THIRTY-FIRST BIENNIAL REPORT 



19 



During this biennium bounties were paid on 622 lions, and studies 

 have been made and are being continued to determine the most effec- 

 tive methods of controlling the other predators. The assistance given 

 by other federal, state and county agencies is outlined in detail in the 

 report submitted for this bureau. 



It is gratifying to the hunter to know that the supply of deer in the 

 state, under existing laws, seems to be assured, and there are very 

 definite indications of an increase in these animals in a number of 

 sections. It is probable that there are between four and five hundred 

 thousand deer in the state. 



The herd of tule elk which has ranged in the Buttonwillow section 

 of Kern County has been increasingly troublesome to the property 

 owners since this area has been subdivided and sold in small lots, and 

 developed for cotton and other valuable crops. All efforts for a coop- 

 erative project to provide a refuge for these animals have so far failed. 

 Something definite must be done within the next two years if this herd 

 of elk is to be preserved. The whole burden of such refuge should not 

 be borne by the sportsmen who furnish the funds for this division, as 

 the elk are to be preserved for sentimental reasons rather than to 

 furnish game for our hunters. Another herd oi' these elk have been 

 causing considerable trouble in Yolo County, and the herd of Roosevelt 

 elk in Humboldt and Del Norte counties have been the source of con- 

 siderable complaint from ranchers near Oriek. 



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Fig. 7. Hundreds of ducks alighting on Big Buttonwillow Lake, on state waterfowl 

 game refuge near Los Banos. Photo by E. S. Cheney, December, 1929. 



GAME FARMS 



The Los Serranos Game Farm was completed and appropriately 

 dedicated in December, 1929, with an attendance of over 7000 visitors 

 and a program arranged jointly by the Izaak Walton League of Amer- 

 ica, the Associated Sportsmen, and representatives of this division. 



The farm is of particular interest because of its all-steel construc- 

 tion. The land occupied by this farm was donated to the state by the 

 Los Serranos Country Club. 



Great progress has been made on our farms in the use of electric 

 brooders and incubators, and this work has received nation-wide atten- 



