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JUNE 1964

VOLUME XXV / NUMBER 6
20 CENTS

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Dedicated to the Conservation of

Virginians Wildlife and Related Natural Resources

and to the Betterment of

Outdoor Recreation in Virginia

Published by Virginia commission of game and inland fisheries, Richmond, Virginia 23213

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

ALBERTIS S. HARRISON, JR., Governor

Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries

COMMISSIONERS

T. D. Watkins, Chairman Midlothian

J. C. Aaron Martinsville

H. G. Bauserman, Sr Arlington

A. Ree Ellis Waynesboro

R. R. Guest King George

R. G. GuNTER Abingdon

J. C. Johnson Newport News

Dr. E. C. Nettles Wakefield

I. T. Walke, Jr Norfolk

HoLMAN Willis, Jr Roanoke

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS

Chester F. Phelps, Executive Director

Richard H. Cross, Jr. . . . Chief, Game Division

Robert G. Martin Chief, Fish Division

Lillian B. Layne .... Chief, Fiscal Division
James F. McInteer, Jr. . Chief, Education Division
John H. McLaughlin . Chief, Law Enforcement Div.

PUBLICATION OFFICE: Commission of Game and
Inland Fisheries, 7 N. Second St., Richmond, Virginia

James F. McInteer, Jr Editor

Ann E. Pilcher Editorial Assistant

Leon G. Kesteloo Photographer

Harry L. Gillam Circulation

JUNE

Volume XXV/No. 6

IN THIS ISSUE PAGE

Editorial : Outdoor Manners 3

Letters 3

An Appraisal of Virginia's Wildlife Resources 4

The Sly Ones 6

The .Sycamore 8

What Happened to the Rabbit ? 9

Fishin' Holes: Piedmont Pickerel 11

The Fresh-Water Bonefish 12

Conservationgram 13

Charlottesville Bird Study 14

Gas Guns Sharpen Your Shooting Eye 16

Bird of the Month : Black-and-white Warbler 23

Drumming Log 24

Youth Afield 25

On the Waterfront 26

It's the Law! 27

Back Cover : Safety 28

COVER: The brook trout is one of the most prized
of game fishes, not only because of its beauty and
gaminess but also because it makes its home in our
most picturesque waters — those cold, swift streams
where the natural environment provides the perfect ac-
companiment for the vivid hues and graceful form of
the '"brookie." Our artist: Duane Raver.

SLBSCHIPTIONS: One year, $1.50; three years,
$S.50. Give check or money order, made payable to
the Treasurer of Virginia, to local game commission
employee or send to Commission of Game and Inland
Fisheries, P. 0. Box 1642, Richmond, Virginia 23213.

Virginia Wildlife is published monthly at Richmond, Virginia, by the Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries, 7 North Second St
All magazine subscriptions, change of address notices, and inquiries should be sent to Box 1642, Richmond, Va. 23213. The editorial
office gratefully receives for publication news items, articles, photographs, and sketches of good quality which deal uith Virginia's soils.
water, forests, and wildlife. The Commission assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and illustrative material. Credit is
given on material published. Permission to reprint text material is granted provided credit is given the Virginia Commission of Game and
Inland Fisheries and Virginia WiLDLiFt. Clearances must be made with photographers or artists to reproduce illustrations.

Second-class iiostage paid al Richmond, Va.

EDITORIAL

LETTERS

Outdoor Manners

WE Americans are fiercely proud of our individual rights. We oppose
and resent interference in our private affairs. We like to think that
one of our inalienable rights is personal freedom — freedom from
regimentation and regulation, and freedom to choose our own courses
of action. Yet we demand laws and regulations which drastically
restrict personal freedom of action, and we insist upon participating
ourselves in the operation of the machinery of government through
which these laws and regulations come about.

What we really have to be proud of and have to guard is not so
much personal freedom as it is the ability and the right to govern
ourselves — individually and collectively.

There is no such thing as an inalienable right to govern without a
corresponding ability to govern. And the right stems from the ability,
not the other way around. "Free men" can govern themselves col-
lectively only when enough of them have learned the art of govern-
ing themselves individually. If everyone could, and did, govern him-
self effectively, then indeed would there be little need for laws and
regulations that restrict freedom.

There is danger in too much freedom — danger that it will be
abused. There also is danger in too much government — in too many
laws and too much regulation — even if it is we ourselves who attempt
to govern too much. All rules and regulations encroach upon personal
liberty; but those that do little more than to require the exercise of
good manners also undermine the very self-discipline which is the
root of self-government. That we find it necessary to enforce good
manners at all is itself a reflection of one shortcoming we have yet
to overcome.

Good manners is "the doing of that which you should do although
you are not obliged to do it," and includes "all things which a man
should impose upon himself, from duty to good taste."

It is never good manners to act selfishly or carelessly.

It is not good manners to despoil the land on which all of us must
live, to litter the countryside with trash, or to befoul our streams
and shorelines with refuse.

It is not good manners to trespass on private property, whether
lands and waters are posted or not.

It is not good manners to take more than one's share of fish or
game just because there is an op{>ortunity to do so.

It is not good manners to risk killing or maiming one's fellow
man on the highway, on the water, or in the hunting field.

It is not good manners to operate watercraft thoughtlessly, with-
out concern for the annoyance, or even danger, that will result when
swimmers, fishermen, or other boats are nearby.

It is never good manners to encroach upon the rights of others
to their fair share of the benefits and enjoyment that stem from
the great wealth of outdoor resources with which this land is blessed.

Whether we use our outdoor heritage for profit or for pleasure,
we all find too much regulation objectionable. We find bad manners
even worse. — J. F. Mc.

Children Should Pay Too

I believe that if children are allowed to
trout fish they should be made to pay for a
permit to do so. I have observed whole
families on a stream, and each child allowed
eight trout.

I believe in children fishing and enjoying
the outdoors, but I believe they should pay
a dollar toward raising those trout they
catch, and I do not believe three and four
year olds should be allowed free where they
can only spoil the fishing for others.

Charles E. Padgett
Roanoke
We are in- favor of adults taking children
fishing, but agree that the privilege of
youngsters to fish free can be abused,
especially on trout streams. When fishermen
load up their cars with children in the hope
of bringing home that many more limits
of stocked trout, it is doubtful that the ex-
perience contributes much to developing
sportsmanship in the children. — Ed.

Wildlife Nomenclature

I enjoyed the fine article on trout fishing
by Don Carpenter in your April issue, and
also the piece by Chris Devereux and Nancy
Mullikin on esoteric wildlife nomenclature.
I believe the correct expression for a group
of pheasants is not "an eye" but "a nye,"
deriving from the Latin nidus (nest). Also,
the term "gaggle" is properly applied to
geese only when they are on the ground or
water; when flying, they are a skein. Snipe,
when in flight, are a wisp.

I think it was Red Smith, the sports writer,
who referred in this connection to "a pre-
varication of fishermen" and "an inebriation
of sports writers"; the angling writer Sparse
Grey Hackle is credited with "a dearth of
trout."

Ed Zern

New York, New York

MR. Leo A. Aubrey ("You've Never Caught
a Bream," January 1964) seems not to realize
what a thicket he's getting into in this matter
of nomenclature — or what a spot he's putting
you on (you, the editor, and you, the readers) .
For if you've never caught a bream, neither
have you ever shot a quail or a partridge, or
a rabbit, or an elk. Nor have you ever climbed
a sycamore or seen a robin. The list is endless.

T. M. Forsyth
Bremo Bluff
We agree that this matter of wildlife nomencla-
ture is indeed a "thicket." But it is fun to
thrash around in it sometimes, and occasional-
ly kick out a hare, a wapiti, or a bison. — Ed.

Wants Article on Rabbits

PLEASE have more published in Virginia
Wildlife about food and cover for rabbits
in eastern Virginia, as our wild rabbits are
fading away in and around Norfolk.

Capt. Carlton Harris

Norfolk
Glad to oblige. Captain. Just turn to page
9.— Ed.

AN APPRAISAL OF VIRGINIA'S

CONTRARY to popular belief, man's effect on wildlife
in Virginia has not been totally bad. Some native
species have not been able to adjust readily to the
changes that man's taming of the wilderness has brought
to the land. Others actually have benefited tremendously
from some of these same changes. But in any event, through
a combination of benevolence and self-interest, man the
sportsman has seen fit to pay the way for game species in
our modern world.

At no time in history has more been spent to preserve
and increase those species which man holds in highest esteem
for sport and recreation. Without this support and interest,
more of our game species might have slipped slowly toward
oblivion, as have some of our lesser wild creatures. As Dr.
Joe Linduska of the Remington Arms Company put it re-
cently, "If bluebirds weighed a half-pound and lay well to
a pointing dog we would not now be wondering at their
disappearance and vainly seeking ways to bring them back."
Well meaning but uninformed organizations and individuals
who seek to stop completely what they consider "wanton kill-
ing" of game species — doves, for instance — should grasp
the significance of the preferred position that game species
occupy today.

At the time of its colonization, much of Virginia was
covered with vast expanses of mature timber. Mast, fruits
and berries must have been plentiful, but brushy plants
few. This would have been ideal for turkeys and squirrels.
Deer were present, but probably not nearly as abundant as
they are today, judging by maximum population densities we
now find on timbered lands that are approaching maturity.
Grouse should have fared well under primeval conditions,
but quail and rabbits would have been limited by the edge
cover around natural forest openings.

The Indians were not numerous and they harvested only
enough game to meet their meager needs. Streams were
clear and stable in those days because of excellent watershed
cover, and most of those in the mountain areas contained
native brook trout. Wolves, cougars, bears, and lesser

A report to the Governor's Conference on Natural Resources, April 22,
1964.

Man's activities have not always been detrimental to wildlife. This
kind of deer habitat is not to be found in unbroken stands of mature

timber.

Commission photo by Kesteloo

Photo by L. M. Chace, from National Audubon Society
Cutting of primeval forests and the practice of extensive agriculture
increased quail habitat tremendously. A combination of efficient
farming and reversion of cultivated land to forest is reducing it again.

predators roamed the land, subsisting on the surplus wildlife
crop not taken by the Indians.

Into this scene moved the European settler with his axe,
plow, gun and fire. The virgin forest was his enemy: it cov-
ered the land on which he wanted to grow crops; harbored
wild beasts dangerous to his family and livestock; and con-
stantly threatened to reclaim his fields. At first, trees were
cut and burned just to make room for the settlers. As the
population grew, and trade with Europe increased, there
became a greater and greater demand for forest products
and the forests were felled for profit.

Wildlife was taken then for food, and it played a vital
role in feeding our early settlers until agriculture could take
over the job. Far more important to the wildlife than re-
lentless hunting, however, were the changes man was im-
pressing on the face of the land. Much of the tidewater and
piedmont sections were stripped of their forests and turned
into large plantations. Deer and turkey numbers suffered ac-
cordingly. Quail and rabbits thrived in these new sur-
roundings.

Early logging and clearing was for the creation of fields,
and regrowth of brush, which would have provided deer
browse, was discouraged. Later, when mountain lands were
logged and left untended, uncontrolled fires and persecution
by market and hide hunters prevented the deer from taking
advantage of what could have been improved conditions.

By 1900 most of the state's virgin forests had been cut.
The bison, the elk, the passenger pigeon, the cougar and the
wolf had joined the ranks of species already extinct in the
Old Dominion, and deer had been exterminated in many
areas.

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

WILDLIFE RESOURCES

By CHESTER F. PHELPS
Executive Director

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Ser\ice photo
Current changes !n land use favor ihe adaptable and prolific nnourning
dove, and this fine game bird has been on the increase, it is prob-
able that this species will be able to provide even more hunting
in the future than it does now.

Watersheds had been uncovered. Cold, stable streams and
rivers became dry washes or raging muddy torrents, de-
pending on the precipitation. Fish life suffered accordingly.
Poor farming practices and marginal farms resulted in ex-
tensive soil erosion and poor production. Although primitive
farming practices created some good wildlife habitat, the
general loss in soil fertility was reflected in the wildlife crop
as well.

By this time the cries of conservationists began to be
heeded. People began to see desolation around them, and
realized that drastic steps would have to taken to correct
mistakes of the past. The National Forests were created and
given fire protection. Soil conservation work was begun on
farmlands to stop erosion and increase productivity. Many
marginal farms were abandoned and allowed to revert to
forest for which the land was better suited.

Laws and regulations were passed to halt the slaughter
of wildlife. The Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries
was formed to enforce these laws and initiate programs for
the preservation and perpetuation of wildlife. Deer were im-
ported and restocked in areas where they were absent. Find-
ing the brushy regrowth in logged areas and on abandoned
farms to their liking, they made a remarkable comeback. A
similar program was later started for turkeys, and they have
been successfully restored in many areas.

Many fads and fallacies had their day as the young pro-
fession of wildlife management tried its wings. The wildlife
refuge was thought to be the ultimate management tool at
one time, and the protection it gave threatened game species
in some sections undoubtedly did something for the cause;
but its usefulness in restocking the surrounding countryside

JUNE, 1964

with game was comparable to the usefulness of a thimble in
filling a bath tub. Refuges still have a place in wildlife man-
agement. They serve as protected islands where migratory
and threatened species may retreat from the hunter and the
effects of civilization. But they are not flowing springs from
which issues forth a bounteous supply of game for the
hunter.

