OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

PUBLISHED BY THE NEBRASKA STATE GAME, FORE STATION AND PARK COMMISSION

FISHING REGULATIONS

Open Season Posses- SPECIES (Both dates Area Open Size Daily sion inclusive) 1943 Limits Limit Limit Trout (all April 1 to Nov. 30 Entire State No size 10 10 species) limit Black Bass April 1 to Nov. 30 Entire State 10 inches 10 10 (Large and Small Mouth) Crappie (Black April 1 to Nov. 30 Entire State No size 15 15 (calico bass) limit or white) 3unfish (Bluegill, April 1 to Nov. 30 Entire State No size 15 15 Green and limit Pumpkinseed) Rock Bass April 1 to Nov. 30 Entire State No size limit 15 15 Bullheads April 1 to Nov. 30 Entire State 6 inches 15 15 Catfish [Channel, April 1 to Nov. 30 Entire State 12 inches 10 10 Blue and Mud (or Yellow)] Catfish [Channel, Jan. 1 to March 15 Mo. River only 13 inches None None Blue and Mud & May 1 to Dec. 31 by Commercial (or Yellow)] permit Perch Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 Entire State No size limit 25 25 Pike [Walleye April 1 to Nov. 30 Entire State 12 inches 5 5 and Sauger (Sand)] Pike (Northern) April 1 to Nov. 30 Entire State 12 inches 5 5 Freshwater Drum April 1 to Nov. 30 Entire State No size 10 10 (Sheepshead) limit Total Bas: and Po ssession Limit 25 25 STATE-OWNED LAKES

Special Fishing Regulations are in Effect at the Following State-Owned Lakes:

Arnold Lake, Custer County; Blue River Recreation Grounds, Seward County; Champion Lake, Chase County; Cottonmill Lake, Buffalo County; Cottonwood Lake, Cherry County; Crystal Lake, Adams County; Duke Alexis, Hayes County; Dead Timber Recreation Grounds, Dodge County; Jefferson County Recreation Grounds; Loup City Lake, Sherman County; Memphis Lake, Saunders County; Pawnee Lake, Webster County; Pibel Lake, Wheeler County; Platteview Lakes (Louisville), Cass County; Rat and Beaver Lakes, Cherry County; Ravenna Lake, Buffalo County; Verdon Lake, Richardson County; Rock Creek Lake, Dundy County; Shell Lake, Cherry County; Walgren Lake, Sheridan County; Wellfleet Lake, Lincoln County.

The Following Regulations are in Effect on State-Owned Lakes Only:

Open daily from 4 a. m. to 10 p. m. (Where war time is used add one hour) from April 1 to November 30, inclusive, except on perch. Fishing for perch on State-Owned Lakes is permitted from January 1, 1943, to December 31, 1943

Daily bag and possession limit: perch 25, all other game fish 15, 5 of which may be bass, and 5 of which may be trout.

Fishing devices other than regular lines attached to poles are prohibited.

Each person is permitted to use not more than two lines with two hooks per line.

Throw lines or floats are prohibited.

Motorboats are not permitted.

Digging or seining for bait on grounds is prohibited.

4 Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943

RODENTS IN NEBRASKA

By Roald Amundson

By far the largest group of mammals in the world are the rodents. This fact holds true for Nebraska, where the valleys, prairies and sandhills abound with these small animals.

Named for the large chisel-like front teeth which are especially adapted to gnawing, the rodents hold a highly important place in the wildlife of the state. Best known of all rodents, perhaps, is the common rat—a pest that has been notorious for centuries because of his destructive and disease spreading habits. The rat, for obvious reasons, need not be considered here. His more interesting relatives, however, exert an important influence on the game of the state; directly by furnishing food for game and fur species, and indirectly through their effect on wildlife habitat.

Before beginning a general discussion of the rodents, it should be recalled that rabbits are no longer included in the group, due to a structural difference in teeth and skull.>

The squirrels and squirrel-like rodents:

1. Woodchuck.

Largest of the squirrels, and almost never thought of as a squirrel, is the woodchuck. Common to southeastern Nebraska, the woodchuck is a heavy set animal, usually a dark grizzled brown in color with a blunt round head, and short whisk tail. Lives in deep burrows along hillsides or in rock piles. Considered a pest where dens actuate erosion. Dens are valuable as havens for rabbits and fur bearers.

