52 



DEPARTiMENT OF FISH AND GAAIE 



priniaril\- pheasants. Since these areas \\ere to be open 

 to an\' licensed hunter the income from the game pro- 

 duced was to be obtained by charging hunters up to a 

 designated maximum fee for shooting privileges. In 

 actual practice the income produced from hunting 

 could not compete with farm crops being produced. 

 In addition the landowners found it difficult to control 

 hunting on these areas. 



In 1947 the Legislature modified the plan to allow 

 noncommercial or private clubs to be set up where the 

 general public could be excluded. These private areas 

 are now supported b\- season memberships or by a 

 share the cost arrangement \\ith the operator. In 1951 

 the Legislature established the name Licensed Game 

 Bird Clubs for these areas (formerh' they were known 

 as Game Management Areas) and made modifications 

 in the law in regard to season, license fees and size of 

 areas. 



Since the law was changed to permit noncom- 

 mercial or private clubs the system has shown a steady 

 growth. In 1953 the season extended from October 

 31, 1953, to January 13, 1954. Seventy-two game bird 

 clubs were in operation, liberating 43,721 birds and 

 bagging 28,375 birds in 14,053 man days of hunting. 

 These clubs now control 62,208 acres of land. 



Of the 72 clubs now in operation 70 are private 

 and tAvo commercial. Sixty-six of these clubs are lo- 

 cated in Region II with the remaining six scattered 

 in the other four regions. All are pheasant clubs with 

 the exception of one operated for both pheasants and 

 quail. 



Disease Laboratory 



Ultimate objective of the disease prevention phase 

 of game management is the control of disease occur- 

 ring in wildlife throughout the State. Positive steps 

 have been taken to realize that objective during this 

 biennium. 



Those steps included anticipating epidemics and 

 devising effective methods of control prior to the out- 

 breaks; gathering facts and observing the natural 

 history of diseases as they occurred in the wild; and 

 maintaining close coordination with other state 

 agencies in order to prevent or limit transmission of 

 communicable diseases between domestic stock, wild- 

 life, and the public at large. A portable laboratory is 

 maintained for on-the-spot investigations. As an illus- 

 tration of these points, the following examples may 

 be cited. 



Botulism: Excessively heavy snowfall in the Sierra 

 Nevada iVIountains during the winter of 1951-52 

 promised flooding of the Tulare Lake Basin. Through 

 a knowledge of past conditions,, it was anticipated 

 that botulism would exist during the following sum- 

 mer. The most feasible procedures were put into 

 effect to control that disease during the biennium. 

 They included a coordinated effort to (1) herd ducks 

 from affected areas by plane, air-thrust boat, and 

 through the use of pyrotechnics, (2) maintain water 

 moverr v-nt by pumping operations through the co- 

 operation of the farmers in the area, and ( 3 ) distribute 

 feed elsewhere through the cooperation of the U. S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service to hold the waterfowl in a 

 non-toxic area. Evaluation of this work indicated a 

 reduction from a past 20 percent mortality to a 

 mortality of about 1 percent. 



Fowl Cholera: There were two outbreaks of fowl 

 cholera during the biennium, neither of which grew 

 to epidemic proportions. These occurred in the Alva- 

 rado area of Alameda County, in March, 1953, and in 

 the south San Francisco Bay in December of the same 

 year. Around Alvarado about 1,000 dead birds, mostly 

 gulls and coots, were found. The south bay toll in- 

 cluded ducks, coots, and gulls. Less than 200 ducks 

 died. 



To prevent further spread of the disease, the de- 

 partment cleaned up the carcasses to prevent feeding 

 on them by gulls, believed to be one of the carriers 

 of the disease. 



To confirm this theory, gulls and coots were inocu- 

 lated with virulent organisms. A million times as 

 many organisms were required to kill gulls than coots, 

 tending to show that gulls were resistant carriers of 

 fowl cholera. As a result of this experiment, it is 

 believed that control of gulls at the outbreak of fowl 

 cholera will limit spread of the disease to epidemic 

 proportions. 



Stomach Worms: The prevalence of round worms 

 in the intestinal tract is considered as one of the more 

 important factors limiting the number of deer in the 

 north coastal counties, although there were no severe 

 outbreaks during the biennium. A survey concluded 

 during the biennium determined the relative incidence 



The dspartment'i disease laboratory, which allows on-the-spot investi- 

 gation of wildlife diseases. 



