FORTY-FIRST BIENNIAL REPORT 37 



MAINTENANCE 



Project ;^7-M. Tliis project inspects and maintains the installations that have 

 been developed to provide cover, water and food for (piail. 



COORDINATION 



Project 29-C. It is the responsibility of this in-oject to select, idan, direct and 

 supervise the other I'ittinan-Rol)ertson jirojects and nniivc certain tlnit thes<' jirojects 

 are pi'odnctive of results, 



DISEASE LABORATORY 



Disease investigations, have been greatly enhanced by the addition 

 of a special mobile laboratory. This laboratory, built on a one-ton panel 

 truck, was desioned to till the need for rapid diagnosis of wildlife diseases 

 in the field. The emphasis was placed on mobility and maneuverability 

 so that the site of a disease outbreak could be reached quickly even in 

 areas that might be considered somewhat inaccessible. The laboratory 

 contains all the necessary facilities for complete diagnosis in the fields 

 of bacteriology and parasitology, making it a completely self-sustained 

 unit. 



The mobile laboratory was first used at the south end of San Fran- 

 cisco Bay to diagnose an outbreak of avian cholera among waterfowl, 

 gulls and shorcbirds. KSeveral control measures were })ut into ett'ect, but 

 an estimated 40,000 waterfowl succumbed to this disease. 



An extensive project is now in progress to determine the blood pic- 

 ture of deer, including blood chemistry, in the expectation of finding 

 reliable factors that can be used as an indicator of the animal's condition. 

 It is anticipated that the results of this study will form a base that can be 

 used as an index of the state of nutrition of the deer as it relates to range 

 management, and will incidentally classify the anemias that may occur 

 in these animals. 



Perhaps the greatest progress in disease control has been made at 

 the state game farms. Pullorum, a bacterial disease of the intestinal 

 tract of gallinaceous birds, has been eradicated through a control pro- 

 gram. Other control methods have been used to eliminate avian tubercu- 

 losis in adult pheasants and chukar partridge. Studies are also in progress 

 on controlling gapeworm infections and ulcerative enteritis-quail disease. 



PUBLICATIONS BY STAFF MEMBERS OF THE BUREAU 

 OF GAME CONSERVATION 



Quarterly progress and final rejiorts are prepared on all work con- 

 ducted by the Pittman-Robertson projects. Summaries of these reports 

 are published by the United States Department of the Interior Fish 

 and Wildlife Service. 



During the biennium other reports and ai'ticles w^ere published by 

 bureau personnel as follows: 



Dasmann, William P. 



1948. A critical review of range survey methods and their application to deer range 

 management. Calif. Fish and Game, vol. 34, no. 4, p. 189-207. 



1949. Deer-livestock forage studies on the interstate winter deer range in Cali- 

 fornia. Journ. of Range Management, vol. 2, p, 206-212. 