2. Franklin's Ground Squirrel.

About the size of the common tree squirrel, gray in color with a long bush tail with darker markings in the tail hair. General body color may be a "salt and pepper" gray. Lives in burrows, considered a pest due to fondness for newly planted corn.

3. Thirteen Striped Ground Squirrel.

A small ground squirrel with thirteen conspicuous lateral stripes along the upper parts of the body. Perhaps the most common ground squirrel in this state. Two sub-species occur in this state, a lighter colored animal in the western half, and a darker variety in the eastern part. A pest where it occurs in numbers.

4. The Prairie Dog.

This curious rodent was named by early settlers and travelers who noted the similarity between their short, sharp chirp and the bark of a small dog. Larger than the ground squirrels, the prairie dog is a thick set animal with a short whisk tail and a short, coarse buffy-gray coat. Lives in colonies which may cover many acres. Baily (N. A. Fauna, No. 25, p. 90) describes a town which was 100 miles wide and 250 miles long, containing about 400,000,000 individuals. At present, dog towns are restricted to small localities in the western half of the state. Considered a pest due to destruction of pasture land.

  Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943 5   6 Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943

5. The Chipmunk.

The western variety occurs in the wooded areas of the state. A very small active animal brightly decorated with five dark and four light stripes, running from the shoulder to the tail, the dark stripes being black, and the lighter stripes a light buffy brown. Tail is short and flattened. Underparts whitish. A shy, yet friendly animal which is easily tamed.

6. The Tree Squirrels.

Gray Squirrel: A large tree squirrel, found infrequently in the state, generally gray in color with dark speckles over the back. Tail long and bushy. Builds large nests in trees or inhabits hollowed trees. Call is sharp, coarse bark, sounded when alarmed.

7. Pox Squirrel.

Usually a little larger than the gray squirrel, otherwise similar in form. Color, a tawny grizzled gray over the back, with pale rufous or rusty brown below. Tail mixed black and reddish brown. Old specimens may have black markings on the underparts. Considered a game animal in this state, and a delicacy on the table.

8. Flying Squirrel.

A small nocturnal squirrel, having broad lateral folds of skin between the front and hind legs, which forms a plane on which the animal may glide through the air from tree to tree.

9. The Gophers.

Nebraska has two-pocket gophers, the eastern and western. These are a compact animal, deep gray in color with well developed cheek pockets. The forefeet are equipped with very large claws, adapted to digging. Lives in burrows which may be very extensive. The excavated dirt is carried up in small mounds to cover the burrow entrance. Usually considered a pest due to mound building activity.

The Mouse Group:

This is by far the largest group of rodents in numbers of individuals and is represented by numerous forms. Only the more important or interesting of which will be considered here.

1. Pocket Mouse.

These comprise a large group of rather small mice, having external furlined pockets on the cheeks. The tail and hind legs are rather long in proportion to the body, the ears being small, but not hidden in the fur. Upperparts and sides an olive gray with black intermixed. A buff lateral line extends from the nose to the end of the tail; buffy about eyes and ears; undersides white, tail color locations same as those on body.

2. Kangaroo Rat.

A small rat-like mouse, having a long hairy tail and hind legs large in proportion, the forelegs short; rather large eyes are set in a large head, the ears rounded; external cheek pouches fur lined; fur is long and soft. Moves in a manner similar to the kangeroo, taking long hops, using only the hind legs and tail for locomotion. Color may be variated from creamy buff above to cinnamon buff; underparts white in sharp contrast with the upper parts. The kangaroo rat is almost althogether nocturnal in habit, and may often be seen hopping across the road in front of automobile headlights like small balls of cotton bobbing along in the wind.

3. Grasshopper Mouse.

A sturdily built mouse with a short, heavy set, tapering tail; both fore and h'.nd feet well developed. Ears rather prominent, upperparts a brownish gray with black guard hairs in the pelage. Underparts white; wooly tufts at base of the ears. A dweller of the plains and open fields, and is not found in woodlands.

(Continued on Page 20)   Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943 7

8 Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943

SCALE TALE

By Tom Schrader

One of the questions most often asked the biologist working on fish production runs something like this: "I know of a little lake over near"Little Town" that has been stocked for several years by the commission but none of the fish ever seem to grow up. We can catch lots of little fish but never any big ones. What do you think is the matter?"

