CURRENT STATION NOTES 



THE INTENSIVE USE OF FOREST PARKS 



In the last number of the Bulletin- reference was made to the 

 intensive recreational use of forests by great crowds of people from 

 the large cities, and attention was called to the new problems arising 

 as a result of this new situation. On the shores of Carr Pond, in the 

 Palisades Interstate Park on the Hudson River, numerous permanent 

 camps have been located for children, most of whom come from the 

 crowded sections of New York City. The opportunities for bathing 

 in this Pond are one of the chief attractions of these camps. The 

 various camp leaders and the Park authorities, in 1919, became 

 greatly concerned with complaints about the abundance of large 

 leeches which disturbed the bathers. This problem became so serious 

 and was of so much practical importance, that, through !Mr. Edward 

 F. Brown, at that time Superintendent of the Camp Department of 

 the Park, the Commissioners sought the cooperation and assistance 

 of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station to find a means of abating this 

 nuisance. Dr. J. Percy Moore, of the University of Pennsylvania at 

 Philadelphia, our leading authority on leeches in America, was called 

 upon to assist in this matter. As he was already working on the 

 problem of mosquito control by means of fishes, for the United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries, a general cooperative plan was made 

 between these three agencies, the Commissioners, the Bureau and the 

 Station. Dr. Moore thus began his study of devising methods of 

 controlling leeches, and secondarily, extended his studies of mosquito 

 control. His report in this number of the Bulletin, is the first 

 published investigation of this character. 



At first sight it might seem that a study of leeches would have 

 but little practical significance, until it is recalled that control of the 

 leeches was originally a practical administrative difficulty, demanding 

 attention, and that this led to the investigation. We are thus re- 

 minded how intensive use of these great forest parks is destined to 

 present problems wholly new and calling for technical study. Look- 

 ing to the future we anticipate many similar problems awaiting 

 attention in large forest parks now being developed for recreational 

 purposes. 



THE SICKNESS OF WILD ANIMALS 



All are familiar with the fact that when domestic animals become 

 sick it is possible to call upon professionally trained men to assist in 

 their care. But whose concern is it to look after wild animals when 

 they are sick? We have not yet evolved a profession occupied 

 solely with this responsibility. The Roosevelt Station, recognizing this 

 need, is making an effort to supply in part the deficiency. As wild life 

 belongs to the State and Nation, and therefore to the public, there 

 has been very little of the personal concern for its welfare that accom- 



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