When we learned that game could be mass produced on
game farms and in fish hatcheries, this too seemed to be an
ultimate answer. Game could be turned out in almost any
quantity, depending only upon the amount of money avail-
able. It seemed logical that releasing large quantities of wild-
life throughout the state would boost populations to what-
ever level we wished to pay for. It didn't work out this way.
Game farm animals, and hatchery fish, couldn't live where
the habitat wasn't suitable any more than could the wild
ones we were seeking to replace. Thus, stocking became little
more than an unproductive annual expense. The recovery
rate and production costs were so far out of balance that all
but trout stocking has been eliminated as economically waste-
ful. Trout can be produced at the rate of 3 of stocking size
for a dollar, the recovery rate is quite high, and trout fisher-
men pay the bill through purchase of the special one-dollar
trout license.

It is sometimes practical to restock for the purpose of re-
establishing native species where suitable habitat lacks
breeding stock. An especially successful effort of this kind
was the Game Commission's stocking of deer west of the
Blue Ridge, which increased the deer harvest from less than
300 twenty y^ars ago to almost 12,000 today.

It also is practical sometimes to stock exotic species which
can take advantage of newly created types of habitat that
do not suit native species so well. But stocking wildlife to
increase man's harvest from areas where wild breeding stock
already exists has produced a uniform record of waste and
failure.

As a result of all these experiences, wildlife management

(Continued on page 20)

Although bear are much more restricted in their range than are
deer, they tend to benefit from some of the same forest game manage-
ment practices that benefit deer. This one was photographed In the
Shenandoah National Park last year by Dr. M. E. Jacobs.

EVERY hunter has memories of hunts gone by. A few
of these he holds as something special. They are well
polished and cared for — tucked away in that particu-
lar corner of his mind where he stores those pleasant
thoughts and where they can be often dusted off and lived
again. These are the real trophies of the hunt.

One of my very special memories concerns a fox, a hand-
some red rascal that reigned over his territory as monarch
and seemed to delight in accepting an occasional challenge
from the hounds.

When I first met this fellow it was shortly after dawn on
a bright February morning. The sun had just broken above
the eastern horizon and was threatening to dissolve the light
frost that tinted the earth. The dogs, ten hounds in all, were
in full cry and approaching fast. They had "jumped" the
fox after much cold trailing during the pre-dawn darkness.

Raymond Cottrell, my fox hunting mentor and owner of
the hounds, and I were catching our breath on a wooded
hillside overlooking a green rye field. We had just com-
pleted a hectic ride and a long run in an effort to head off
the fast moving dogs and catch a glimpse of the fox. As the
voices of the dogs increased in volume Raymond predicted
that fox was a red. "A gray," explained Raymond, "would
not cover as much territory. Gray foxes head for the thickest
cover they can find and play a dodging game among the
briers and blowdowns. A red fox, on the other hand, at-
tempts to put plenty distance between himself and the
hounds."

The hounds were closing upon us now and the hunt was
nearly over. Either we'd get the fox or the dogs would lose
the trail as the scent evaporated with the fast vanishing
frost.

The fox broke from cover on the far side of the rye field.
He seemed to know that his scent wouldn't linger long in
the warming field as he confidently strode in our direction.
He showed no sign of haste although the hounds were
scarcely three hundred yards behind. He walked deliberate-
ly, picking his steps and pausing now and then for a casual
glance over his shoulder.

The animal had dignity. He was unruffled and looked
unreal as his bright copper coat contrasted to the emerald
green field. His great bushy tail was held proudly and looked
fully as large as his body. The keen, searching nose and
alert, sharp pointed ears advertised that he was one wily
customer.

I almost forgot that I was carrying a shotgun as the fox
approached. I slipped off the safety as he trotted into easy
range and very slowly lifted the old double to my shoulder.

The animal was so regal looking that I hated to shoot
him. I was a youngster and this was one of my first fox
hunts. Raymond carried no gun and I thought he was wait-
ing for me to shoot.

As I took aim Raymond reached over and slowly but
firmly pushed the gun down. Shaking his head as I looked
at him he whispered, "Let's not shoot this one. We can
chase him again."

I learned that morning that the fox was a game animal,
created to run before the hounds. In later years I hunted
them for the chase only. Seldom did I kill one. In fact,
there were few hunters in my area who ever took a fox to
claim the $3.00 bounty.

In many parts of the country fox hunters seldom carry a
gun. Many fox hunters have unkind words for those who

7<^ S^ Otte^

By MAJOR JACK RANDOLPH

FoTt Lee

do shoot foxes. Even trappers have stopped taking foxes.
Low fur prices and the elimination of bounties in several
states offer the trapper little incentive for fox trapping. Most
trappers share the hunters' respect for foxes and will seldom
go out of their way to take them unless the price is right or
if they are paid to do it. As a consequence foxes have found
themselves in the enviable position of having few enemies
except disease and starvation. Oddly this isn't necessarily
good.

In some quarters the fox is thought of as a harmful preda-
tor. I used to share this belief but I found it difficult to prove.
I discovered that the fox preys mostly upon rats, mice and
other small creatures, many of which are not beneficial to
man. Undoubtedly the fox takes his share of small game,
but his share isn't an awful lot. It is possible that the fox
is actually beneficial to ground nesting birds. Foxes prey
upon rats that, in turn, prey upon eggs found in ground
nests.

Predation plays a major role in developing hearty, wily
small game animals and the fox is a stern teacher. Weaker
small game falls easy prey as the fox does wildlife a service
by eliminating the weak and sickly, thereby preventing the
start and spread of disease. When the fox's numbers are in
balance to the carrying capacity of the land, there are few
who won't agree that the fox is kind of nice to have around.

The fox is one of our most controversial animals. Aside
from the ceaseless argument concerning his alleged damage
to game or domestic animals the fox's family tree provokes
many a heated conversation.

Here in Virginia we have two species of foxes, reds and
grays. The red, of course, is the traditional fox of history.
There is very little apparent difference between the Ameri-

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

can red fox and the red fox of Europe. He has proven, both
here and in the Old World, that he can live close to man's
booming civilization. He's probably the originator of "peace-
ful coexistence."

Years ago the silver fox was the ultimate prize of trappers
and hunters. Silver fox furs in the age of high fashion
brought staggering prices on the fur market. Silvers were
extremely rare and, in the wild, they are now probably
even harder to find. The reason is apparent — there is no
silver fox as a species. The silver is a color phase of the
red fox, an accident of nature that created a beautiful and
rare fur. Today, of course, silver fox furs are no longer so
highly prized. The silver phase of the red fox has been suc-
cessfully raised by commercial fur farmers and ranch furs
are relatively common.

Another color phase of the red fox is known as a "cross
fox." The name comes from dark markings down the back
and across the shoulders of the animal. This was also a high-
ly prized fur in years gone by. Perhaps the oddest part of
all of this is that the silver and cross foxes seemed to occur
only in the northern extremes of the red foxes' range. Per-
haps one fox out of many litters of fox pups would be a
silver or cross while all of the others would be normal red
foxes.

The "trade-mark" of a red fox is the white tip on the
tail. The gray is known as the only fox with the black
stripe along the top of the tail. Gray foxes are rusty red
along the lower parts of their bodies, causing inexperienced
people to incorrectly identify them as reds.

Gray foxes are quite cat-like. Their tracks are round and
closely resemble those of a cat. The tracks of the red fox
are more pointed and quite like those of a small dog. The
gray can climb trees but the red cannot. Reds prefer semi-
open country while grays tend to stick to lower, thicker
terrain.

Both red and gray foxes possess keen senses and can prove
to be a worthy adversary to both hunters and trappers. As
a rule the foxes are silent neighbors we seldom see and

Gray foxes are rusfy red along the lower parts of fhe!r bodies, and
are mistaken sometimes for reds. This one shows typical markings, in-
cluding a black stripe down the tail that terminates at the tip. One
trademark of the red fox is a white tip on his tail.

hardly realize that they are around. But when foxes multiply
beyond the carrying capacity of their range we begin to
have a problem. As competition for food increases, foxes do
make inroads upon the small game population, but this is
the least of the problem. As foxes become more numerous
the chance for disease increases. Undernourished animals
competing vigorously for food fall easy prey to disease. In
foxes a common disease is rabies.

Among the weakened foxes rabies spreads rapidly. The
rabid animals become a serious threat as they attack live-
stock and, sometimes, humans. Recently rabies outbreaks
have occurred more frequently. This is probably due to
larger fox populations of recent years. This is where the
fox problem lies, a very real problem in some areas.

A logical approach to solving this problem is to reduce the
fox population in the troubled areas. There is no intent to
eradicate foxes. The aim is to reduce the population to a
point where foxes will be in balance with the feed available
and not apt to contract disease, at least in epidemic
proportions.

Probably the most effective method of fox control is
selective trapping by professional trappers. Professional
trappers can effectively reduce the fox count in a given area
in a short time. Their methods are such that they will take
only foxes, molesting no other game or domestic animals.

The bounty system has been traditionally employed as a
predator control method for centuries. Recently several
states took a hard look at their bounty systems and didn't
like what they saw. Generally it was noted that bounties
were a waste of money. Either they were being paid for
animals that would have been killed otherwise or they, in
themselves, were not sufficient incentive to direct the efforts
of hunters and trappers towards taking certain animals.
Another problem of the bounty system is that it is not
selective. An animal or bird may be a problem in one area
and not in another. Unfortunately these areas seldom
complied with political boundaries such as county or state
lines. A professional trapper could much better direct his
efforts towards these trouble spots.

One state is experimenting with a new approach to the
problem. This idea is to cut down the fox population through
the use of non-poisonous drugs. The drugs under trial render
a fox sterile. Drugged baits are placed in fox range during
the mating season. Animals that ingest the drugged baits
fail to reproduce their kind. There are more refinements to
this approach but this is the general concept. It appears that
this system may have potential to prevent large fox popula-
tions from building up but it can do nothing to reduce an
existing overabundance. It seems that sportsmen could
provide an equally effective control of growing fox popula-
tions by taking some of the foxes they pursue with hounds.
This would not only be less expensive but more rewarding
in terms of recreational hours spent afield.

Until a better method is found the steel trap is the most
effective tool for reducing fox populations in a given area.
An example of the efficiency of trapping can be found at
Camp Pickett. Here foxes find ideal habitat and multiply
rapidly. There are very few fox hunters who use Camp
Pickett and the fox count remains very high. Some controls
are required to keep the foxes in balance with the growing
small game population and to prevent the incidence of
rabies.

(Continued next page)

JUNE, 1964

The Sycamore

By A. B. MASSEY
V.P.I. Forestry and Wildlife

OUR native sycamore or plane tree (also called button
ball and button wood), frequent in low grounds and
along water courses, is readily recognized by the
white mottled bark. It has the reputation of developing into
the largest of our broadleaf trees in girth of the trunk and
height. The height may be questionable in comparison with
that of the tulip tree. Early settlers in Ohio recorded trees
having circumferences of 43, 47 and 67 feet. These were
probably over 400 years old. A sycamore in Indiana is re-
ported as being 42^/^ feet in circumference. The largest
sycamores have been found in the lowgrounds, subject to
floods, of the Ohio and Mississippi River basins. Sycamores
of nice size occur in Virginia; however, we do not have rec-
ord of excessively large trees. An old tree on the Smithfield
property, near the western border of the V.P.I, campus,
measures 20 feet in circumference. The trunk is short with
five large limbs 6-11 feet in circumference. Examination of
cores of the first five inches of the trunk indicate that the
tree is 200 or more years old. The trunk of large sycamores
is often hollow. It is related that the pioneers used hollow
logs of such to store grain. These were called gums. It is
also stated that at times some pioneers lived in hollow
sycamores until they could build a cabin.

The name sycamore has been variously applied. A fig tree
in Biblical lands is known as the sycomore (notice the o in
the middle of the name), which is a large spreading fig
tree {Ficus sycomorus) . Zacchaeus climbed into a sycomore
tree (the fig) above the people that he might see Christ
passing (Luke, chapter 19). Some translations erroneously
state that he climbed into a sycamore tree. In earlier days it
was thought that the leaves of a European maple resembled
those of the sycomore fig, hence applied the name sycamore

maple [Acer pseudoplatanus) with the difference in the
spelling. Our plane tree having leaves similar to the sycamore
European maple became known as the sycamore tree.

The native plane tree or sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
ranges widely from Maine to Minnesota south to Texas and
Florida. Fossil material indicates that plane trees grew in
Greenland in past ages.

The flowers of the sycamore are unisexual. They are very
small and individually inconspicuous. The male, staminate,
and female, pistillate, flowers are crowded in separate balls,
IV2 to two inches in diameter, which hang conspicuously on
slender leafless stems, one ball to the pendent stem. The
fruits are tiny hairy nutlets. In the fall and winter when
the fruit balls break up, the fruits appear over the ground as
tawny down. The leaves are broad with three or more
shallow lobes. The base of the leaf stalk, petiole, is hollow
capping over the bud for next year's growth. Conspicuous
bracts, stipules, occur at the attachment of the leaf and
encircle the twig. Thin sheets of the outer bark on the trunk
of younger trees and limbs of old trees peal off and become
trashy over the ground.

