48 KILLING WOODCHUCKS WITH CARBON BISULPHIDE 



about twenty burrows one day after haying. I did not visit 

 all the holes again, but so far as I know none of them was 

 reopened. This method not only kills the old woodchucks 

 but it also destroys in a humane way the young in the burrow. 

 It has, too, the additional advantage that the animal is not only 

 killed but he is buried and the hole is filled so that considera- 

 ble time is thus saved." 



In 1902 experiments were begun early in April and contin- 

 ued for several weeks, the results in all cases being appar- 

 ently successful. More than a dozen burrows were treated by 

 Mr. Conradi with the bisulphide of carbon, an ounce or more 

 of the liquid being used for each burrow. These burrows 

 were in all sorts of situations, some of them on open hillsides, 

 others along the borders of woods, and others in meadows. 

 Only in two instances were the holes reopened after treatment, 

 and in each of these cases there was conclusive evidence 

 that they had been opened from the outside by woodchucks 

 burrowing into them. 



PRECAUTIONS TO BE OBSERVED 



It should be distinctly understood by every one who uses 

 carbon bisulphide for any purpose that it is highly volatile^ 

 injianimable^ and poisojious. When mixed with air it is also 

 highly explosive. Any reasonable care in its use out of doors, 

 however, can lead to no ill results. Used as recorded in the 

 above experiments there is no necessity for one to inhale the 

 vapor, and a small quantity in a glass-stoppered bottle may be 

 safely stored away in a cool place without danger. Of course 

 it must be kept out of the reach of children and away from 

 fire of anv kind. The one who applies it to woodchuck bur- 

 rows must not be smoking while handling the liquid. For 

 most people it is probably better to buy of the local druggist 

 a small quantity at a time, in which case it should not cost 

 more than twenty-five or thirty-five cents a pound, than to have 

 to store a larger amount. The ordinary commercial carbon 

 bisulphide will do as well for this purpose as that which is 

 chemically pure. 



