Someone has said that game counts are the heart of wildlife managOTient. 

 While it may be true in some places that determination of trends of population 

 is sufficient; in others, actual numbers of the animals per area are essential 

 if management is to be anything more than a theory (fig. 2) . In a pasture, for 

 example, where deer or other big game compete with livestock, the wildlife 

 manager must Icnow actual numbers per area in order to be able to advise properly 

 concerning the adjustments necessary to keep the numbers of the wild game animals 

 and the domestic livestock within the carrying capacity of the range, ^-ihile 

 many methods for determining the number of deer on an area have been tried, none 

 has been fully satisfactory. Perhaps Bartlett (1938: 45-46), as well as others 

 through repeated counts of areas surrounded by large numbers of men, has obtained 

 the best results. But even in that method there is room for improvement. 



Studies by Taylor, Vorhies, and Lister (1935) have shown that as the grazii^ 

 ranges deteriorated and weeds replaced the better grass stages, certain forms 

 of rodents increased in numbers. Thus the depletion of ranges by overgrazing 

 by domestic stock may cause an increase in rodents. At the same time the aug- 

 menting numbers of range rodents may, in turn, have % bad effect on the forage. 



M outstanding example of the study of a mammal ( in this instance a species 

 of big game) as a member of the biotic community is furnished by Rasmussen (1941) 

 in his study of the problems presented on the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona. 

 By defining the position of the mule deer in the plant-animal community and by 

 careful analysis of surrounding conditions, Rasmussen has developed a number of 

 convincing conclusions as to the potential far-reaching influence of a big game 

 species on the vegetation. 



Mention should also be made herein of the British work in the study of 

 fluctuations in mammalian populations and some of the ecological implications 

 involved (Elton 1942: 162), As all maonmalogists recognize and appreciate, to 

 Elton and his associates is due a large amount of credit for substantial advance- 

 ment in our knowledge of this field. And what topic is more closely tied in 

 with life histories than fluctuations in the population? 



The "simple physiological fact** that in selecting food birds react to 

 particular colors and rodents do not, which has been tested, is one of the out- 

 standing recent discoveries in wildlife research. This trait can be made use of 

 in a practical manner. It affords a method of differential use of grain by 

 which seed-eating birds can be protected at the same time that rodents can be 

 controlled. The tests devised by Kalmbach (1943) help to make the evidence 

 conclusive. Here is another instance where experimental tests, using proper 

 controls, develop information of practical value in management. 



In bis wildlife and habitat tally, Osborn (1943: 241-256) and his associates 

 in the Soil Conservation Service have evolved a method for relatively quick 

 appraisal of the number of animals on such large tracts as counties, watersheds, 

 or project areas. JY-equency of occurrence of game or other mairmals on a suf- 

 ficient series of lO-acre plots to be representative is relied on, rather than 

 actual counts of animals on the whole area studied. The plan includes deter- 

 minations of quality and quantity of food and cover available in all important 



