46 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



RESEARCH 



Outstanding of the accomplishments of the research assistants in 

 the bureau has been the work done by Dr. M. Hobmaier on the so-called 

 duck disease of California. Working in cooperation with Dr. B. R. 

 Kalmbach of the U. S. Bureau of Biological Survey, this disease was 

 determined to be Botulinus Type C and since the first published works 

 of Dr. Hobmaier in October, 1930, many steps have been made looking 

 forward to the time when remedies for this situation may be pre- 

 sented. Dr. Kalmbach during the biennium has published the follow- 

 ing articles in scientific magazines : ' ' Western Duck Sickness Produced 

 Experimentally." Science, New Series, Vol. 72, No. 1878, 1930; and 

 "Progress in Western Duck Sickness Studies." Science, Vol. 75, No. 

 1932, 1932. 



Also of great importance to the sportsmen of the State has been 

 the work done by the bureau in cooperation with the U. S. Bureau of 

 Biological Survey and the State Department of Agriculture on the 

 use of poisons in rodent and predatory animal control. At the start 

 of the biennium, E. L. Sumner, Jr., represented the Division of Fish 

 and Game and the American Society of Mammalogists in an extensive 

 field trip to those areas in California where poison had been exposed 

 in the destruction of pests. As a result of that investigation, a policy 

 with regard to the use of poison was determined by the commissioners. 

 That policy, in the form of a resolution, reads as follows: 



Resolved, That the Fish and Game Commission has confidence in the 

 U. S. Biological Survey and the State Department of Agriculture and endorses 

 their continued supervision and regulation of predatory animal and rodent 

 control work, but urges these agencies to increase their efforts to prevent 

 unauthorized and careless use of poisons. 



Resolved, That the Fish and Game Commission further urges that the 

 use of the poison be avoided when other effective methods are available and 

 urges the continuance of studies for the development of control methods 

 which will not be a hazard to humans and to desirable wild life. 



For the first time, the Division of Fish and Game has been working 

 with a fixed . program with regard to poison activities. Paul Shaw, 

 toxicologist for the bureau, has done some splendid work in analyzing 

 the remains of game and nongame species suspected of having been 

 killed by poison which had been forwarded to the division's office. 

 Only recently, Shaw has completed a new method for the quantitative 

 analysis of thallium and during the biennium has published the fol- 

 lowing articles on his work : 



Shaw, Paul A. Recent progress in duck studies. Journal American Veterinary 

 Medical Association, Vol. 30, No. 5. November, 1930. 



Shaw, Paul A. Studies on thallium poisoning in game birds. California 

 Fish and Game, Vol. 18, No. 1. January, 1932. 



James Moffitt was assigned to the problem of a thorough investi- 

 gation of waterfowl breeding conditions in California. During the 

 biennium, a rather complete survey has been finished, which, at the 

 present time, is in the process of publication. Moffitt has published 

 several articles on game conditions, among them being: 



Moffitt, James. The status of the Canada goose in California. California 

 Fish and Game, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 20-26. January, 1931. 