Two introduced species, the London plane tree (Platanus
acerijolia) and Oriental plane tree {Platanus orientalis),
occur in ornamental plantings. They have two or three seed
balls pendent on stems whereas the native species has only
one ball on a stem. Some advocate planting London plane
trees along streets. The pealing of the bark and the
tendency of leaves to start falling the latter part of summer
makes their desirability questionable.

Sycamore wood is reddish brown, light, fairly hard and
difficult to split. It is used to some extent for boxes, co-
operage, interior finish, butcher blocks and formerly for
ox yokes.

The native species is commonly affected with a leaf and
twig blight in the spring. The trees appear to have been
frosted when there has been no frost. The affected tree
develops new leaves and soon appears normal. The London
plane is not noticeably affected by the blight.

The Sly Ones (Continued from page 7)

Fortunately, Camp Pickett's game warden, Sgt. Carol
Martin, is an expert trapper. Using very few traps and
operating just before and after the hunting season, he
takes about 75 foxes annually from the 46,000 acre military
reservation. Martin believes that his catch is sufficient to
keep the animals in balance. As a rule his catch runs half
reds and half grays.

A good trapper, Martin has a tremendous respect for the
cunning of foxes. He takes great pains to rid his traps
and equipment of foreign odors prior to the trapping sea-
son. To accomplish this the traps and steel trap stakes are
boiled in wood chips until they take on a dark, almost black
color. Wax is melted in the boiling water, forming a film
on the surface. As the traps and stakes are withdrawn from
the vat they take on a light coating of wax, sealing in the
scent of steel and preventing rust. Once prepared, the traps
are hung in an evergreen tree until used.

All trappers are students of nature. They study animals
until they know their habits thoroughly. Once they become
familiar with the animal they become aware of those
regular habits that are the animal's weakness and that make
him fair game for the trap.

Sgt. Martin capitalizes upon his intimate knowledge of
foxes. He places his trap sets where foxes frequent and he
goes to great pains to avoid leaving human scent near a set.
His methods pay off, enabling him to keep the fox popula-
tion at Pickett in balance with the least expenditure of time
and money. He would prefer that hunters harvest the foxes
and enjoy the sport of the chase. As it is, he dislikes doing
the job for them.

There is no panacea for the fox problem. In a great many
areas there is no problem as the balance is maintained.
Where problems do exist each has to be dealt with separate-
ly. Possibly a certain amount of hunting pressure will main-
tain the balance in some locales. When things get out of hand,
trappers can usually straighten them out quickly. Generally,
however, a reasonable amount of hunting should preserve the
balance and make calls for trappers unnecessary.

The problems of foxes are just one more example of the
results of changes in an animal's environment. When man
moves in, nature must adjust the master plan. Often man
must play a role in this adjustment. The balance must be
preserved or the consequences are apt to be severe. The fox
has a well earned place in the sporting scene. It is un-
fortunate that we must control him with wholesale methods
at times. Let's hope we can avoid this in the future.

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

Hunters Ask:

WHAT HAPPENED
TO THE RABBIT ?

By JIM McINTEER

Chief, Education Division

Cknninission photos by Kesteloo

THE cottontail hasn't been seen around some of his old
haunts in his usual numbers of late, and he has a lot
of friends inquiring anxiously about his welfare.

It seems that something has happened to him all right.
Something always is happening, or is about to happen to
him. Throughout his short but often highly productive life,
he is hunted mercilessly and without respite by everything
that crawls, runs or flies and feeds on flesh; and if one of
them does not get him first he has parasites, disease and
the wheels of automobiles to contend with. From his shallow,
fur-lined nest to the end of the road, his existence is pre-
carious and his fate uncertain.

Probably the surest thing about Br'er Rabbit's life is that
it will not be a long one. Game biologists have found that a
third or more of all young rabbits may never live to leave
their nests under their own power, and in one study of 226
tagged wild cottontails only two ever reached their second
birthdays! Sometimes the odds are a trifle better. Biologist
John Redd found that two rabbits out of 19 killed by five
hunters at Camp Pickett one day last February had been
tagged almost two and a half years before, and one of them
already was an adult when it was tagged and released back
in 1961.

Rabbits are born naked, blind, completely helpless and
about the size of a man's thumb. Mother rabbit puts them in
a shallow nest she has carefully scooped out and lined with
vegetation and soft hair from her own abdomen. She covers
them over with grass and leaves, and the secret nursery is
not easy to locate; but sharp eyes or a keen nose often lead
a hungry raider to it anyway.

Young cottontails were the most frequently found mam-
mals in one analysis of several thousand crow stomachs.
Some of these young rabbits may have been found dead by
the crows, but many undoubtedly were stolen from nests
alive; and in any event they were all young rabbits that
did not get beyond the infant stage. While crows are accused
of many other things (sometimes rightly, sometimes wrong-
ly), the extent of their depredation of rabbit nests often is
overlooked. Biologists recognize them as an important
factor in the control of summer rabbit populations in many
localities.

m'tJ''

He's still the best known and most popular little game animal in the
land. May his tribe increase. Given half a chance, it will.

House cats, that find a litter and come back time and
again and carry off the helpless young one by one; dogs,
that often locate nests by scent; farm machinery working
over fields or mowing coverts where nests are concealed;
flesh fly larvae, which burrow into nestlings' abdomens;
snakes, skunks, in fact every meat eater capable of preying
on an)'thing from mice on up — they all take their toll of
nestling rabbits wherever and whenever they find them.

Nevertheless, a lot of rabbits win the first lap of their race
against death. They develop rapidly, and are ready to strike
out on their own in less than three weeks, which is none too
soon because mother rabbit may have mated the day they
were born and already be within a week or ten days of
depositing a new litter in the nest. Things do hap{>en swiftly
in the rabbit world!

When young cottontails venture forth from their nests
they become better able to evade cats, dogs and farm
machinery. On the other hand, out from under the pro-
tective camouflage of nest covering, they are more \'ulnerable
to the swift strike of rapacious birds and to the hunting
techniques of such efficient predators as the weasel, fox
and bobcat.

The rabbit's main defense is his birth rate. Here is an
example of how it works. The rabbit population on a 186-
acre study area decreased a whopping 84% between Septem-

(Contlnued on next page)

Rabbit nests are well concealed and hard to find, and the little ones do not stay in them long. Yet mortality at this stage can be startlingly

high.

ber and January — 284 rabbits on
September 1 ; 184 on November 1 :
102 on December 1 : and 41 on
New Year's Day. Hunters account-
ed for a mere ten, while other
mortality factors brought the popu-
lation down to the land's carrying
capacity at its mid-winter low. One
might surmise that the rabbits on
this particular bit of land were head-
ed for early extinction; but there
really was no cause for alarm. In
another month or two breeding
would be in full swing again, and
20 does producing 5 litters each,
averaging 4 young to the litter, could
add up to 400 new rabbits before the
next September. In addition, some
of the young females from the
earliest litters would add their own first offspring to
the population by summer's end. Something had to cancel
out about half this potential spring and summer increase be-
fore even the first of September rolled around, in addition
to the previously observed fall and winter losses, just to keep
the annual early fall population from spiraling upward.

This is one good reason for the frequently heard com-
plaint: "I saw lots of young rabbits on my place during the
summer, but before hunting season most of them had dis-
appeared." Actually, it is a perfectly normal thing that
happens in "good" rabbit years as well as "poor" ones.

The cottontail's amazing reproductive potential plays
several different roles in the ecology of the brier patch.

It is the species' safeguard against extinction, of course.

It also is directly responsible for the rabbit's startlingly
high mortality rate. By subjecting his environment to a
population pressure that constantly threatens to explode
and inundate the land in rabbits, the cottontail's high birth
rate makes his own equally high death rate inevitable. Some-
thing has to remove rabbits from the land as fast as they are
born — if not predators, hunting and accidents, then perhaps
parasites, disease, malnutrition or even more subtle mortality
factors that seem to be naturally associated with overly
dense populations. Yet in this perpetual see-saw race between
birth and death there is order and purpose. The reproductive
rate of the rabbit, along with that of most other small
vegetarians in the animal world, plays a role in life's master

Along fhe edge between thick escape cover and open

land the rabbit usually finds the greatest abundance

of foods that are to his liking.

plan that goes far beyond the wel-
fare of these defenseless creatures
themselves; for it is in the plan
that those who gnaw, browse and
graze shall turn herbs and grass into
flesh that carnivores also may live.
Ecologically there is no waste. Born
to die. even the lowly cottontail does
not die in vain.

The rabbit's high birth rate, and
the means by which its force is
"contained." account for striking
fluctuations in rabbit populations,
both from season to season and from
year to year. Species with relatively
low reproductive rates and corre-
spondingly low mortality rates usual-
ly maintain fairly stable popula-
tions. A good breeding season, or a
slightly lowered mortality, will not bring about an immediate
and spectacular population increase among the slow breeders.
Things happen more gradually, and compensating factors
have time to adjust, and bring about a new balance between
birth and death at a slightly higher population level than
before. But not so with fast breeders like the cottontail. Just
a slight relaxing of nature's controls, and almost overnight
dozens more rabbits are left on the land than there other-
wise would have been, each pair potentially capable of
tripling its number every four or five weeks and each striv-
ing with all its might to do just that.

Long before there can be an adjustment or compensation
that would again equalize births and deaths, there comes a
peak rabbit abundance that the land cannot long sustain.
Since predators are all among the slow breeders, whose
populations react comparatively sluggishly to such influ-
ences as improved food supply, it is not they but other
attrition factors that are most likely to flare up in an over-
crowded hedgerow slum and smother the incipient rabbit
population explosion ; and some of these other factors such
as tularemia, or "rabbit fever," at least from the standpoint
of the rabbit hunter, may be entirely too efficient as control
mechanisms. They are almost sure to "over-correct," and
bring our rabbits rather too suddenly from peak to nadir in
their population "cycle." Then it takes time for reproduction

A contented rabbit !s
one that finds places to
hide, feed, loaf, and
raise young, without hav-
ing to travel far from
one to find the others.

?^S^S^

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

G]q[|93

Ninth in the series of articles on some of the
favorite angling hot spots in Virginia.

PIEDMONT PICKEREL

By BOB GOOCH
Troy

THE Old Dominion angler hankering for a lunker pick-
erel is most likely to find the cantankerous old cuss
lurking in some eastern Virginia tidal river — the
Chickahominy, for example.

There are also some good pickerel in the Cowpasture and
other rivers rising on the eastern slopes of the Alleghenies
in the western part of the state. But I know him best in the
small streams that meander through the hills of Piedmont
Virginia.

Lunkers are rare in these delightful little streams, but
there are many compensating factors.

The fish I have in mind is the eastern chain pickerel,
more often called pike. He's well-known from the fresh
water ponds of Cape Cod and the lakes of Maine to the bass
rivers in Florida and the bayous of Louisiana. Throughout
his range he's alternately cursed and praised.

Old-timers in Piedmont Virginia called him jack, and as
a boy that was the only name I knew him by until I became
an avid reader of outdoor literature and added to my prac-
tically acquired outdoor education.

Other pickerels roam our waters — the redfin or mud pick-
erel, for example, but none of them develop any appreciable
size and are not important as game fish. However, the angler
is likely to encounter them from time to time in most small
clear streams.

The pickerel is a lover of weed beds. There he can hide
and ambush foolhardy or unsuspecting minnows and frogs.
In fact, weeds are absolutely essential for successful spawn-
ing. If the pickerel's adhesive eggs don't attach to vegetation,
they fall into the bottom mud and suffocate. Weed beds are
not too common in Piedmont streams, but where they exist
in quiet or even a fairly fast moving current, they're a good
bet for at least one fish.

In the absence of weeds, look for them in quiet water
around logs, the shoreline, debris, etc. Pickerel do not fre-
quent rapids or white water.

The chain pickerel does not flourish in farm ponds. These
small impoundments that occasionally turn up a pickerel are
either fed by a small stream where the fish reproduce, or
pickerel have been released in the pond by some well mean-
ing and optimistic fisherman. So relea.'^ed, the fish often grow
rapidly as most of these ponds are over stocked with small
pan fish. In fact some pond owners stock a few pickerel
just to remove the surplus bluegills.

As is the case with all members of the pike family, min-
nows and small fish make up the major portion of the pick-
erel's diet. He will not turn up his nose at a small frog and
I doubt that many small birds or animals so unfortunate
as to fall on the water near a lunker pickerel's lair, live to
tell the story. Once in a while a sucker fisherman will land
a fair pickerel on a gob of worms, but worms are not recom-
mended as bait for old chainsides.

I lived in Maryland for a few years and while there, de-
lighted in fishing pickerel and yellow perch hot spots such as
the South and Seven rivers. These tidal estuaries are interest-
ing fishing and the veterans up there used to say pickerel
fishing was best during good oyster years. No doubt cray-
fish, salamanders and other forms of fresh and salt water
marine life are included in the pickerel's diet. In Maryland,
though, the favorite bait was "bull minnows."

The pickerel is by nature an antagonistic fish, a tiger of
the weed beds, and king of his domain. I have always con-
sidered his vicious strike his chief contribution to the
angling world. Toss a small surface lure into a pickerel in-
habited pool in a small stream and the little pool seems to
almost explode as the king of the stream smacks it — usually
more in anger and indignation than from hunger. Food is
usually plentiful in these Piedmont streams.

