Neither sounds of gun fire, distress calls, nor ultrasonic tests (illustrated here) have caused albatrosses to leave 

 their nests on Sand Island, Midway. (Photo by Chandler S. Robbins.) 



A new technique involving the micro- 

 encapsulation of toxicants is being investi- 

 gated. This technique may have utility in 

 improving the acceptance of certain chemi- 

 cals by the target animals and in regulating 

 the reaction tinie of the animals to the chem- 

 icals. 



The "coyote-getter," long used oper- 

 ationally in predator control programs, was 

 improved by the development of an injection- 

 molded plastic capsule in which the toxicant 

 can be hermetically sealed. Safety improve- 

 ments included a crossed-wire guard and 

 deflector on the top of the getter assembly. 



Capturing devices for birds . --Traps, al- 

 though not considered practical for the al- 

 leviation of many bird depredation problems, 

 are useful in bird banding and other 

 biological investigations and, under some 



conditions, may be helpful in control work. 

 A floodlight trap involving the use of a 

 battery of flood lights placed behind a funnel- 

 shaped net has proved useful in taking rel- 

 atively large numbers of starlings and 

 blackbirds at their roosts. A lighter, more 

 portable structure was developed in 1961 by 

 using aluminum octahedral towers for masts 

 to support the net at the trap entrance. The 

 towers make possible a trap entrance 50 

 feet high. Light trap operations on 14 nights 

 in Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, and 

 Pennsylvania yielded 240,000 birds. The 

 most successful operations were at a winter 

 roost near Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, where 

 200,000 blackbirds and starlings were cap- 

 tured on 2 nights. The Australian crow trap 

 modified for starlings, and cannonnet traps 

 also proved useful under different condi- 

 tions. 



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