FISH PREDATORS 
A few animals prey on the fish of Fork Lake, Snappers and painted turtles migrate 
up ‘the creek to the spillway and climb the dam, The numbers of both turtles and snakes 
have been kept down by shooting. Bullfrogs were fairly common a few years ago, but only 
two were seen or heard this year, The belted kingfisher, the little blue heron, the 
great blue heron, the little green heron and several kinds of ducks visit the lake each 
year and probably eat a few fish, A flock of little blue herons (in the white phase) 
roosted in the low trees at the upper end of the pond for several summers, 
DUCKS AND DUCK HUNTING 
Even before Lake Decatur (3 miles northwest of Fork Lake) was built, ducks visited 
ponds and marshes near the town of Warrensburg (17 miles northwest of Fork Lake), and 
similar areas southeast of Mount Zion, Between them was a natural flyway or duck "pass." 
Later these marshy areas were drained and the flyway broken up, but it has been reestab— 
lished with the construction of Lake Decatur and Fork Lake, 
Ducks were shot on Fork Lake between the years 1923 and 1933 by six men from 
Decatur and Mr, Smith, The pond was baited with corn, and the ducks moved back and 
forth between it and Lake Decatur. Corn was fed in both the spring and fall, although 
of course there was no shooting in the spring. As an example, Mr. Smith’s notes show 
that 239 bushels of corn were fed in the spring of 1931. 
A record of the kill of ducks was kept from 1925 until 1933 and is summarized by 
years in table l, 
TABLE 1,--ANNUAL KILL OF DUCKS AT FORK LAKE 
Total 3,056 
Mr. Smith says that the average number of ducks visiting the lake was in thé 
neighborhood of 25,000 each year, At one time in the spring of 1931 it was estimated 
that 20,000 ducks were on the pond and along the banks, Of these about 14,000 were 
mallards and 6,000 were pintails and a scattering of other kinds, In 1931 Mr. C. M 
Powers and Mr, Dean Gorham, amateur ornithologists of Decatur, observed four European 
widgeons, Before that (1927) three male European widgeons spent three weeks on the 
pond. During most of the fall migration the mallard is the most numerous duck, 
although early in the season other ducks are common, such as blue-winged teal, green— 
winged teal, lesser scaup, ring-necked duck, widgeon and gadwall, Pintails are more 
common in the spring than in the fall, Black ducks increased each year from 1920 to 
1931. Occasionally the lake has been visited by flocks of from 8 to 20 Canada geese, 
Buffleheads, shovellers and ruddies are rare, Since heavy feeding has been discon- 
tinued the number of ducks has declined sharply, 
1938 FISH CENSUS 
The fish of Fork Lake were killed by a single treatment with poison. The method 
developed by the Fisheries Institute of the Michigan Department of Conservation was 
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