10 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



by fishes within the Palisades Interstate Park have been pubHshed 

 in " Use of Fishes for Control of Mosquitoes in Northern Fresh 

 Waters of the United States." (Ann. Rep. U. S. Bur. Fisheries for 

 1922. Appendix IV., pp. 1-60. Document No. 923.) It is a 

 pleasure to acknowledge the numerous courtesies received from 

 Dr. Charles C. Adams, Mr. Edward F. Brown, Superintendent of 

 Camp Activities, and Major William A. Welch, Chief Engineer and 

 General Manager of the Park; and the invaluable services of my 

 assistant, Mr. Robert K. Fletcher, especially during the latter part of 

 the season. 



DESCRIPTION OF CARR POND AND THE LEECH PROBLEM 



Carr Pond (Lake Stahahe) is an irregular hatchet-shaped body of 

 water about a mile long and nearly half as wide, having an area of 

 sixty acres (figures i and 2). It is situated on the main park road 

 (Seven Mile Drive) about two miles from the Guest House and one 

 and one-quarter miles from Southfields on the Erie Railway. Its 

 long axis inclines about 30° east of north. The present dimensions of 

 the lake have been attained by the erection of a concrete dam across a 

 narrow steep-sided valley, thus backing up and retaining the over- 

 flow from the original pond, which was a small body of water of 

 about twelve acres area, in the midst of a bog now covered by the 

 large end of the lake. A temporary dam had first been constructed 

 farther up the valley just below Kennedy House Camp, impounding 

 an area of more than forty-five acres which is referred to as the 

 old part of the lake, the lower extension being the new part. The 

 outline map (figure 3) shows these features. At the enlarged south- 

 western end several rocky points jut out, and here also are three 

 small, rocky wooded islets (figure i). The banks are in part steep 

 and rock}' and in part shelving and earthy. At the southern end 

 are two shallow protected coves or basins in which the depth over a 

 considerable area seldom exceeds four feet (figures 5 and 6). These 

 shallows appear to have been formed by flood deposits by the brook 

 which flowed through them on its course to the original pond. Around 

 the body of the lake are other shallow bays and indentations (figures 

 7, 8 and 10) . These are rich in aquatic and emergent vegetation. Into 

 the larger of the coves empty a small brook and several springs, and 

 additional small springs add their flow into other parts of the lake, 

 whose water, however, consists chiefly of melted snow from the 

 surrounding hills impounded during the spring thaws. 



The lake bottom may be roughly divided into two parts. One 

 covers an erea of several acres, representing the original bog pond 

 near the middle of the large end (figure 3). It is a soft ooze of acid 

 reaction, rich in slowly decaying organic matter and contains little 

 animal life except red chironomid larvae, which are plentiful. This 

 is the deepest part of the lake, the soundings varying from twenty- 

 one to thirty feet ; it also has the lowest bottom temperature, register- 

 ing 6o°F. on July 23 when the surface temperature was 78°F. The 

 remainder is chiefly the flooded forest floor consisting of peaty turf 



