Sovoral periods of subnonnal rainfall have brought increased damage to 

 crops by those birds, apparently because of scarcity in their natural habitats 

 of vogotativo grov/th necessary for food. In contrast, in tho v.dntor of -193^" 

 55 'fi^- abnomially heavy rainfall occurred over the entire State, ard during the 

 sumiTiGr '^f 1955 damage by horned larks averaged loss than 20 percent of that 

 inflicted during tho preceding five-year period. 



Bopredations cannrt be ontiroly blamed on aridit%'", hov;ever, for sporadic 

 attacks occur even during midi-.'inter after heavy rainfall , Damago is noted 

 also on slopes immediately adjacent to the rcoan vrhere moisture always is pre- 

 sent. Moreover, those birds exhibit at times a m.arked propensity to continue 

 feeding upon certain fields once thoy have acquired a taste for the succulent 

 young plants, ever, though an abundance of. natural food m.ay be available in 

 closely adjacent areas. 



In man;/ districts it has been necessary tci modify cropping methods to 

 guard against the attack of the lar]:s , .In certain areas crops especially 

 sought by them are.no longer planted; sur."(mer-grov.rinr cmps are, if possible, 

 planted in I'ay in order that tho plants may bo large enough t(^ escape the 

 attack that begins late in Juno; and v.dnter-grov:ing crops are often not sov/n • 

 until after the first rains in the fall; even then, a prolonged fall drought 

 frequently occasions a severe bird attack. 



SEVEPJ TY OF D/J'.^AGE 



The severity of attack naturally varies T/ith seasonal and topographic 

 circumstances, crop production methods, availability of natural foods, and 

 vdth the density of tho horned lark population. It must also be considered 

 in com.puting economic losses that some cf the crops attacked require an es- 

 pecially fertile, hence high-priced, soil. The cost of preparing tho soil 

 for seeding often is increased by specialized methods demanded, and irriga- 

 tion and cultural m:ethods sadd to tho overhead, making the culture of som.e of 

 thdse crops a costly undertaking. Losses are therefore keenly -felt. 



Innumerable records of estimated losses from depredations and costs of 

 control operations arc available, from which only a fev.^ illustrative examples 

 are noted-. In 192?, near I'urray, in Kings County, a packing company planted 

 It-O acres of spinach.. Just as the plants began to emerge from, the soil a 

 concentration of homed larks destroyed approximately 3^ acres -^f the crop 

 within a i43-hour peri'^d. In 1932 the sam.e com.pany planted 2I4.O acres .^i" spinach 

 in the same vicinit;.'. C^sts of ^2,000 yjctg incurred in lab.'r and ammunition 

 in an effort to protect tho crop, yet fully hO acres v;ere totally destroyed. 

 I'!o spinach v/as planted in that area imimediatcly thereafter. 



In 1933 severe losses \""orc suffered in- .Riverside ■ C-'-'Unty in plantings of 

 sugar boots' for seed. At that time Am.erican production of this seed v^as an 

 infant industry, and the damage in retarding its development here was far 

 greater than tho cash' appraisal of actual losses in time and material. 



In 193^* ii'^- San Luis Obispo County an agricultural .fficial estimated 

 that fully 500 acres of beans and lettuce were destroyed. During the same 

 period there was rep rt from Santa Barbara County the loss of v;ell over l.,000 



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