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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
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BULLETIN No. 672 
ykZff' Contribution from the Bureau of Biological Survey ^Jl 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER. 
June 21. 1918 
THE DUCK SICKNESS IN UTAH. 
By Alexander Wetmore, Assistant Biologist. 
CONTENTS. 
Page 
Introduction 
History in Utah 
Reports from other regions 
Outline of field work 
The duck sickness 
Symptoms and description 
Areas where sick birds are found . 
Species affected 
The duck sickness— Continued. 
Untenable theories 
The cause 
Remedial measures 
Increase of summer water in streams . 
Drainage of affected areas 
Cure of sick birds 
Release of banded birds 
Page. 
13 
15 
18 
19 
19 
20 
25 
INTRODUCTION. 
Since 1910, annual losses from disease of large numbers of wild 
ducks in the Salt Lake Valley have attracted much attention from 
sportsmen and others interested in waterfowl. Thousands of these 
birds find suitable breeding grounds in the marshes formed in the 
deltas of the rivers draining into Great Salt Lake, while the great 
extent of these areas and the abundant food supply found there at- 
tract vast hordes of others that pass in migration during spring and 
fall. Early reports of losses from disease among these birds were ex- 
aggerated in many cases, but it soon became evident that ducks were 
dying in such numbers as to make it a serious matter. In the first 
years the trouble was little understood. Various theories advanced as 
to its cause were one by one rejected. Local interest was greatly 
aroused, and many attempts at investigation were made. It was 
recognized that the problem was of great importance, as a serious 
mortality among wild ducks in Utah would soon be reflected in a 
diminution in their numbers in other regions, some perhaps far 
distant. 
Dead ducks from the affected areas were sent in to the Biological 
Survey and were transmitted to the Bureau of Animal Industry for 
Note.— This bulletin is a final report on an investigation of mortality among ducks and other water- 
fowl in marshes about Great Salt Lake, Utah. It is for the information of sportsmen and others interested 
in the conservation of game birds. A preliminary report was published in 1915 as Department Bulletin 
No. 217. 
46651°— 18— Bull. 672 1 
