The Portland daily press., 1890-07-23
THE PRESS.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 20.
a Wild Coo Sc Patrol.
New York Sun.

1T l4ay sound funny to people in tn,
east TO be told that to protect the graf,
crops in some of the California countie
from wild ducks and geese the farmer
have to employ large force of what ar,
known as herders to patrol the fields and
shoot, club and destroy and brighten
away by various means the enormous
HOOKS OF these ravenous fowl that sweep
down on the young and growing grain
and devour it, but such is the fact" said
James E. Palen, large grower OF wheat
IN the Sacramento valley. 1.-The ravag-
ing swarrns of ducks and geese begin
their work of destruction early in the
fall, as soon as the wheat begins to sprout
The fowl invade the country along the
rivers, but they do not ta1ry there an
hour after the rains have made the
wheat plains habitable for them.
81 have seen tract of seyenty-fve
acres in Colusa county absolutely COW
cred with wild geese, so densely packed
as to resemble pictures I have seen of
seabird rookeries on some ocean rock.
When they first come they wax fat on
the wheat stubble, and are juicy and
sweet favored for the table, but when
the young winter wheat appears they
work on the green sprouts. This has
the effect of making their flesh rank,
and no one in any Of the wild goose
ridden districts will eat of these fowls
then. They are shipped by the thou
sand, all the same, to San Francisco and
other markets all winter long, where the
people seem to think the green wheat
fed birds are delicacy. But if the
markets could take ten times as many as
they do the number would be small
compared with the thousands and thou
sands of the destructive fowls that are
killed and left lying ON the ground.
"Tolo county, where live, especially
in its northern part, l once thought
could beat all creation as feeding place
for wild geese, for have seen these
tiocks so thick in the air, going to and
from their favorite pasture, that only
few-and-far- between glimpses of the sky
could be obtained for an hour at time.
But when l went into Colusa county I
made up my mind that had never seen
wild geese enough before to speak Of
There is large expanse Of barren plain
in that county which affords an un-
rivaled place of rendezvous for both
geese and ducks, and have seen those
baIrens when | thought that all the wild
geese that went forth to all parts of the
land, near and remote, must surely have
their starting place on the Colusa county
barrens. They may be seen rising up
from the plains in swarms like the locusts
of Egypt, and going forth in all direc-
lions to prey on the farmers They re-
main all winter long, and the wheat the
farmers cutin the harvest they have had
to fight the geese and ducks for months
to retain.
"There are many large wheat ranches
in these two counties, such as the Glenn
ranch, the Bogg and others. From
twelve to twenty-five herders are en-
ployed by each Of the big ranches to
patrol the wheat fields and wage contin-
ual warfare against the geese and ducks.
These herders live in cabins scattered
about the ranches, and tramp about the
fields from daylight until dark, and
long after night, too, if the moon is shin
ing, for both geese and ducks feed on the
wheat fields at night if it is moonlight.
Ducks are more troublesome than geese
at night, and it was discovered accident
ally few years ago that light in a
field would brighten them away. Lam
terms were placed in large numbers
among the wheat, and for long time
the fowl were so shy of the bright lights
that the farmers were benefited. At last,
however, the ducks became used to the
lanterns, and grew SO bold as to feed by
their light.
'The small farmers in the wheat dis
t -r.. hei.,g unable to Individually emplov
herders, have combined in sort Of mu-
tual herding association, and pay for
patrol protection out of common fund,
many of the farmers doing herding duty
themselves"