As a fighter the pickerel probably leaves a little to be
desired, though he can come up with some thrilling, plug
rattling jumps.

The pickerel fisherman can take his pick of angling meth-
ods. An 18 incher will tear a yellow streamer to shreds and
rattle the guides on your favorite fly rod, but in the streams
I fish, heavy vegetation overhangs the banks and makes fly

(Continued on page 18)

Commission photo by Kesteloo
Lunkers are rare, but there are connpensations. One is that small streann
pickerel fishing seldom suffers "summer doldrums."

JUNE, 1964

The Fresh-Water Bonefish

By LEO A. AUBREY

Fort Lee

THE bonefish (Abula vulpes) ranks very high on the
sport fisherman's list for many good reasons. It is
extremely shy and wary and must be approached with
much caution; in fact it must be stalked. The bait must be
presented in as natural and life-like manner as possible.
Long casts must be made in order not to spook the fish,
and then it may take hours before one will take the bait,
is hooked, and the fisherman can enjoy the thrill of tht
fight. In spite of, or perhaps because of, these drawbacks
some fishermen travel hundreds and sometimes thousands of
miles to try for bonefish.

For most of us, of course, catching a bonefish will always
remain in the realm of daydreams. Yet here in Virginia
there is a fish, found in almost every type of water from
mountain streams to tidal rivers, that can deservedly be called
the fresh water bonefish. It. too, must be fished with all
the caution, skill and care called for in fishing for bonefish.
It, too, must be approached cautiously. It, too, must ( in some
cases) be stalked and a long cast made. And it. too. must
have the bait presented in a natural manner. Also like the
bonefish it, too, may take hours to take the bait but once
the bait is taken, the hook set and the fight on. the hours
spent waiting will not seem to have been wasted.

A fish with all these attributes must surely be one of the
better known game fishes. Is it perhaps the brown trout?
No, although it, too, like the brown trout, is not a native
species but was introduced to this country from Europe.
Unlike the brown trout it soon wore out its welcome and. in
fact, is throughly detested by many fishermen. The fish we
are speaking is the carp [Cyprinus carpio), one of the
wisest and most elusive of the fresh water fishes in the
world. One of the reasons for its unpopularity, of course, may
be its habit of rooting for vegetation, thereby roiling up the
water. Perhaps another reason is that the carp is so hard
to get that it is merely a case of "sour grapes."

The most popular method of taking carp is by pre-baif-
ing a known carp hangout with chopped vegetables, some-
times for as long as a week or ten days; then when the
carp have lost some of their caution and are accustomed to
feeding in that section the fisherman will bait up with dough-
balls, marshmallows, whole grain corn, cooked vegetables
or perhaps with some secret concoction that has proved to
be a good bait before. This method, however, is hardly a
sporting one and may even be against the fishing laws
in some states.

I do 90 per cent of my fishing with a fly rod, and have
brought in hundreds of carp on one. The first time I was
out fishing for bluegills. I had fished the mouth of a cer-
tain creek very successfully for a few weekends and had
caught many good sized bluegills and a few small bass
from this spot. One day, not getting any hits in the creek.
I moved on up to the river and cast upstream, allowing the
bait to float down naturally. After the third or fourth cast
I felt a slight tug on the line and. having some slack line
since I was using live bait (worms, to be exact). I allowed
the fish to run until the line was straight. Then, thinking I

had a bluegill or a small bass on. I tightened up and set the
hook. For a moment 1 thought I was hooked to a log; but the
fun soon began! After al)out ten minutes I landed the fish,
a two pound carp only; but it had fought like a four
pounder. Before the afternoon was over I had caught 17
more, weighing between one and three pounds, and had had
some fine sport. I should mention that this took place in the
springtime and that the water was very high and muddy.

These carp were caught on an 8'/2 foot fly rod with a nine
foot level leader testing six pounds; the hooks used were no.
6 Aberdeen. Contrary to a generally held belief it is not
necessary to cover the barb on the hook. For bait a small
red worm is best, and it should be hooked only once through
the collar to allow it to wriggle freely. The more natural
it appears the better the chance of getting a carp to take
it. After the carp has taken the bait, allow some time for it
to mouth it as it will spit out the bait at the first suggestion
that all is not right. I have been fishing for carp for many
years now. using the method described above, and have
had much sport and enjoyment out of it. I might mention
here that if you are fishing from a boat, be very careful
about banging the oars or scuffling your feet. This will
spook the carp (and other fish as well) every time. If you
are walking the shore line, step carefully as vibrations carry
a long way into the water. When casting from shore make
your cast in the direction in which you are walking.

The largest carp that I have ever landed with a fly rod
(or any other rod, for that matter) weighed ten pounds,
and it took me an hour to land it. I've had much larger
ones on but couldn't hold them. One very large carp — It
got away, don't they always? — put quite a bend in the
tip of a bamboo fly rod and another carp, a six pounder,
cracked the same rod slightly. A third carp put the finish-
ing touches to this particular rod. It happened this way:

One day while fishing the James river near Hopewell
I met another fisherman, and after exchanging the usual
greetings he asked me how I had gotten such a bend in my
rod. Well, I told him, and I could almost read his mind:
"This guy must he pulling my leg; who ever heard of catch-
ing carp on a fly rodP' Disbelief was written all over his
face. I said. "So long" to my riverside acquaintance; walk-
ed about 20 feet; cast in; got a strike; and landed a four
pound carp! Of course, I broke my rod, but it was worth it
to prove to this skeptic that it could be done.

Although I've only mentioned worms as bait for a fly
rod, carp can also be taken on artificial lures such as small
spinners and streamers and will sometimes, 'though rarely,
take a dry fly. They are sometimes taken on live minnows
and have even been taken on bass plugs.

Some of the hot spots, especially during the spawning sea-
son, are the many creeks and small streams flowing into the
James River; the James River itself; the Chickahominy
River ; and Lake Chickahominy. As a matter of fact, most of
the Tidewater area is good; and there is an especially good
spot near Bermuda Hundred, where the carp are really big
and hit readily. But wherever you fish for this particular
scrapper, be sure to take along a lot of extra hooks and
leaders because you may need them. Also, make sure to have
a lot of backing on your fly rod reel; you'll need it, too,
if you get a big one on. ! can almost guarantee that after
you've hooked, played, and landed a big carp on light tackle,
you'll agree with me that the carp deserves the title of
■'the fresh-water bonefish."

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

rt"ri?a« VIRGINIA WILDLIFE i^ -^ -^ -^ r^^^i

gl CONSERVATIONGRAM i|i

SS taTC^^^ Commission Activities and Late Wildlife News ... At A Glance rg^nia gaj

deer met violent deaths from causes other than legal hunting. Vehicles were the
greatest off-season killers, accounting for 726 or 68 per cent of the total. Dogs
posed the next greatest threat, with 66 animals reported killed by these canine
poachers. Game biologists estimate that this known loss is but a fraction of the
total deer destroyed by man's domesticated predators. Forty-one deer were found
illegally shot, the majority of these being does.

The months of October through January were the v/orst period with over half of the recorded
mortalities occurring during these four months. This includes the rutting season,
a period when deer seem to lose a lot of their natural caution. The worst month was
November, in which the hunting season began.

Persons whose motor vehicles collide with a deer, killing it or severely injuring it, may
retain the carcass for their own use provided it is reported and the proper forms
filled out. If the animal is seriously injured it may be killed and carcass taken
to the nearest game warden, trial justice or Justice of the Peace, or one of these
officers summoned to the scene, and the proper forms witnessed to give the driver the
carcass for his own use. No other tag or hunting license is required to transport
or possess such an animal.

HATCHERY FISHING OFFERED ANGLERS. As part of a continuing research project on the effects of
size limits on fishing, the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries again
opened eight of its Front Royal Hatchery ponds to public angling May 2. The public
thoroughly enjoys the angling experience, and fishery technicians are gaining
considerable insight into the effect of fishing on known fish populations from the
records obtained.

Four of the ponds open to angling have a 14-inch minimum bass size limit while anglers fish-
ing in the other four ponds may keep any size they catch. One additional pond
containing largemouths and another containing smallmouths are open to "fish-for-
fun" angling with anglers required to return all fish hooked. Regular creel limits
and license requirements apply in addition to the special regulations mentioned.

Fishing hours at the hatchery located near Waterlick, Virginia, are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday
through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday fishing is limited from
1 p.m. to 8 p.m. and the ponds are closed to all angling on Mondays. The hatchery ponds
will remain open through September 6.

BOAT REGISTRATION NOW GOOD FOR 5 YEARS FROM DATE OF ISSUE. All Virginia boat registrations
issued since December 31, 1963, will be good for three years from the month of issue.
This is a result of modification in the Boating Safety Act made by the 1964 Virginia
General Assembly. Registrations made between January 1, 1964, and April 1, 1964,
will be recalled and re-issued. Boat ovmers in this group are urged to hold their
certificate vintil they receive a temporary certificate for use while new certifi-
cates are prepared.

All registrations, renewals and transfers will be a straight five dollars and all will be

good for three years. Under the old triennium system, registrations were pro-rated
to four dollars in the second year and three dollars in the third because of the
shorter period of validity. Nearly all Virginia boaters, in the future, will get
more for their money under the new system since all registrations will be good for a
full three years.

The staggered expirations which will result from this new system will allow the Commission
of Game and Inland Fisheries to process applications faster and more efficiently.
Once the majority of the boat registrations are spread over a 12 month period,
renewals will come in at a regular rate instead of 45,000 during a three month period
as happened at the beginning of this triennium. The revenue will also come in at a
more regular rate allowing for more efficient budgeting and accounting.

JUNE, 1964 13

C. G. and LOUISE B. HOLLAND
Charlottesville

IT is a simple matter to set up a feeding station, especially
with help from appropriate books and articles. Equally
simple, with good descriptions and color pictures avail-
able, is an accurate identification of birds which visit the
station after it is arranged. Presumedly this is an end in
itself: just feed them and watch them. We suppose most
people let it go at this.

It seemed to us. however, the real fun of a station would
be doing something with or about the birds who visited it.
This is the story of a few things we did.

We live in Northerly on the northwest outskirts of Charlot-
tesville. To our north is a four acre tract of tall oaks and
pines with very little underbrush. On all other sides are
houses, lawns and streets. Some homes have large trees in
their yards; others have none. Two hundred yards south of
us is a small stream bordered by much brush and 400
yards southwest is a tract of oaks. To the east is Route 29,
a busy place for people and cars. There is only one other
feeding station in our neighborhood and this is across the
street, a hundred yards away.

Our feeding station is just outside the kitchen-dining
room window. It has both differential and mobility. By
differential we mean we have two wire baskets containing
suet for those birds which prefer this food. Our main at-
traction is chicken "scratch" which we scatter on the ground.
If it is snowing we try to throw it under a protective roof
so it will not be lost in the snowfall. Finally, we have a
plastic bleach bottle with a hole cut in the side two inches
above the bottom in which we put sunflower seed.

CHARLOTTESM

By mobility we mean that in winter the plastic bottle
hangs two feet from the window, the suet baskets are five
feet away, and the "scratch" is thrown on the patio 10 to
15 feet from the window. In summer the plastic bottle and
suet baskets go out to 20 feet and the "scratch" is thrown
on the ground about 30 feet from the window.

Our reasoning behind this is as simple as the station. We
wanted to appeal to the appetites of as many species of birds
as we could, and we used scarcity of natural foods to bring
them close for observation in winter. In summer we still
wanted them to remember the station, and since we used the
patio for lounging, we put the food far enough away so

June

July

1-10

11-20

21-30|1-10

11-20

21-3ltl-10

Brown Creeper

Cardinal

Catbird

Chickadee, black-capped

Cowbird, brown-headed

Dove, mourning

Finch, puq)le

Flicker, yellow-shafted

Crackle, purple

Hummingbird

Jay, blue

Junco, slate-colored

Kinglet, ruby-crowned

Mockingbird

Nuthatch, white-breasted

Robin

Sapsucker, yellow-bellied

Shrike, loggerhead

Sparrows, chipping

fox

house

song

white-crowned

white-throated

Starling

Titmouse, tufted

Thrasher, brown

Thrush, wood

Towhee, rufous-sided

Warbler, black-and-white

Warbler, myrtle

Woodpecker, downy

hairy

pileated

red-bellied

red-headed

Wren, Carolina

Wren, house

Numbers of permanent residents underlined.
Migratory species underlined and in parentheses.
• Died.

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

LLE BIRD STUDY

that they would not be afraid to come in spite of our being
on it.

Having set the stage, we got a notebook and each morning
during breakfast, which lasted from 15 minutes to half an
hour between seven and eight, we recorded the highest
number of birds we saw, separately by species. Along with
this we recorded their behavior and any special features
such as juveniles, weather, presence of neighborhood cats.
etc.: conditions which might influence their behavior. There
were times when we recorded the number by species night
and morning, and some special occasions when we recorded
them almost hourly. (Continued on page 19)

1962

Septem

her

October

November

December

fanuary

Februarv

March

Apr

■^

Ma>

•1-31

1-10

11-20

21-30

1-10

11-20

21-31

I-IO

11-20

21-30

1-10

11-20

21-3111-10

11-20

21-31J1-10

11-20

21-30

1-10

11-2C

21-311-10

11-20

21-301-10

11-20

21-26

2
2

2
3

1
2

4
2

2
3

3
2

l7
2

12
2

12
3

16
3

18
4

1
3

2
2

1
3

3
1

1
1

2
1

1
1

2
1*

1
1

1
2

7
>

4
1

3
1

4
2

3
2

2
1

9
2

4
1

3
1
6

)

_2)

1
1

[

2
1

3
1

1
2

1
1

(

>
>

^■^^M

JUNE, 1964

ALTHOUGH nothing takes the place of actual field
shooting with your favorite rifle or handgun, there
is now an interesting and safe method for the shoot-
ing enthusiast to get in a lot of off-season practice, indoors or
out. And the shooting will do much to keep muscles and
eyes in shooting trim the year around at a cost of only a
fraction of a cent per shot.

