't>* 



>W"- 



United States Department of Agriculture 

 Bureau of Biological Survey 



' 



Wildlife Research and Management Leaflet BS-54 





Washington, D. C, 



Rev. , December 1936 



' BODEM T CONTROL AIDE D BY EMERGE NCY CONSER VATION WORK 

 By Stanley P. Young, Chief, Division of G-ame Management 



Contents 



Page 



Need for rodent control. ... . . . 1 



Federal, State, and local cooper- 

 ation 2 



Training of E. C.W. crews 2 



Timeliness of emergency aid. ... 3 



Forest and forage protection ... 3 



Aid in erosion control ...... 4 



Examples of benefits derived ... 4 



Safeguarding harmless species. . . 5 



Control work illustrated 

 Prairie dogs . . 

 Ground squirrels 

 Pocket gophers 

 Kangaroo rats 

 Rabbits and hares 

 Porcupines . . • 

 A typical E.C.W. crew 



Page 

 6 

 7 

 13 

 15 

 20 

 25 

 27 

 30 



Need for Rodent Contr ol 



The Emergency Conservation Work Program has been of inestimable value 

 in the control of prairie dogs, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, kangaroo 

 rats, rabbits, and porcupines. The citizens of the West have been forced to 

 carry on campaigns for the control of these rodents since the settlers first 

 staked out claims on the prairies. To the agricultural interests of the West 

 the -control of rodents is as vital as is the proper spraying of trees through- 

 out the East to prevent damage by insects. These small mammals cover the west- 

 ern ranges by countless thousands, and control is necessary if crops are to be 

 grown. 



Rodent control iv. nothing new. Records indicate that as early as 1808, 

 strychnine was shipped by boat around Capo Horn to the -Santa Barbara Mission, 

 Calif., in order that the early settlers might kill off the ground squirrels. 

 A constant fight has been waged ever, since, but unfortunately, while the land- 

 owners were willing to finance the. killing of squirrels on their own holdings, 

 the Federal Government provided inadequate funds to take care of the vast areas 

 of public domain, national forests, Indian reservations, and other Federal hold- 

 ings. 



