Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-07-12
TuE HAR,lrUL RODENTS.

/ . Il
| The department Of Agriculture has
! issued an interesting and useful pam,
plllet, Farmers Bulleti1, 335 entitled
Harmful and Beneficial Mammals OF
! the Arid Interior.
| The pamphlet is written By Vernon
Bailey Of the Biological survey, and Is
Especially Intended to aid farmers in
the great arid valley surrounding tile
sinks OF the Carson and Humboldt ri''-
ers. This part of western Nevada Is
I3being reclaimed and converted into 4
rich agricultural area. and It's popula
l4tion is rapidly Increasing. The settlers
| who are bringing these lands Under
cultivation are confronted with various
problems connected With the present
and prospective relations Of the NATIVE
mammals to agriculture Farm croi,s.
trees, live stock. poultry, and ditch
banks suffer from the depredations -;
certain species and in the indisciini-
mate retaliation that olloWs the bene-
fetal animals often suffer equally With
the injurious a. 4
II fits only the animals that are COM
mon In the Carson sink and Humboldt
valleys that are treated In this issue.
vet the same species inhabit the val
leys OF Utah, and especially the entire
area Of the Great Basin #
The damage from ground squirrels.
alone, Of which a dozen species occur.
inEthe United States and Of which the
senli-arld region has several Is esti-5
mated to reach SIT, oOo, 900 annual .iss{5is
1t is2important to5distinguish between
the animals that are mai My beneficial
and those that ate detrimental. A third
class. comprising the coyotes, foxes.
and bo IL ats s. are sometimes Very de Z.
strnctiyes to poultry and small stock
and are ataothei' times Very beneficial
iron, the. numbers Of ground SQUIRRELS
and other harmful burrawers destroyed
by them.
The principal harmful mammals OF
tile Arid Interior arc pocket gophers,
meadow mice, ground squirrels, chip
lliunks. ln,lskrats. Kangaroo rats.
footed mice. harvest mice. house
mice. pocket mice. and several species
of rabbits. The mainly beneficial nam
5iuals are badgers, Weascls. common
5skunlss, little spotted sklInks, grass Y
hopper mice and several species OF
bats.
When any Of the. harmful rodents are
present In only small numbers or occur
only in uncultivated lands they usual ).
~ do little damage; but In irrigated
fields they become a great nuisance.
The rainfall OF tins western half Of
the Great Basin is extremely limited.
but an abundance of pure water Is
brought from the mountains through
great canals, which feed thousands OF
smaller canals and bitches, extending
in an elaborate network among the
farms. Many Of the bitches are aboya
the general Level, and when they are
tapped by the burrows of small ro-
dents the water escapes and quickly
cuts out the banks. At first The breaks
along the canals and bitches were SO
frequent and serious that a daily pntro!
was required 10 avoid expensive re5
pairs. Moreover, as farms are opened
up and fields planted, many of the
crops and trees are injured BY rodents.
while poultry If unprotected, is in
danger from nocturnal providers. On
the other, hand, a number of birds and
mammals prey almost exclusively on
some of the most injurious rodents and
insects.
Wherever it becomes necessary tn
,r,,,,,,,j
pliers, mice. or rabbits, the bulletin
recommends the following poison;
dissolve 1 ounce of stiSchnia sul-
phate and ounces of borax in quarts
of hot water in u closed vessel, stirring
occasionally for twenty minutes, orsun-
til completely dissolved. Then add G.
quarts of warm water, and sprinkle
this poisoned solution over 30 pounds
of rolled OF crushed wheat, stirring ana
mixing thoroughly until it Is all alb
sorbed. Place a quarter of n teaspoon
fui of the poisoned grain near-the en-
trance of each occupied blrrow. or in
each runway. For mice half an ounce
OF strNchnine is sufficient
Some OF the rodents, however. as the
piute ground squirrel. do not care
for dry grain when green vegetation is
abundant, aud may then be destroyed
by means of poisoned alfalfa, melon
,inds, tu,'i,ips. or green corn.
But better way, In general, of deaf
ing with all such pests is to protect
| tho hawks and owls. These birds are
90 ndiscriminately shot by gunners is-
norant of the species, that it would he
best to protect them all and to require
every person killing a hawk 10 prove
that the bird is one of the few harm.
full kinds, II
1 There is, in particular, the common
4 Marsh hawk, which Is Immensely valu-
able to the farmer ii, destroying ro-
dents.
Poisons cost the farmer money, be-
sides labor In distributing. and then
DO good only II the rodent eats the bait
4 On the other hand. the Marsh hawk is
always hungry. and during the long
hours Of daylight Is necessarily cours.
4 Ing back aid forth hunting for food II
works continuously without pay, ana
deserves legal protection as well us the
care OF every person who tills the soil;
The contents of ia stemacais examined
J Nv tie Biological Survey, United States