The title of this piece might well be, "How To Succeed In
Shooting Without Really Firing," because the guns describ-
ed here require no powder or other so-called explosives.
They are the relatively new and much improved gas-powered
pistols and rifles, frequently called CO2 guns. These arms are
smokeless, nearly noiseless and very inexpensive to shoot.
Their accuracy at short indoor and back-yard ranges is
quite good enough to consistently hit a 1-inch diameter
target at 15-feet distance. In fact one of my favorite targets
is the little candy wafers, of about one-inch size, commonly
called "Necco." The wafers are "bustable"; always a
satisfactory sight to expert and tyro alike. Most shooters
like to see something "give" when a well aimed shot finds
its mark.

Recently I have had an opportunity to test several repre-
sentative makes and models of "Cee-0-Two" guns. Some re-
sults of penetration and accuracy tests are shown in the illus-
trations. A close look at the penetration tests should convince
any shooter that these guns are not, repeat not, toys. Their
bite is sufficient to inflict a painful wound in the human
body or to put out an eye! Head shots on small game, such
as squirrels and rabbits, are usually fatal, and such birds as
sparrows and starlings are sitting "ducks" for the pellet-fir-
ing gas guns. Grasshoppers and wasps and bumblebees are
excellent and plentiful targets at ranges of 10 to 15 feet.

Top: Crosman Model 160 .22 cal. pellet rifle, target model, with sling,

and rear sight adjustable for windage and elevation. Lower: Crosnnan

Super BB repeater, level action.

Photo by the author

As with all guns, these too should be treated with respect
and handled with care and safety.

There are two main categories of CO2 pistols and rifles:
those that fire lead or steel BB's and those that fire wasp-
waisted, blunt-nosed, hollow-skirted, soft lead pellets. The
latter are used in rifled barrels for greatest accuracy and
greater energy than is developed by the light steel BB's. The
guns come in two basic calibers: the .22 pellet and the
.177, the latter being of the approximate diameter of a BB.
Both are offered in handguns and rifle models by a number
of manufacturers. Costs of the guns range from about $39.00,
for the Crosman Series 160 target rifle, to about $16.00 for
the Crosman 166 Super BB Repeater, a child's size carbine
of very light weight and moderate accuracy. In between are
excellent pistols in either single-shot or auto-loading models.

The fun and instruction that may be derived from these
guns is almost endless. They are ideal for teaching young-
sters, and other beginners, the fundamentals of shooting
safety as well as putting them on the road to shooting
enthusiasm and accuracy. In accuracy, all the guns tested
are head and shoulders above the familiar, cheap, spring-
air guns commonly given to the world's "Juniors" as a first
gun. Not that the little spring-air jobs are not excellent be-
ginners' weapons, but a youngster soon "graduates" to the

Crosnnan Model 600, .22 cal. 10
shot semi-automatic.

point where he can outshoot his gun and wants an arm that
will "shoot where he looks." The gas guns admirably fill
this gap between the first gun and the rimfire .22.

The gas-powered guns use as a propellent a small bottle
of compressed carbon dioxide which is metered by the
mechanism as individual charges for each shot. Each bottle
will give from 35 to 90 shots, depending upon the make and
model of gun. At about ten cents per bottle and pellets or
BB's costing that fraction of a cent represented by four
decimal places, you can readily see that an evening of
fun is very cheap indeed.

My tests have shown that the pellets are capable of greater
accuracy and have, on the whole, greater energy. The pene-
tration tests show, however, that the BB's are comparable to
pellets in paper-punching ability. This is because the harder
steel BB's do not flatten to expend their energy within the
target itself. The pellets may be compared to "mushrooming"
sporting rifle bullets that expand to create a larger wound
channel and to give greater knock-down power by expending
all their energy within the target rather than "shooting clear
through" the target, as some shooters are wont to brag of
some sporting rifle bullets.

For indoor shooting a cardboard box, packed with cotton
batting, rock wool, soft rags or cotton waste, makes an excel-

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

lent and safe backstop-target carrier. A thin steel plate, such
as an old biscuit pan or a piece of roofing material, placed
in the back of the box gives an added safety factor that
is desirable after repeated shots near the same place have
created an opening in the soft material. A box about two
feet square is ample for stopping most shots, and putting the
box into a fireplace opening or backing it up with a 3 x 4
foot piece of l^-inch plywood makes a backstop that even
the rankest tyro can't miss at usual distances of 10 to 25 feet.

Good target lighting is essential to good shooting. A
shaded 100 watt lamp, set below or above the target carrier,
or a lamp of the clip-on variety clamped to a mantlepiece
or other support, works equally well. Just be sure that the
target is evenly lighted without glare.

For the beginning shooter 1 prefer the single-shot guns.
In rifles, the Crosman 160 or 167 are good choices. Both are
the same except as to caliber, the latter being of .177. The
smaller pellets seem to give a shade better accuracy, particu-
larly at longer ranges like, say, out to 30 feet. The 157
single shot pistol is an excellent choice, too, and, in the auto-
loading models, Crosman has an interesting and accurate
.22 10-shot that handles and balances much like the Armv
.45 Auto M-1911.

The Daisy Model 200 BB Auto-loader incorporates a
number of features that make it rate high in the safety scor-
ings. This little pistol (it looks much like the Colt Woods-
man) takes 175 BB's into its capacious "reservoir" at one
gulp. These are transferred into the actual magazine, five
at a time, by a simple shake of the gun with muzzle
elevated and magazine follower held forward. Thus accidental
loading of the magazine is eliminated. The follower interlocks
with the trigger linkage, after the five rounds are fired, to
prevent further discharge of the pistol or wasting gas by
"pop-firing." Accuracy life of the CO2 in this gun is greater
than in the others tested, being about 80 shots from a single
12.5 gr. bottle (10^) and, of course, the BB's are consider-
ably cheaper to shoot than are the pellets.

All the guns tested have fully adjustable sights to allow
zeroing the weapons for a given range or to compensate for
individual characteristics of vision.

All in all, I have found my "gas gun arsenal' valuable.

For indoor shooting a cotton-filled pasteboard box placed in a
fireplace serves as backstop and target carrier.

Photo by the author

Author's daughter, Bettie, shows good shooting form with accurate,
lightweight, .177 single shot hand gun.

not only for practice and in teaching shooting safety and
marksmanship, but on many occasions they have proved to
be the "life of the party" when friends gather at our house.
Even the "girls" will leave the bridge table or gab-fest to
take their turn at paper-punching or target-busting. It's a
great way to stimulate shooting interest among the ladies, as
well as male parents, some of whom seem to think that guns
are good only for making frightening noises and for killing
things — mainly people.

While most manufacturers supply interesting shooting-
game targets such as checkers, tic-tac-toe, golf, and "hunt-
ing," we have devised a game that is a lot of fun for mixed
groups of beginners and "experts." It makes use of the candy
wafers mentioned previously:

With rubber cement, fasten three or four selected colors
of the wafers on a sheet of black paper in such a manner as
to form neat rows with the space of a wafer between adjacent
ones. Alternate the colors so that similar colors do not appear

(Continued on next page)

Daisy Model 200 BB, semi-automatic fires five shots from magazine,

loaded from 175 shot "reservoir" in rear of gun. CO., bottle fits into

pistol's grip.

rjiilsv

JUNE, 1964

Fishin' Holes

(Continued from page II

fishing difficult. It can be done, though, and many pickerel
have been subdued by expert fly fishermen. Played on a
light fly rod he is truly a sporting fish.

The bait caster does not have the back cast problem cre-
ated by the overhanging brush, but the catch here is the
size of the lures required for effective casting. They're
difficult to drop lightly into a quiet little pool.

My choice is the spinning outfit, although light spin
casting tackle should work just as well. There is no back
cast problem and the angler has a wide selection of lures
to choose from.

Lurewise the pickerel is not "choosy." The red and white
spoon is a longtime favorite and a strip of pork rind makes
it almost irresistible. Spinner-fly combinations are also good
with yellow or orange flies being the usual choice. Surface
lures with propellers fore and aft that kick up a little spray
can produce some good fishing and they add the bonus of
the surface strike, one of the most exciting moments in fish-
ing.

Many sportsmen wade these streams and this is the pre-
ferred method until you hit a good stretch of deep water, too
deep to wade and probably inaccessible from shore. A small
boat solves the deep water problem, but it's noisy and most
Piedmont streams are in reality too small for floating. You
seem to spend half of your time towing the boat through
shallow water or lifting it over stream obstacles.

I have found a satisfactory compromise in the canvas
covered automobile tube rigs that have become popular in
recent years. They were designed primarily for fishing small
lakes and ponds, but by combining one with a pair of chest
waders you get a perfect outfit for Piedmont stream fishing.

You simply wade until the water gets too deep, and then
you climb into the bubble harness and drift with the cur-
rent— until your feet again touch solid bottom. My "bubble"
has a snap pocket that is just right for sliding a small lure
and tackle kit into — one that will hold all the tackle you

need for this type of fishing. It also has several tailored
loops that are perfect for fastening a fish stringer to or for
tying a sash cord to, with the other end around your waist so
the rig will not float off while you are wading and concen-
trating on the fishing.

Another attribute of the hearty pickerel is the fact that
he is a year 'round fish. He roams these Piedmont streams
from January to December and if ice fishing were popular
in Virginia, he would become the most likely candidate to
i)e flipped through the ice fisherman's hole in the ice.

Small stream fishing does not seem to suffer from "dog
days" doldrums as does so much of the fresh water fishing
in Virginia and throughout the South. Some of my best
pickerel catches have been made in August.

I have never found the pickerel a steady performer for
night fishing. He feeds during the hours of daylight and in
shaded streams seems to ignore the accepted formula for
good fishing — early morning and late afternoon. Many times
1 have sacrificed several hours of precious sleep only to fish
until mid-morning before getting any action.

The best part of Piedmont pickerel fishing is the solitude.
1 rarely encounter another fisherman.

The tiger of the weed beds is not "choosy," and seenns to strike most
lures more in Indignation than from hunger.

Gas Guns (Continued from previous page)

next to each other either vertically or horizontally. About 20
wafers in rows of five can be placed on a letter-size sheet.
Each shooter picks his identifying color and fires, in turn,
at his targets until each participant has fired a total of five
shots. The shooter having the most broken targets at the end
of the round is the winner; but other shooter's targets broken
by an opponent count for the shooter whose target (color)
is broken. Thus poorly aimed shots can run up the score for
an opponent giving the tyro a chance against a more ex-
perienced "gun-slinger." This game can also be played on a
partner basis with two shooters firing at one color.

Yes, gas gun shooting is real shooting fun, indoors or out,
and you will be surprised at the ever-growing number of
shooting enthusiasts that your indoor "party" shooting will
create.

We in the shooting fraternity need more support to com-
bat senseless laws that would take away our shooting privi-

leges; and the more people we can convert to the shooting
sports, the more support we will have to combat these oft-
times silly proposals. As all shooters know, guns are not
dangerous; the men behind them are the potential killers.
So, whether you do your plinking in the parlor, playroom or
patio, always handle your guns safely and require others to
do so as well.

NOTE: Jim Rutherfoord is a member of the National Rifle
Association, to whose magazine, The American Rifleman, he
has contributed several articles. He is a NRA certificated
Hunter Safety Course Instructor and has assisted in the train-
ing of more than 100 youngsters in shooting safety through
courses sponsored by the Commission, the Radford Izaak
Walton League Chapter and the NRA. He is a merriber of the
Chiistiansburg (Va.) Rifle Club.

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

Charlottesville Bird Study (Continued from page 15)

Our theory behind this activity was twofold. One was that
the birds of the immediate neighborhood would be drawn
to the feeding area as a popular spot to eat. Secondly, the
highest number of birds we counted over a period of days
would, on the average, be representative of the population for
each species in question. While workable, both of these
propositions have flaws in them, of which we cite two ex-
amples.

In winter, when food was scarce and the birds bolder,
we trapped the tufted titmice and black-capped chickadees
as thev came singly to eat in the bleach bottle sunflower
feeder. In order to get a seed each bird would have to enter
the bottle, at which time we pulled a plastic sheet over the
entrance. The bird was removed and an aluminum band wa?
placed on its right leg in the winter of 1962-63, and one
was placed on each leg in the winter of 1963-64. Between
December 25. 1962, and January 10. 1963. the highest num-
ber of titmice recorded was 6, while the number of bandings
was 10. In the winter of 1963-64. between November 16,
1963, and December 5, 1964. the highest number of titmice
recorded was 5, including the ones already banded; but we
banded 7 others. For the same respective periods of time
the highest chickadee count was 3 and we banded 7 : then
counted 2 and banded none.

