SPECIAL TECHNIQUES 



JV, 



The method attempted during the winter operated through the attraction of birds by the 

 use of bait. During the late fall, small shelters of evergreen boughs were placed in areas 

 known to be frequented by grouse. These were baited with apples and grain. A specially- 

 designed wire trap was placed in the shelter and. when it became evident that the grouse 

 were eating the bait, the tra|) was set. Each day the snow was swept clean from the ground 

 under the shelter. 



The success of this system varied considerably. Once a bird learned of the existence of the 

 food it was almost certain to be caught. But if the bird had changed to its winter diet of 

 buds, it would walk through a shelter with the bait in plain view and apparently not rec- 

 ognize it as food. Only a few birds were caught by this method and, after two years, it was 

 abandoned. 



During the nesting season a method of trapping the female grouse on her nest was de- 

 vised which met with greater success. Once located, the Investigation was able to catch and 

 mark the female in better than 90 per cent of the cases. 



The trap consisted of a rectangular piece of chicken wire held in an inverted V shape bv 

 a stiff piece of wire at one end. A door was hinged to the top of the L . The trap was set over 

 the nest and staked or nailed down around the back and sides. The door was propped open 

 with a short stick to which a piece of string from 7.5 to 100 feet long was tied. After setting, 

 the trap was revisited in about two hours and the door sprung by pulling the string. The 

 bird which, with very few exceptions, would have returned to her nest inside the trap was 

 easily caught. The flexible chicken wire was pushed down around the struggling bird and 

 held by one person until another could extricate her from the wire. Broken wings seemed to 

 be the major risk but such accidents were very infrequent. A small number of the birds, 

 less than 10 per cent, deserted their nests after being captured. 



GROUSE TRAPPED AT NEST AND MARKED WITH COLORED CHICKEN FEATHERS WIRED TO ITS TAIL 



After the bird was caught, marking for field identification was accomplished by 



... im 



^fCs colored feathers to the tail in various patterns. White, yellow, orange and pink were found *" ■ t i'"^^' 



