a brood stock for liberation. The "increase in lib- 

 eration" idea at times has worked well with some species such as beaver, deer, pheasant, quail 

 and Hungarian partridge, though only where the habitat was suitable. Here, when the natural 

 brood is short, artificial restocking may give just the boost necessary to speed recovery. 



The urge to produce grouse for this purpose was the spark that kindled most of the early 

 grouse raising experiments. Onlv in the last decade have a few sportsmen, administrators and 

 research men realized the added advisability of producing the bird artificially for study pur- 

 poses. 



In reality too few grouse, either trapped in the wild or raised by man. have been liberated 

 in depicted coverts to date to test adcquatelv the effectiveness of increasing the seed stock by 

 this method. True, one may remember that 19 survivors of the liberation on .Anticosti Island 

 in 1911 became the nucleus of an occasionally plentiful supply of grouse today; that, of five 

 marked, hand-raised birds liberated in the fall of 1931 on a part of New York State's Con- 

 necticut Hill grouse studv area, two were killed by ])redators. two survived the winter and one 

 vanished. Most of the earlv introductions, however, disappeared or were absorbed by the res- 

 ident population so that no real record of results were ever obtained. 



Transportation for Liberation 



No difficulty has ever been encountered in transporting either adult or young grouse raised 

 in captivitv. In the early days of the Investigation the birds were carried five to a pillowcase 

 on the back seat of a car. Later, shipping crates with wire bottoms and individual compart- 

 ments for each bird were constructed. Most recently up to ten adults have been placed in 

 standard pheasant shipping crates for transportation by express. 



Whatever the method, it is best to exclude all save a little light from the sbip]iing compart- 

 ment to discourage feather picking. Burlap may be used to cover anv portion of the cage 

 made of wire except the floor. 



If the birds are to be en route less than a day. they will feed or drink very little, so it is 

 not necessary to make provision for either. Grouse from Nova Scotia and MaiiitDba |)laced 

 in the comparlmented crates described above and given beechnuts or grain and green food, 

 such as cabbage or halved apjilcs. were received in perfect shape at the Calskill Experimental 

 Station. Water was provided in a small tin cu)). Tliis. though securely fastened to one cor- 

 ner, should be removable to facilitate cleaning. 



Where such distances are involved, it is best to shi]) the birds in a wire-botlomcd crate 

 to aMiid fiiuling the floor and soiling the feathers. Vi'herc mcire than one bird to a compart- 