The second observation has to do with mourning doves.
We found that if we arose before daylight in winter and
counted the greatest number to appear just when there was
enough light to see outside, there would be 30 or more. By
the time there was good light outside this flock would have
disappeared and our counts dropped to zero or as high as 16.

In spite of these observational limitations, as well as
others which will occur to anyone who contemplates the
situation, we have presented our results in tabular form.
Species are listed alphabetically. The numbers shown repre-
sent the largest number of individuals of each species obser\ -
ed simultaneously at the feeding station during each 10-
day interval beginning June 1. 1962, and ending May 26.
1963. To bring out those elements which we will discuss
later we have underlined the counts of permanent residents
and have both underlined and put in parentheses the mem-
bers of the migratory populations for this same purpose.

What our chart shows is undoubtedly "old hat" to
ornithologists. Some of it was new to us, probably because
we have not read ornithological literature extensively : and
it may be new to readers of Virginia \^ ildlife for the same
reason. At the risk of being entirely wrong we would like
to make some comments about the bird population figure^
as they appear on the chart. These comm.ents are by way of
explanation, as we see it, for some of the rises and falls in
population, or total absences of some species at various
times of the year.

The permanent residents, just like the migratory birds,
divide the year into two parts: the cold and the hot season.
It will be noticed among the permanent residents (cardinals,
chickadees, mourning doves, house sparrows, starlings and
possibly the downy woodpecker) that during the cold period
there was a gradual rise and fall in number at the feeding
station. The increase, beginning in late September and con-
tinuing through October, is partly related to the addition of
juveniles as our notes reflect many of these during this
period. In addition, there seems to be a collecting of adults,
which were dispersed through the breeding season, into

the flock. During the winter these remain together but by
late January and early February a dispersal takes place with
the counts falling to a basal "hot season" level. This fall in
total count reflects the dispersal to breeding areas beyond
the range of our feeding station. As illustrations of this, note
the fluctuations in the cardinals and house sparrows.

The absence of starlings during the summer, their gradual
increase and then decline to disappearance, their ubiqui-
tousness throughout the neighborhood at all times, posed a
different problem and a different solution. We had antici-
pated continued visits throughout the year, either singly or
in groups, from these birds. The only explanation we can
offer for the findings on the chart is that as natural food be-
came more scarce during the winter they began to range
farther and in increasing numbers, discovering the feeding
station and using it. As natural foods became more plentiful,
a re\ersal of the process occurred. If there is another, more
adequate explanation we would appreciate someone telling
us what it is.

Among the winter residents only the junco and white-
throated sparrows were numerous enough to delineate some
pattern. Both show a gradual increase and an equally
gradual decline in number; both reach a maximum in late
January and early February. Both begin to arrive in
mid-October and depart by late April and early May.
These two strikingly similar patterns posed the question
of mutual influences from dynamic forces, or an inter-
relatedness of the two species in some other fashion. The
gradual build-up and decline suggests that individuals of
the two species move as isolated units both from and to the
north, collecting into flocks when they have settled on the
winter feeding grounds.

The summer residents arrive and depart on schedule. In
contrast to the gradual build-up of the flocks of juncos and
whitethroats. purple grackle go and come as a single large
unit. It will be seen that 40 were on the feeding station just
before they disappeared in late October, and 56 were count-
ed at one time when they arrived in mid-March. During the
summer, between these two extreme counts, they thin out,
the group remaining in our neighborhood varying between
2 and 20. We also did not notice a large increase in their
number with the addition of juveniles, although these were
seen.

The red-headed woodpeckers which visited our station
were migratory. When in our neighborhood they made them-
selves known by fighting and making a great deal of noise.
We had observed another redhead, in another section of
Charlottesville, in dead winter, and have supposed him to be
a permanent resident. This dichotomy of migration and
residence is probably understood by ornithologists, but our
reading has not been so great that we can offer an explana-
tion.

More information can be extracted from the chart for
discussion, but it has been left for your inspection and
analysis. \^ e have found this phase of our study of birds
much more rewarding than just feeding them and watching
them. Anyone can do it if he has a little persistence. Our
persistence is such that this is our third year of keeping
these records. \\ e anticipate, as years pass, and the character
of our neighborhood changes by the large amount of build-
ing which is taking place, that the patterns of bird popu-
lations w ill change in accommodation to this. We look for-
ward to seeing if this is true.

JUNE, 1964

Appraisal (Continued from page 5)

today centers around improvement of habitat for desired
species, and control of hunting and fishing pressure so that
only the annual surplus of each species will be harvested.

Habitat manipulation, of course, is no easy, one-shot
panacea; and we finally have come to this as the real man-
agement tool because we have learned that there is no simple
panacea. I have tried to show that man has been manipu-
lating wildlife habitat ever since our ancestors came to these
shores. Mostly this manipulation of the en\'ironment has been
done without regard to its impact on wildlife, and sometimes
wildlife has accidentally benefited and sometimes it has not.
Historically, it has been a hit-and-miss pattern. Now we are
in the process of incorporating a recognition of wildlife
values in land management practices, both in agriculture and
forestry.

In employing our other main management tool — the con-
trol of hunting and fishing pressure to get the most out of our
fish and game resources — we find ourselves dealing more with
people than with wildlife and its environment. And this is
as it should be, because after all we are in the business of
managing the wildlife resource not for its own sake but for
people. However, I must confess that wildlife and its en-
vironment sometimes are easier to manipulate than are peo-
ple. Human behavior is less predictable than that of a bob-
white, and there are many prejudices and traditions that
complicate the process of controlling, regulating and shifting
hunting and fishing pressure to keep up with ever-changing
wildlife population patterns.

To obtain the maximum harvest, each species of game
theoretically should have its own season, bag limit and hunt-
ing regulations. As we take steps in this direction, the public
rebels because regulations become increasingly complicated.

Word gets around that hunter success has been particular-
ly good on one public shooting area; and suddenly hunters
descend upon it like an unpredicable swarm of locusts, spill
over onto surrounding private lands, create traffic jams on
the back roads, and get the residents of a whole county
or two up in arms, to say nothing of harvesting considerably
more game from this particular locality than we had in-
tended.

Sometimes good game management demands a reduction
in overly dense deer herds by the harvest of some anterless
deer, and a lot of people just do not think it is right to kill
does.

Right now it is essential that we relieve hunting pressure
on hen turkeys by shifting some of that pressure to gobblers,
which can be hunted selectively only in the spring. And we
find a lot of people who just do not believe in hunting tur-
keys or anything else in the springtime.

In spite of the fact that we have plenty of problems to
keep us occupied, generally speaking we here in Virginia
are in pretty good shape game-wise. We have killed over
38,000 deer in each of the past two seasons, the highest
numbers in our history. West of the Blue Ridge much of our
timber is heading toward maturity and some decline in
present deer herds is to be expected. In this section our deer
population will be limited by the amount of habitat we can
maintain through planned timber sales, timber stand im-
provement and other forest management measures. In the
eastern half of the state our overall deer population is at
high level. The reversion of farmland to forest, the popu-

larity of pulpwood production, and other factors have pro-
duced a maximum of brushy deer range. Deer numbers
should remain high in this section until land-use trends
head in a less favorable direction. There is no reason why
we cannot have plenty of deer and deer hunting in Vir-
ginia indefinitely, if the public will accept and support the
kind of regulations that good management dictates.

Bear numbers have lluctuated quite a bit in recent years
and now appear to be at a peak, judging by the record
kill of 381 turned in last season. Bears tend to benefit from
the same habitat changes which benefit deer, and with our
vast acreage of National Forest lands we should have bears
in huntable numbers for many years to come, but probably
with less liberal hunting regulations in the future than we
have today.

Turkeys have been adversely affected by the same forestry
practices which have benefited deer. In the west and north,
turkeys are doing well and are even increasing in some
sections as more timber matures. In the piedmont and tide-
water sections, pulpwood forestry has been working against
the turkeys. Three successive nesting failures have reduced
the population in this section and necessitated restrictive sea-
sons. The long-range outlook for the wild turkey and for
more liberal turkey hunting regulations in eastern Virginia
is not good.

Quail have not fared very well on the modern Virginia

5 W

■'Jd

. •-" • ■ ^^•*^

Commission photo by Kesteloo
The Commission's deer stocking program succeeded in establishing
herds in suitable habitat where all native breeding stock had been
exterminated years before.

scene. Being very dependent on agriculture for optimum
habitat — and an outmoded, primitive type of agriculture at
that — they thrived in the days of numerous farms, large
plantations and inefficient agricultural practices. The clean
farming of today, the trend toward larger farms and away
from grain production, and the general abandonment of
farmland for pulp or timber production has considerably re-
duced our quail range. Some of the soil conservation pro-
grams now being advocated for retired cropland are bene-
ficial to quail and other small game, and planting materials
distributed by the Commission help to increase the carrying
capacity of our present quail range.

The mourning dove, on the other hand, has been on the
increase. Current changes in land use have favored this
adaptable and prolific bird and it can probably provide even
more recreation in the future than it does now. Management
procedures which concentrate these birds for more efficient
harvest have been quite successful in other states and are
being tried experimentally in Virginia. With an eye to the
future, we have stepped up our banding and research to
learn more of the bird and its habits in Virginia.

Rabbits have had it pretty rough in some parts of the Old
Dominion during the past few years. Mysterious population

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

drops have been common and sometimes widespread. In-
vestigations have not yet revealed if tularemia or other dis-
eases are responsible. Rabbits are prolific breeders, but are
subject to a wide array of natural population controls which
limit their numbers. The rabbit picture is not all gloomy,
and fine cottontail hunting is still enjoyed in many parts
of the state.

Squirrels are very adaptable and consequently are gener-
ally abundant throughout the state. Their year-to-year
abundance depends on the highly variable mast crop. The
increase in forested acreage throughout the state should
favor the squirrel in years to come.

Grouse numbers vary considerably from year to year due
to cyclic population phenomena. Grouse are generally abun-
dant in the mountainous parts of the state during good years.
They tend to benefit from the new growth stimulated by
timber sales and habitat improvement work, much as deer
respond to the same improvements.

Pollution control efforts during the past several years are
making headway on some of our streams. Fishing has been
restored in some sections, improved in others, and better
control over accidental discharges of toxic substances has
been achieved. This is a continuing problem, however, that
needs the attention and interest of every responsible citizen.

The Commission's lake construction program has in-
creased the fishing opportunity in many sections. The big

.^ /

Commission jthcito lj\' Ktstelijo

The use of game farm stock to augment the natural productivity of

species in hunting areas has been discarded as a useless and wasteful

game management toot.

boom in farm pond construction during the past decade has
added a lot to our fresh water fishing. More significant from
the point of view of the general public have been the large
new reservoirs constructed in southern Virginia. Their fish-
ing and recreation potential is enormous, and by controlling
water flow they have sometimes improved downstream fish-
ing where flooding and heavy silt loads had been a problem.
In addition, these large, deep impoundments have created
an entirely new type of aquatic habitat that did not exist
naturally in Virginia, and we hope to be able to develop from
it a new lake-type sport fishery. To this end we are experi-
menting with introduction of such exotic species as northern
pike, muskellunge, and lake trout.

So much for past and present; now what of the future?
Each year the number of hunters and fishermen in Virginia
increases by 3 or 4 percent. Our existing public hunting and
fishing areas already are overtaxed in the eastern part of the
state. Great population increases are forecast for this section
and the general recreation demand is expected to double in
the next 40 years. The Commission is aggressively seeking
suitable lands to meet this need. Since large tracts of land in
this section are difficult to find and prohibitive in cost, our
new Powhatan area just outside of Richmond was purchased

as an experiment to see if a number of smaller areas could
provide the same hunting as a few large ones, at less cost and
with greater accessibility.

To make up for some of the inevitable losses in native
game species caused by man's widespread manipulation of
the face of the earth, species from other parts of the country
and the world are being sought to fill the gaps. Muskellunge,
northern pike, and lake trout from the northern states have
been experimentally released in some of Virginia's large
reservoirs. Black-necked pheasants from Iran hybridized
with ringnecks from California seem to be taking hold in
counties along the lower James River. Kalij pheasants from
the Himalayan Mountains have been released in southwest-
ern Virginia. Green pheasants and black francolins have
been released in a number of experimental areas in the state.
If some of these exotic birds succeed in filling the niches
for which they were scientifically selected, we can look for-
ward to a richer and more varied fauna for future sports-
men to enjoy.

It is difficult to visualize the effects that our declining
agriculture, our expanding industry, and our sprawling
metropolitan areas will have on wildlife habitat and hunting
and fishing pressure. If the three day work week and high
pay scales predicted by some materialize, hunting and fish-
ing and other forms of outdoor recreation are destined to
play a far more important role in our lives than they do
now.

In the field of hunting and fishing, as in most other
forms of outdoor recreation, we are going to have to accept
more crowding, more regimentation, and more rules and
regulations to implement the carefully planned multiple
uses of our outdoor areas as our population pushes toward
the 300 million mark expected by the year 2000. We will
also have to modify our concepts of what constitutes success
in these sports. For a long time, the food value of the game
and fish taken has been unimportant from an economic
standpoint, but the full creel or game bag has remained a
symbol of success. As the number of participants increases,
the sport, the fun, the enjoyment of hunting and fishing, will
become the true measure of success. Methods that give the
game a better break will be favored over wholesale slaughter.

