92 GROUND AND WATER ENEMIES 



through the bottom of a nest (a very frequent cause of 

 mischief where nests are not known of and looked at 

 periodically). A good number of the eggs had disap- 

 peared down the hole, and after various attempts to stop 

 the run had failed, I moved the nest over a yard away 

 without the removal having any apparent effect on the 

 bird" (the gray partridge). 



Turtles. — Where turtles are abundant they are among 

 the worst enemies of young ducks. They are difficult to 

 control on large waters, but they are easily removed from 

 small waters. Many turtles can be shot, both in the wa- 

 ter and on the banks, and they can be captured in various 

 ways with nets and baits. It is highly important to ex- 

 tirpate them when they are observed to be feeding on 

 young water fowl. 



Pike and pickerel are known to take small ducks, and 

 these fish should be removed from the ponds where the 

 young ducks are reared. 



The muskrat has been considered an enemy of ducks, 

 but most sportsmen and naturalists are of the opinion 

 that this interesting animal does little, if any, harm on 

 the duck preserve. The fact that ducks often are seen 

 swimming about in places where muskrats abound would 

 seem to indicate that they are not alarmed and that they 

 do not regard the muskrats as their enemies. This sub- 

 ject was fully discussed in The Amateur Sportsman for 

 March, 1909. The evidence there presented is decidedly 

 in favor of the muskrat.- The muskrat might be made 

 profitable on some duck preserves. 



In settled regions many of the natural enemies of 

 game, with the exception of crows and certain hawks, 

 often are not sufficiently abundant to do much damage, 



