Between August 15 and September 15, 960 si ok birds were gathered and were 
given wholesome living conditions; of these 72 percent recovered. The 
waterfowl toll at Stobart Lake in 1934 was estimated at 5,000. 
In 1933, 4,000 ducks were reported to nave died at Twelve Mile Lake, 
near Bow Island, Alberta. Although no study was made of this outbreak, 
the indications are that botulism was .the cause. 
Of interest, because of its northerly location, is the mortality 
among ducks reported by J. Dewey Soper, Chief Federal Migratory Bird Offi- 
cer of the Prairie Provinces of Canada (4) . For some years vague reports 
of dying ducks had come to Dominion officials from the Lake Claire Indians, 
and during the summer of 1933 opportunity was afforded to search for and 
locate the infected area. In that season it was found to be on the shores 
of a body of water north of TCelstead Lake, at a point v/est of Lake Atha- 
basca. Although the mortality was not extensive and bacteriological proof 
of its cause was lacking, conditions typical of those conducive to bot- 
ulism prevailed. Should this outbreak have, in fact, been botulism, and 
Mr. Soper believes it was. it constitutes the most northerly occurrence of 
the disease among wild birds of which the writer has knowledge — 58° 30' 
north latitude. 
Mention may be made of excessive death rate among Franklin. 1 s gulls 
on the Delta Marsh at the south end of take Manitoba in June 1934. Bed- 
heads, ruddy ducks, and coots also were affected.. There is no conclusive 
evidence of the cause of the disease, yet it occurred during a period of 
high temperature and in an environment where a lowered water level had 
exposed extensive mud flats. These circumstances, together with the fact 
that the water of Lake Manitoba is somewhat alkaline, are suggestive. This 
area likewise lies directly north of points in the Dakotas where botulism 
is known to have occurred. In 1937 newspapers recorded the death of ad- 
ditional hundreds of waterfowl in the same area.. 
In Austral ia 
A recital of recent manifestations of botulism among wild birds 
would be incomplete without mention of the noteworthy discoveries made in 
Australia by E. Murray Pullar in 1934 (-2). Not only do Pullar's findings 
reveal that botulism is a threat agairst the well-being of wild fowl even 
on that distant island continent, but they lend a measure of corroboration 
to the discoveries made in this country (1). 
During the Australian summer of 1931-32 botulism was reported at 
four points in northern and western Victoria. All the outbreaks were 
associated with hot, dry weather (shade temperature being 95° to 110° F.), 
low water, and an abundance of rotting vegetation. Hundreds of birds died 
under conditions strongly suggestive of epizootics that have occurred in 
the western United States. In the following summer (1932-33) a severe 
outbreak occurred at the Hume Reservoir, along the Murray River, where 
the deep mud, rotting vegetation, and decaying bodies afforded an excel- 
lent medium for the causative organism. 
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