The Game Commission has already taken several steps in
this direction and more are sure to follow. The fish-for-fun
concept tried experimentally on the Rapidan River has been
an unquestioned success. Here anglers are able to take good
sized rainbow and nati\e brook trout on barbless hooks and
release them unharmed for the next angler.

The 30 day archery season granted for the first time last
year provided thousands of hours of recreation for an esti-
mated 5,000 Virginians who harvested only about 250 deer.
The spring turkey gobbler season promoted by the Game
Commission for the past several years fits into the same
category. This season provides thousands of hours of high
quality recreation at the expense of only about 285 turkeys,
and these are old, excess toms whose removal does not affect
one way or another the year's production of young turkeys.
The "recreation per animal" value of such innovations is
obvious in light of our total kill of 38,000 deer and 1811
turkeys (about half of which were hens) during our last
regular fall season. We still hope to maintain "quantity"
hunting and fishing for many years to come, but we are
going to have to upgrade the quality aspects all the while
if there is to continue to be enough to go around.

JUNE, 1964

Rabbit

(Continued from page 10)

to overcome the resistance of normal attrition factors and
again bring the rabbit back to what we rabbit hunters like
to think of as "normal" abundance. And when this does
happen, the ecological balance between the rabbit and his
total environment is once again so finely drawn, and so
precarious, that as we rejoice in the "recovery" the rabbit
population already is ripe for another "boom and bust."

Thus, strange as it may seem, the rabbit's main defense
against extinction, his birth rate, not only plays a role in
his periodic abundance but may also be indirectly responsible
for his periodic scarcity.

There are things that can be done to help produce more
rabbits on the land when the population is not already at
or approaching peak abundance. There also are a lot of
things that either cannot be done effectively, or that will
not have the desired results even if they are attempted.

Restocking, for example, is a costly and useless tool in
rabbit management. The rabbits already there will do all the
"restocking" that is needed, and then some, even in periods
of scarcity.

We cannot wage war directly against parasites and
diseases, even though these silent killers may be the final,
drastic control imposed upon rabbit abundance. The wild
animal without parasites and incipient disease does not
exist. Killers such as tularemia usually reach epizootic pro-
portions and reduce populations only after high densities
have been reached. Predation and hunting pressure may help
prevent serious outbreaks of disease, by leveling off the
rabbit population at a safe density ; but there is no other
practical and effective means of combating rabbit disease
in a wild population.

Drastic restriction of fall rabbit hunting has little effect
in increasing the following season's productivity. The num-
ber of rabbits taken through normal hunting pressure is
never great compared to the normal total annual population
turn-over, and in most cases fall hunting merely helps bring
populations down to the numbers that can escape natural
mortality factors when winter's low point in the land's carry-
ing capacity is reached. A study recently completed by gradu-
ate student Neil Payne of the Virginia Cooperative Wildlife
Research Unit showed that rabbits on the Commission's Hog
Island waterfowl refuge could withstand a reduction by
hunting of at least 75 per cent from their fall level, and still
there would remain ample breeding stock to produce a com-
parable harvest the following year. This study further sug-
gested that a hunting pressure reduction of 75 per cent of
the early fall population is unlikely to occur where good
rabbit cover exists, because hunting success becomes so poor
as the 75 per cent removal is approached that most rabbit
hunters become discouraged and give up or go elsewhere to
hunt.

But just what is "good" rabbit cover? When hunters can-
not find plenty of rabbits even early in the fall, it usually is
because they cannot find the right kind of places in which
to hunt them. The rabbit hunter who has had little success in
the woods, and even less in fields of stubble and clover, may
wonder why he cannot at least find some game in those big
old abandoned fields that have grown up into almost im-
penetrable thickets of blackberry bushes and scrub pines.
Now if he looks for substantial amounts of "edge." where
all these cover types come together, and cannot find it, that
is surely one good answer to his rabbit problem.

The main thing that can be done to increase the supply
of rabbits in the fall is to provide more of the right kinds
of vegetative cover in the right places, and thus both in-
crease and extend the amount of complete habitat available.
Rabbits need places to eat, to hide, and to raise their
young. A contented rabbit is one that never has to go far
from any one of these places to find the others. There is
nothing fancy about the cover requirements, but intersper-
sion of cover types — of feeding and playing areas with
brushy escape cover — is the key to successful rabbit man-
agement.

Give them a large block of heavy, brushy cover adjacent
to a large field of clover, and all the rabbits in the area will
be found concentrated along the edge between the two. A
few rods back in the brush, or a short distance out into the
field, the land supports no rabbits at all. Along the narrow
marginal strip, the rabbit population of the whole area lives
in a highly vulnerable local concentration.

Interspersion of cover types, with lots of edge between the
two. provides for a safe dispersal of an abundant rabbit sup-
ply that the land can sustain — not one that is seen concentrat-
ed along the sides of roads and edges of fields in summer
and is sought in vain when the fall hunting season ap-
proaches.

Where dense cover already exists in large, unbroken
blocks, its value as cottontail habitat can be greatly increased
by clearing lanes through it and planting them to grasses
and clover. The quickest way to bring on a rabbit increase
in many places, however, is simply to build brush piles — big
ones — near dependable sources of food. Cutover lands, where
there are sprouting stumps and shrub growth coming on, are
ideal locations for the quick cover provided by the right
kind of brush piles. (So are the edges of croplands and
orchards, where brush piled up in long rows often creates
a veritable "rabbit heaven," but of course an invitation to a
rabbit to live there is also an invitation to do some feeding
on the crop.)

Brushpiles around the edges of pastures can be productive,
if some of the adjoining open land is fenced against grazing,
isolated brushpiles out in the middle of big pastures are
much less attractive.

Little, skimpy piles of brush are not of much value. They
should be several yards in diameter, and five or six feet
high. Beyond that size, though, it is better to move on a
short distance and start a new one. Remember, interspersion,
not solid blocks of cover, is the key.

Properly located and well built brushpiles are a quick act-
ing management tool, and a first step toward an even
greater and more permanent improvement in range carry-
ing capacity. Build them near fencerows, ditches, streams
and woodlot edges where there already is a merging of
other cover types. Let grasses, clover and weeds grow
around them. Let blackberry bushes and other shrubby
plants grow up through them. Help nature convert them into
the permanently rooted, living thickets that rabbits love.

You still may see r.ome fluctuations in rabbit abundance,
because the balance between the rabbit and his total environ-
ment is naturally dynamic rather than stable. But your
rabbits will always bounce back quicker from any temporary
slump they might encounter if the carrying capacity of your
hunting grounds is improved. It is the best thing that could
possibly happen to the rabbit, and the kind of thing that
has not been happening often enough of late.

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

By J. J. MURRAY
Lexington

OUR warblers have a wide choice for the location of
their nests. Some species build on the ground, some
in low thickets, others up to 50 feet high in trees.
The black-and-white warbler is a ground nester. It rarely
feeds on the ground, however, foraging mainly on the trunks
and large branches of trees. For this reason early American
ornithologists called it the "black and white creeper."

The nest is placed near the base of a tree. One that I
saw in Rockbridge County many years ago was at the foot
of a clump of hickory saplings. It was hollowed out under
dry leaves, with the nest roofed over and visible only from
one direction. The brooding bird and the five eggs almost fil-
led the nest saucer. The eggs were white with reddish spots
and, as is so often the case, were more heavily marked at the
larger end.

The nesting bird let me put my face within 18 inches of
her before she moved. In fact, I could easily have caught
her. When she did flush she pulled a wing down, fluttering
about as if crippled. Running about 10 feet, she returned
with a feeble cry, again coming within 18 inches of my hand
and fluttering about me until I left her in peace.

This nest had five eggs on the last day of May. It may have
been a second attempt after the failure of the first, as eggs
have been found in this same region in late April. The April
date is quite early, of course, as even in Tidewater Harold
Bailey listed fresh eggs only from May 15 to 20.

The courtship of the black-and-white warbler is very in-
teresting. The male sometimes chases the female in and
out among the bushes at such speed that it is difficult for
the eye to follow them. Sometimes the pursuit takes place
on the trunk of a tree, where round and round they go. In
pauses between these rushes the male will hang to the bark,
holding his body as far away from the trunk of the tree as
possible and bending his head over until it almost touches
his back. Evidently this queer posture impresses a female
even as do some of the equally queer antics of the human
male.

Many birds seem to have a marked sense of curiosity.
Indian hunters on the prairie used to play on this sense of
curiosity to lure large birds to their destruction. In the
little black-and-white warbler this curiosity is developed in
a high degree. I have found that when in the woods I
approach a fledgling of any species one of these warblers
will soon join the parents in their protests at my presence.

The name of this bird describes it. The male is almost
unique among warblers in having no touch of color any-
where. The upper parts are mainly black, with white
streaks, while the under parts are just the reverse, mainly
white but marked with black stripes. The female is duller,
with a slight wash of brownish on the sides. These insect-
eating birds are entirely beneficial in their feeding habits.

JUNE, 1964

%X^/^l/Af/UI/A/ff IDa

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-^:

Edited" by HARRY GILLAM
Campers' Guide

Camping Maps U. S. A., by Glenn
and Dale Rhodes, illustrated with thumb-
nail sketches and state outline highway
maps, is a handy book for all campers.
Just the right size to fit into an auto-
mobile glove compartment, it is an easy-
to-use manual of how and where to camp
in each of the 50 states. More than
10,000 camp grounds are included, and
name, location, nearby highways, and
facilities are listed for each, state by
state. Each camp ground also is identi-
fied by number, cross-referenced with
the text, and its approximate location is
shown on the accompanying outline high-
way map.

Opening sections of the paperback
contain helpful tips on shelter, cooking,
attire, packing, setting up camp, food
and food preparation, safety and health,
motor hints, and check lists for food and
equipment. Information on charges, if
any, and other special considerations and
regulations concerning camp grounds in
each state is presented at the beginning
of each state section.

The 297 page paper-backed book is
published by the Macmillan Company,
60 Fifth Avenue, New York 11, New
York; 1963. Price $2.95.

Chickahominy Rock

Whopper Bream

Photo by Wayne Dandridge
This 2 pound 2 ounce citation size bluegill
was taken by Gene Goodman of Chesapeake,
Virginia, this spring. He caught the king-size
panfish while fishing with worms in a private

pond.

Sportsmen Clear Y/oy For Trout

This spring a combined snow slide
and drift up to 9 feet deep blocked trout
stocking crews on the St. Mary's River.
Two Augusta County sportsmen's clubs
came to the rescue, the Blue Ridge
Bear and Coon Club furnishing a bull-
dozer to clear the snow and the River-
heads Coon and Bear Club furnishing
a labor force to cut brush and restore
the road to its former condition. Game
Warden Houston I. Todd, who meets
regularly with these groups, reports
them extremely cooperative.

"No Deer"

Many hunters erroneously conclude
that "there isn't any game left," simpl)
because they don't see it on frequent
trips afield. In Michigan. 39 deer were
fenced into a mile-square area of hard-
woods, pine swamps and open pine bar-
rens. In clear weather, with ideal snow-
tracking conditions, it took six experi-
enced hunters almost four days before
they saw a buck. The average time speiil

This I I pound 4 ounce citation rockfish wa-;

taken from the Chickahominy River by P. T.

Sansone of Richmond. The big rock was

weighed in at Ed Allen's Camp #2. Sansone bagging a buck within the enclosure

took several citation-size largemouths from the _ ,

Chickahominy in 1963. was .'^1 hours.

Outdoor Recreation Assistance
Book Offered:

Description of help available to states,
their subdivisions, organizations, and in-
dividuals is provided in a useful new
booklet, Federal Assistance in Outdoor
Recreation. Copies are on sale at 20
cents each from the Superintendent of
Documents, Government Printing Of-
fice. Washington 25, D. C.

Assistance available under authorized
federal programs involves credit, cost
sharing, technical aid, educational serv-
ices, and research. It may be obtained
in a variety of ways for a variety of
purposes under the regular program
activities of five federal departments
and four special agencies or administra-
tions.

A concise and useful reference book-
let. Federal Assistance in Outdoor Rec-
reation does not attempt to sell outdoor
recreation or agency programs. Instead,
it gives brief descriptions of authorized
programs, ways in which assistance is
provided, and the address of agency con-
tact offices.

Massaponax Bigmouth

A blue plastic worm proved to be the down-
fall of this 10 pound largemouth taken by
Lou DePalma of Stafford, Virginia, in Mas-
saponax Creek near Fredericksburg. The fish
was brought to net on 6 pound line.

Hunters and fishermen are permitted
to camp free on 6 Wildlife Management
Areas owned by the Commission of
Game and Inland Fisheries. Camping
is provided on one additional Commis-
sion owned area for a moderate fee.

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

YOUTH

Edited by DOROTHY ALLEN
Wildlife Food Plots

The Fredericksburg-Rappahannock
Chapter of the Izaak Walton League
sponsored a wildlife food patch contest
in the three nearby counties of Spot-
sylvania, Stafford, and Caroline. FEA
and 4-H Club members worked hard to
raise a fruitful plot of wildlife food to
improve game populations.

