456 



ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF GROUSE 



ground of old and young alike. For instance the incubation of the eggs collected from the 

 penned birds is fully described in a separate section devoted to this subject (p. 473 I. 



If one is also determined to try raising the young grouse in contact with the soil, the pens 

 should be small enough to be moved easily to a fresh site at frequent intervals. Of course 

 they should be kept scrupulously clean. One of the "all-purpose" pens placed on the ground 

 contains plenty of room for a single brood. 



Particular care must be taken to chink all crannies where the pen meets the ground for the 

 birds are adept at squeezing through small openings. In fact, when first hatched, thev have 

 no difficulty in slipping through inch-niesh poultry netting, so that %-iiich mesh must be 

 used. 



Feeding 



The literature is rich in feeding suggestions, many of which are impractical because the 

 material recommended is not easily available. Ant eggs, bee larvae, maggots and mealworms 

 are interesting examples. At the Catskill Station several tons of beef lungs were consigned 

 to the "niaggoteria" every year. The lungs were divided, placed in milk pans and exposed to 

 the sun. Later the pans were placed in a beetle-proof cage until the larvae, now fully grown, 

 migrated over the edge into other pans containing bran. Here thev quicklv clpuiied them- 

 selves and were ready for use. 



There was always the danger of botulism with this method. Accordingly, in 1931. a grad- 

 uate student at Cornell was commissioned to develop a method of producing large numbers of 

 fly larvae that feed on plants. A vear later, however, satisfactorv substitutes for fly larvae 

 were discovered and bf)th the ])raitice and the experiment were discontinued. 



Although there is still sonic controversy among grouse breeders concerning whether best 

 results may be obtained by feeding natural food, the difTiculty of obtaining it in large quan- 

 tities has dictated the use of the feeding formulas and techniques later described for birds 

 held on wire. 



Protection from Predators 



Birds held on the groiiiul arc notably exposed to attacks li\ jiredators. In late August 

 933. at the Research Center. 40 wing-dipped breeders were ])laced in an open jien several 

 acres in extent. The enclosure was located near the middle of a meadow and was at least 

 750 feet from any woodland. Yet the first night a great horned owl, later trapped on its 

 kill, decapitated six indixiduals. A somewhat similar case has previously been mentioned. 

 On another occasion young grouse, wing-clipped and placed in a pen similarly situated, 

 were promptly killed. The evidence pointed to a Cooper's hawk as the responsible predator. 



Birds on the ground are also susceptible to attack by rats. cats, weasels and dogs. On one 

 occasion two dogs forced the entrance to a ])eii at the Research Center, killing 14 nearly 

 grown birds. Raccoons arc also occasionally destructive. A grouse hen with her brood, 

 placed in a wooded cnrlii~iii('. was destroyed three nights later by a "coon whose subsequent 

 depredations were cfTcdixcK cliccked bv placing an electric fetice along the to|) wire of the 

 pen. 



The best |)ri)tc(tii)M i> to Imild liic |)cii> tiglitK. idvcririj: llicrii u illi mikiII nioii wire and 



to place tunnel traps at frequent intervals along the outside boundaries for weasels and 



rats. These may be screened with two-inch poultr\ netting to prevent the entrance of escaped 

 birds. 



