WINTER FEEDING OF WILD LIFE ON NORTHERN FARMS 11 



gested grain to afford some food for small birds as well as for 

 pheasants, quail, and Hungarian partridges. Throwing a little 

 threshed grain on the manure after it has been spread on the fields 

 is particularly efficacious, since the grain is visible to the birds and 

 does not quickly sink out of sight. 



NATURAL WINDBREAKS AND SHELTERS 



Pits in the snow, with chunks of ice, crust, or even soft snow thrown 

 up around them, are effective windbreaks for open-field birds, 

 including Hungarian partridges, snow buntings, longspurs, horned 

 larks, and redpolls. Grain thrown on the ground on the sheltered 

 side of these barriers is easily visible to the birds. It tends to become 

 drifted over in windy weather, however, and must be renewed 

 repeatedly. 



Natural windbreaks, such as those formed by trees, shrubbery, 

 fallen logs, and stumps, may be taken advantage of in distributing 

 shelled grains. Southerly exposed hillsides that blow bare and other 

 areas not covered by snow offer similar opportunities. A variety of 

 species may be fed under grapevine tangles and in various places 

 of this sort that afford shelter. 



PROVIDING GRIT AT STATIONS 



Game birds have been observed to congregate on roads recently 

 cleared by snowplows, apparently for the purpose of picking up sand 

 and gravel thus exposed. This indicates that they may sometimes 

 find it difficult to obtain ample supplies of grit in winter. In pro- 

 tracted snowy periods, therefore, it is well to provide them with 

 coarse sand, oyster shell, ground limestone, or other mineral sub- 

 stances of similar use to poultry. 



FEEDING GAME MAMMALS 



Squirrels, rabbits, and deer are the game mammals that most often 

 need to be fed in winter. The methods suggested for upland game 

 birds are equally effective for squirrels and rabbits. In orchard dis- 

 tricts care should be used not to increase rabbits at the expense of 

 agricultural interests. 



Deer if hungry will eagerly eat good-quality alfalfa and clover 

 hay. A more natural food can be provided in woodland areas where 

 surplus and defective trees are felled, if the logs only are removed, 

 thus leaving the branches and twigs. Deer readily browse on birches, 

 maples, and many other trees ; they also feed on white cedar. 



Similar methods are useful where snowshoe rabbits are to be fed; 

 for them the aspen is as good as any other tree and in most places 

 is abundant. If felled trees are left untrimmed the shelter they 

 afford is useful to many kinds of wild life. 



In some regions other mammals also require winter feeding. 

 In parts of the Western States, for instance, notably in the Jackson 

 Hole region, Wyoming, bands of elk from the higher summer ranges 

 of the Yellowstone National Park region invade in winter the valleys 

 where ranching is carried on, and it is sometimes necessary to feed 

 them to prevent serious losses from starvation, and also damage to 