The chapter furnished the seed (pro-
vided by the Commission of Game and
Inland Fisheries ) to be used and a set
of rules to guide the contestants. Judg-
ing was done by Game Commission
personnel, county agent, and members of
the chapter's committee on conservation.
Prizes totaling $200 were awarded the
winners at a special meeting at the
chapter's clubhouse.

Dr. Robert Caverlee, a retired Baptist
minister, talked on "A Seed is Planted"
both in the ground and in the boy. Mr.
Stuart Purks. Assistant Chief of Law
Enforcement Division of the Game Com-
mission, was assisted by Wardens Roland
Eagar and Francis Boggs. and by Dar-
rell Ferrell, Coordinator of the Game
Commission's Field Educational Services,
in presenting the following awards:
Stafford County:

1st Place— S25.00— Michael Clark
2nd Place —$15.00— Clay Kendall
3rd Place— $10.00— Roger Randall
Spotsylvania County:

1st Placf^$25.00— Randall Mastin
2nd Placf^$15.00— Larry Mastin
3rd Place— $10.00— Wendall Green
Caroline County:

Caroline High School —

1st Place— $25.00— Billy Cecil

2nd Place— $15.00— James Skinner

3rd Place— $10.00— Tommy Loving

C. T. Smith High School —

1st Place— $25.00— Bobby Blanton

2nd Place— $15.00— David Collier

3rd Place— $10.00— Fred Simulick

Youth Gives Gome Warden
Bod Moment

A young lad near Watertown, S. D.,
gave a state game warden a few bad
moments — but everything turned out
okay :

A warden driving along Big Sioux
Creek noticed the end of a brand new
fishing pole sticking up over the top
of a knoll. The fishing season was still
closed there, so he stopped to check.

He was somewhat surprised to dis-
cover a little boy dangling a line in
the water.

■'I didn't want to bawl him out and
he was too young to arrest, so I asked
him how the fish were biting in the hope
that I could come up with an idea on
how to handle a situation like this," the
warden explained.

"Oh, I'm not fishing," said the lad.
"I just wanted to try out my new fish-
ing pole but Dad wouldn't let me have
any hooks yet."

Nature Camp

The following essay was written by a
student attending the third session of
Nature Camp 1963:

First Place Essay

This nice. warm, and friendly camp
is nestled between mountains, rivers,
homes of wildlife and many things of
nature.

The two weeks I've been here I feel
as though I have been drawn closer to
God and His works of nature. Being
away from civilization for a while really
lets you know what is in this wonderful
world of His.

I have watched other campers scurry
after a butterfly, tear an old log apart,
go to the nice swimmir.g pool. They like
the opportunity to be near God and
show interest in His creations.

Nature Camp isn't all fun and no
work, but a combination of both put to-
gether marvelously by the staff. You
learn what kind of softie you really are
on those hikes up and down the moun-
tain. At Table Rock, you may have a
geology class and still be able to go

down the slide carved out of rock by
water. This is one deed of Mother Na-
ture.

The name of the camp is so perfectly
fitting. Nature, that's a nice word and
I really wonder what it means. Does it
mean bugs, snakes, birds, bears, rocks,
wildflowers. and such. I guess it's that
and much more — all of God's creations.

Why are the people so nice? A ques-
tion I keep asking myself. I just thought
of an answer. It isn't because they are
pretending so there'll be no bad report;
its because they really are friendly and
willing to help you at any time.

Keeping a notebook helps you re-
member what you learned, and as you
grow older, you may look at it and cher-
ish the things in that green book. You'll
recall the fun. work, people, classes and
everything.

I'm sure you'll want to come as long
as you are able. These past two weeks
have been one of really living in a
world revealing the things that went by
unnoticed before. Every camper should
have a warm place in their heart for
this camp.

To me there's no place on earth quite
like it. The camp is rustic in a sense
and original in another.

I'll try my best to come back every
year to the camp nestled in the moun-
tains. Nature Camp Virginia.

Mary T. Graves

JUNE, 1964

~'<IJ^ ?:^^^"&^ .£.;^:sr-^'^

O/V WB W/irERFRONT

Edited by JIM KERRICK

Ngtionol Safe Boating Week

National Safe Boating Week has been
scheduled for the period of June 28.
1964, to July 4, 1964. Encouraged by
a heartening amount of interest in safe
boating activities on the local level dur-
ing 1963, the National Safe Boating
Week committee began its promotional
program earlier this year; and visual
and instructional materials for the 1964
campaign have been distributed to
marinas and safety organizations.

Recreational Boating Safety

The Virginia waters of the Chesa-
peake are efficiently supervised by the
Coast Guard, Game Commission, Coast
Guard Auxiliary, Power Squadron, and
no doubt other agencies and organiza-
tions. They are superbly marked, lighted,
and buoyed. Excellent charts are avail-
able at prices all can afford. Inexpen-
sive portable radios reach marine and
air weather reports on several frequen-
cies, hourly up to continuously. Ship-
to-shore, or much cheaper Citizens'
Band, radio-telephones provide ready
communication and prompt assistance.
Hulls, engines, and gear are far more
efficient, reliable, safe, and inexpensive
than was the case 40-odd years ago
when I started boating. Detailed data
on rules of the road and specific
safety recommendations are available in
overwhelming volume from an enor-
mous range of sources.

The only area of marine safety not as
yet covered is the mental attitude of the
novice or semi-experienced operator.

Somehow he must be persuaded to
take advantage of the abundant safety
facilities and information available. He
must be made to realize that boating
is a serious way of life, not a casual
way to kill time, involving great po-
tential hazards; and he must be in-
duced to take steps to protect his party
and himself from those hazards.

K difficulty is the application afloat

of shore acquired patterns of behavior.
Almost everyone drives an automobile
today, and must drive reasonably well
to survive. Many runabouts have cock-
pit arrangements deliberately designed
to imitate a car interior. Ashore, 35
m.p.h. is a moderate, cautious speed.
Placed in a "driver's seat" afloat, will
the inexperienced boat owner realize 35
m.p.h. on the water is a speed that often
invites disaster? That he has no power
brakes?

To drive a car, or pilot a plane, the
landsman expects to take a test, and be
licensed. The absence of such require-
ments on the water must create the
thinking that if you don't have to have
a license, there can't be anything to it;
while the facts are it is impossible to
devise one test properly evaluating abil-
ity to handle such vessels as, say, a 48
cu. in. racing hydroplane, a convention-
al O.B. runabout, a heavy displacement
60 ft. cruiser, and an 80 ft. schooner
drawing 10 ft. of water. The master of
each is confronted by very different, but
very compelling, problems.

The boating safety problem appears
to lie in the attitude of the operator to-
wards the sport. This puts the matter in
the area of human nature, and psychol-
ogy, and thus makes the solution, what-
ever it may be, both complex and ob-
scure.

Personally, after 44 years afloat, I op-
erate my boats on the basis of Murphy's
Law. That law is: IF THINGS CAN GO
WRONG, THEY WILL. (The Scout's
Motto is: BE PREPARED.— Ed.)

— Gale Richmond
Staunton

Are You Covered?

If you look closely at your marine in-
surance policy, you will probably find
that you have agreed to haul your boat
out by a given date. If your boat is
still afloat and you have passed your
deadline, call your broker immediately
to extend your in-the-water provision. If

you fail to do this and your boat suffers
damage, the policy violation will not
permit you to recover. The courts con-
strue your lay-up warranty strictly.

— Motor Boating, November 1963

KoEd Metal Now Available In
Liquid Coating Consistency

Jessop's revolutionary new Kold Metal
containing Loxalloy is now available in
liquid coating consistency for marine
application. It has the same properties
rs paste consistency Kold Metal, but in
the liquid form may be sprayed or
brushed on metal, wood or concrete. No
special tools are required as it may be
applied with conventional spray equip-
ment.

Kold Metal provides an ideal protec-
tive coating for boats, barges, yachts
and dredges, and is an excellent base
for anti-fouling coats. It has superior
chemical resistance and protects against
salt water and sea air corrosion. It
waterproofs, rustproofs and seals. It can
be power sanded, buffed, filed and
painted. It is a non-conductor of elec-
tricity and is not affected by mild acids,
s:asoline, oil or petroleum solvents. It
has superior drying qualities, allowing
speedy application and heavy coating if
desired.

For further information contact your
local marine dealer or write directly to
the Virginia Commission of Game and
Inland Fisheries.

Unsafe Ejection

A 14 foot boat propelled by an 80
horsepower outboard motor was proceed-
ing at full speed, driver's vision obscur-
ed by two passengers sitting on the
bow of the boat with their backs rest-
ing against the windshield. The boat
struck a buoy and the two passengers
were ejected into the water. One died
from loss of blood when slashed by the
propeller of this 80 horsepower launcher
of living projectiles.

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE

<=Jt', tL

aw:

Every motorboat of 10 horsepower or more must be regis-
tered with the Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries.

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
COMMISSION OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES

CERTIFICATE OF NUMBER

This Certificate of Number must be carried on board
whenever the boat is operated.

NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE IN STATUS OF A NUMBERED VESSEL
VIRGINIA COMMISSION OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES
(Boot owner must report ony change in status and return certificate of number wilN

NAME (Please print)

Present Owner

(

STREET ADDRESS

(First)

(Middle)

CITY OR TOWN

STATE

I WISH TO REPORT THAT MY ABOVE NUMBERED VESSEL HAS BEEN:

(Check Appropriate Block)
a LOST n DESTROYED D ABANDONED

SIGNATURE OF PRESENT OWNER

TRANSFERRED TO (new owner)

NAME

(First)

(Middle)

STREET ADDRESS

CITY OR TOWN

STATE

YOUR NAME
MAIN STREET
ANYWHERE, VA .

e^u,:^^^:^^

KEGISTRAIION NUMBER

VA 0000 Z

38US

MAiCf O' 60AT AND PRESENT NO (IF ANY)

CHRIS CRAFT

16'

LENGTH

HULL

PSOPUISION

GAS

FUEL

PLEAS

USE

If you sell a numbered boat you are re-
quired to notify the Commission of Game
and Inland Fisheries on this "pink" noti-
fication form. The new owner cannot ob-
tain a valid Certificate of Number until
you do. No fee is required with this noti-
fication.

If you buy a numbered boat you are
required to apply for a new Certificate of
Number to be issued in your name. Use
this "white" application form, and be
sure to show the correct boat number
here.

A five dollar fee must accompany this
application.

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA APPUCAT10N FOR BOAT NUMKER
COMMISSION OF GAME AND INLAND RSHERIES

nlS-nUl TEAI •EGlSTUnON OOIGINAI NO M.0O-TltANSF» (ECISTIATION U.OO

OCAIH Kf t15.00; MANUFACTUIHS FEE (35.00

ADOmONAL NUMBEIS FOt OEAlEtS AMD MANUFACTUUDS M 00 EACH

MAIl WITH CHECK Ol MONEY OU>E* FATAdE TO TlEASUtEH OF VIICINIA

TO: SOAT SECTION, VKGINIA CAAIE COMMISSION. 7 N. 7U0 ST., tOX 164}. IICHMONO, VA

Fill IN All ITEMS ON THIS FOIIM AND ON THE TEMrO*A«r CEtTIFICATE ATTACHED
FLEASE FHINT OE USE TTFEWtlTEt (Sm InitrucKoni on Hav.ri. iUm)

1. NAAHE OF lOAT OWNEI (FInl Nam*. MiddU Inlliol, loll Nona)

STUCT AOOUSS

CITT 0« TOWN

1. OWNEI'S TEAI OF IIITH

4. MAXE OF tOAT
SEIIAl NO.

1. AU rOU AN AAlEtlCAN CITIZEN?
TES D NO Q

If NO, SFECIFT

t. COUNTY Ol CITY WHEIIE (OAT IS
PtINCIFAllY KEFT

«. (ESEtVEO Foil OFFICE (0< IM>I (

S. FtESCNT NUMIE> (If Any)

NUMIU ASSIONED

EXFIItATION OAIEf

7. lENGTH OVEIAll
IN FEET

(. YEAl (UIIT
(If Known)

10. HUH MATEHIAl (CA
D WOOD D STei\
n OTXEI (SpKify)

II. FtOFUlSION (ChKji
D OUTBOAUD O (

12 FUEl (ChKk Oiw)

D GAsoiiNe ry

13. USE (Clmk Oio) {
O FlEASUtE
D IIVE«Y
a OfAlEt
D MANUFACTU«El>
D COMMEtCIAlFASy
a COAtMEKIAl-FISH I
a COM*lE«CIAl.Ory

U. I IWE) HEtElY CERTIFY THAT I (WE) AM (AKE) THE OWNEWS) OF T>/
AND FUtTHEl CEHTIFY THAT THE DESCdfTION THEUOF AND All o7
HEIEIN AHE rauE AND COIUCT.

Forms are available from the Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries, Box 1642, Richmond, Virginia
23213; from hunting and fishing license agencies; and from most boat dealers.

JUNE, 1964

auto

trailer

boat

CHECK:

Your Trailer

Your Motor

r\ nj Your Speed

CHECK ACCIDENTS!

AFETY

Boating and highway safety begin
here. The trailer hitch and safety
chain are important to your safety.

Be extra careful on summer's crowded
highways. Be sure you can see behind
you. Slow down when pulling a trailer.

Equip and operate your boat safely.
Use common sense and courtesy
always.

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