22 



Summary of Results of Feeding Death Camas to Cattle. 



Table VII shows graphically the effect of various amounts of death 

 camas when fed to cattle in experimental tests. 



TABLE VII 



DEATH CAMAS (Z. paniculatus and Z. venenosus). SUMMARY OF SYMPTOMS, 

 FEEDING EXPERIMENTS WITH CATTLE. 



Conditions Under Which Death Camas Poisoning Is Most Likely to Occur. 



As has been stated, death camas contains a bitter substance extremely 

 distasteful to both sheep and cattle. Consequently the plant is eaten by 

 these animals only under stress of extreme hunger or prolonged 

 starvation. 



Most of the cases of death camas poisoning have occurred early in 

 the spring. This is a time of year when all palatable vegetation is 

 scarce, and range animals are often poor and hungry, depending of 

 course upon the way in which they have been handled during the 

 winter. Under these conditions, on a range supporting very little 

 palatable vegetation, hungry animals will eat almost any plant in order 

 to satisfy their hunger. This is well illustrated by a loss of cattle which 

 took place in Elko County. 



A herd of cattle were being trailed through sagebrush country where 

 the grass and weeds were just beginning to grow, but where a consid- 

 erable number of death camas plants had already made their appear- 

 ance. The cattle were thin and hungry, and at every opportunity they 

 bit off the death camas plants. A rather large number of cattle died 

 as a result of this drive. Some of the poisoned animals that were left 

 behind recovered ; those that were driven hard in most cases died on the 

 trail. 



In regard to cattle, then, it may be said that the following are the 

 range conditions under which death camas poisoning is most likely to 

 occur: (1) When hungry stock are unloaded from the cars in spring 

 and turned out on a depleted range where death camas is common, and 

 there is very little grass; (2) When cattle are trailed from one range 

 to another in the spring when all palatable feed is scarce; (3) When 

 hungry animals in poor condition are turned out to rustle for them- 

 selves in the early spring before the grass is up, so that they are forced 

 to graze any and all plants in order to satisfy their hunger. 



When sheep are grazing openly and quietly on a range, they show 

 great care in the selection of the forage they eat. However, when they 

 are being trailed from one place to another, they have no chance to 



