144 Fish and Game Warden. [Bull. No. 1. 



or drowning a bunch of them while they are in the net. Other- 

 wise, when they are thrown in the water many of them may 

 swim out before the fish catch them. Full-grown, healthy and 

 uninjured grasshoppers, if thrown into the water several feet 

 from the banks of a pond, will not remain there very long. They 

 are excellent swimmers and soon get ashore. Whether it pays 

 to catch such material and feed the fish depends altogether 

 upon conditions and the time and disposition of the person who 

 has the matter in hand. It sometimes pays to feed fish for a 

 certain given length of time until circumstances and condi- 

 tions change whereby the fish may be able to secure sufllicient 

 food for themselves. 



At the State Hatchery, in addition to such green vegetable 

 matter as can be collected in the ponds, carp and goldfish are 

 fed bread, oatmeal, corn chop ; in fact, almost anything cut up 

 fine. The Bluegills and catfish also feed on the same kinds of 

 material. The catfishes and sunfishes are always ready to eat 

 almost any kind of food, especially any meat that is thrown 

 into the water. Rabbits, cut or ground up fine, make good food 

 for such fish. During the past summer we ground up and cut 

 up suckers, German carp and gizzard shad and fed them to the 

 young game fish. 



Taking the above suggestions as a starter, in connection with 

 what has been said in other places in this bulletin, we hope 

 that the reader will be aided when he comes to consider how, 

 what and when to feed the particular kind of fish that he is 

 caring for. No set and fixed rules can be given. 



The Dead-box Experiment. 



A box about five feet square and one foot in depth was 

 placed about half way between the north shore and the center 

 of one of the ponds at the State Fish Hatchery. Over the 

 framework of the bottom of this box one-half-inch wire-mesh 

 screen was stretched. The box was supported by four posts 

 and was placed about a foot above the normal water level of 

 the pond. A little fine brush and some coarse hay were thrown 

 into the box with just enough sandy loam to hold the hay and 

 brush in place. Sometimes a makeshift of a top that partly 

 concealed the contents of the box was made by placing a few 

 boards or a little brush or hay over it for a partial cover or 

 shelter. Into this box or platform structure were thrown 

 dead animals, such as muskrats, turtles, kingfishers, snakes, 

 and all other animals that were killed because they were doing 

 damage on the Hatchery grounds. Flies would soon fill these 

 dead animals with eggs, and thousands of maggots would fall 

 from this "dead box," as we were accustomed to call it, into 

 the water. The "dead box" not only fuiiiished a good place 

 for disposing of useless animals that it was necessary to de- 

 stroy on the Hatchery grounds, but was the means of furnish- 



