Evening star., 1941-10-07
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.

AT least 81 ,U00 OF tneSe creatures nave
Just been reported In Eastern national
forests by census takers of the United
States Forest Service.
They are the descendants of aban-
| doned household pets who have taken
to the woods and concentrated gradually
in areas where they are protected from
hunters.
The common domestic pet is believed
to have originated at least 5000 years
ago in Egypt but has never departed
very far from the ways of its ancestors.
The native American wildcats-the bob
cat, the Canada lynx and the panther
have been largely eliminated in the
East, leaving place for some member
OF the cat family.
For this very reason, Biological Sur
Yey experts believe the wild house cat
whose numbers probably will Increase
does no great harm. Nature is deli
cately and intricately balanced and
when a predatory creature is eliminated
trouble follows if nothing is introduced
to take its place.
Meanwhile, Forest Service census
takers report, the big game animals of
the United States have nearly quad
rupled in numbers during less than 20
years. These include deer, elk, moose
bison, antelope and bears. Their num-
bers now are estimated at about
100000
Deer and elk, the Forest Service an
nounces, increased about per cent in
the past year, although some States
liberalized their hunting regulations in
order to reduce their numbers.
Nearly 86 per cent. or 100000, of the
big game animals in the country are
deer. There are $4,000 elk, SO 900 black
bear, 10000 antelope, 1900 peccaries
and 4,80O grizzly and Alaskan bears.
A new arrival is the wild boar, of which
nearly 300 were counted This animal
vas introduced from Europe few years
ago by sportsmen, and now is increasing
in the Southern Appalachians and in
one California national forest.
In 20 years, the Forest Service an
nounces antelope have increased 760
per cent deer 26O per cent and elk 100
per cent Grizzly and Alaskan bear
have increased slightly despite the
transfer of large areas around Glacier
Bay in Alaska, their greatest sanctuary,
from Government jurisdiction. Black
bear have made a steady increase of 80
per cent, despite the large numbers used
a few years ago as attractions at gaso-
line stations. The only big animal
which has lost ground is the Rocky
Mountain bighorn.
The Forest Service estimates the value
of its wild life at about sl00000000. 1t
is protected in GIT game refugees. en-
bracing more than 100000 acres.
At the end of its 25th summer OF
preying or American gardens and lawns
the japanese beetle, Department OF
Agriculture entomologists have about
concluded, is here to stay.
Armies of millions of black wasps-
nearly 1900 colonies of them - are
launched against the pest.
The countryside is sprinkled with yell
low traps baited with the odor of gera-
NUNS The bug cannot resist either
yellow or geranium scent. Poison sprays
have been used by the barrel. State
borders are guarded by special police
men to prevent the transport of pest
| infected plants.
But in the face of all this the bug
itself. introduced accidentally from
Japan into New Jersey in 1916. continues
to extend its domain. 1t now covers
about 10000 acres in six States and
probably no State east Of the Mississippi
is entirely free from it. Its ravages have
cost millions.
But with reasonable precautions from
now on, the Department of Agriculture
Bureau of Entomology believes, the
Japanese beetle will not become devas-
tating pest Henceforth it probably will
remain for years a nuisance, defoliating
roses and causing bare patches on golf
courses. 1t probably will even spread
| to new areas, since no methods of quar-
| antine can be perfect.
But the time of its real threat is past.
| Gradually the vegetation of much of
| the Eastern area will learn to live with
the bug, just as 1t has learned to live
with purely American insect ravagers.
! Japan has known the big, metallic
| green bug for centuries. There 1t has
| been, at times, nuisance, but never
| an intolerable one. Its numbers have
remained fairly constant from year TO
| year because of its natural enemies,
| chiefly the little black wasps. These
| have been introduced from japan and
! Korea and are being distributed as rap
idly as new colonies can be raised.
There are also various soil-inhabiting
microorganisms which infect the beetle
| grubs with a fatal disease, the so-called
| milky sickness Efforts are being
made to raise and distribute these or
ganisms.
When the first beetles got into the
United States they found themselves
IN a literal paradise place where
there was plenty to eat and nothing to
eat them in turn. Any insect without
natural enemies multiplies by the mil
lions and the japanese visitor was no
exception. The American gardener, say
the Department of Agriculture special
lists, must be patient until the natural
enemies are developed and get a firm
foothold in the beetle territory.
Meanwhile, is there anything to be
done? For the small gardener with
| plenty of time the bugs can be picked
off the bushes and flowers by hand.
1t must be done every morning during
the first half of the summer. Many
small boy is earning pop money in this
| ht, ri