In an effort to solve this as well as many of the other problems of lake management, fish biologists of the country have developed the scale method of determining the age of fish. Much of the problem is solved once we know the rate at which the fish in a pond are growing.

The scale method gets its name from the fact that we can determine the age of a fish from its scales. This is possible because as a fish grows, no new scales are added to its body. Thus, the scales must grow in order to keep the body of the fish entirely covered. The scale growth is made very similar to the diameter growth of a tree, and rings are laid down on the scale as the fish grows. A close inspection of the two scale photographs with this article will show the concentric nature of the scale rings.

During the winter months growth practically ceases and thus we have a period of time during which very little is added to the scale. In the spring, when growth resumes, a new series of rings is formed. This break in the growth rings is clearly discernable. (See figures 1 and 2) and is known as an annulus. Looking at the scale under low magnification we can readily see the annuli, and as each one represents a winter that the fish has passed through, we can give its age to the nearest year.

By a series of measurements and mathematical calculations we are then able to establish the age of the fish, and more important, we can determine the length it attained at the end of each growing season. Thus we know at what rate it grew during each year of its life.

  Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943 9 TABLE I Growth Rate of Bluegills in Two Nebraska Ponds NIOBRARA POND Species Bluegill 13 Oct. 1942 2.9 .5 .17 1 2.9 .5 Bluegill 12 Oct. 1942 3.6 .5 .14 1 3.6 .5 Bluegill 11 Oct. 1942 4.6 1.0 .21 1 4.6 1.0 Bluegill 10 Oct. 1942 5.4 2.0 .37 2 4.0 1.5 5.5 2.0 Bluegill 9 Oct. 1942 6.1 3.0 .49 3 3.3 1.6 4.8 2.4 6.1 3.0 Average Oct. 1942 3.6 1.0 5.1 2.2 6.1 3.0 PLAINVIEW POND Bluegill 1 Nov. 1942 6.0 2.5 .41 2 4.1 1.7 6.0 2.5 Bluegill 2 Nov. 1942 7.4 5.2 .70 3 2.8 2.0 5.2 3.6 7.4 5.2 Bluegill 3 Nov. 1942 7.5 5.3 .70 3 5.0 3.5 6.1 4.3 7.5 5.3 Bluegill 4 Nov. 1942 7.5 4.6 .61 3 4.1 2.5 5.9 3.6 7.5 4.6 Bluegill 5 Nov. 1942 8.0 7.4 .92 3 5.4 5.0 7.3 6.7 8.0 7.4 Average Nov. 1942 4.2 2.9 6.1 4.1 7.6 5.6

As an example of this type of work, presented here in Table 1 are the complete calculations for five fish from the State Lake at Niobrara and five fish from the Country Club Pond at Plainview. The calculated lengths and weights for the five fish from each pond have been worked out and are averaged for each lake. The average length for each age class is then plotted on cross section paper, showing graphically the difference in the growth rate of the fish in the two lakes. The same thing has been done with the weights and the two graphs are presented in figure 2. Not only does this show a much faster growth of the fish in the Plainview pond, but a more significant finding is the fact that fish have reached usable size in the Plainview pond in the second year of growth while in the Niobrara pond the fish are still too small to use at the end of three years.

Knowing these facts we are able to conclude that the fish are definitely not growing at a normal rate in the Niobrara pond. Since such scale work is a routine part of every lake survey, in a short time we will have found out just what the growing conditions are in every one of the lakes in Nebraska, and once we know in which ones the growth is not satisfactory, then will we be able to proceed with the other work needed to improve the growth rate.

GROWING AGES The Stone Age man of yesteryear, With brawny arms he did not fear. His grit and sight, Life full of fight, Slew the beast with savage might. His kill was dear. A mighty cheer! From his small mind a thought of spear! With time and practice how to throw He learned to use the shaft and bow. Now, Dear Beast, you dare to run? No use! You face the crack of modern gun. Henry Reider.   10 Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943 IN MEMORIAM

December 23, 1942, William Monnette, conservation officer in District No. 4, was killed while on active duty. Tragically culminating 12 years and 5 months of active and faithful work as a conservation officer in the state of Nebraska.

Officer Monnette was loved by his many friends for his kindly spirit and his ardent love of all wildlife. He was respected by the most chronic violator for his fairness and complete absence of fear in even the most subversive conditions, and certainly if any man deserved those sacred words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant", William Monnette deserves these and more for his conscientious work for the wildlife and the sportsmen of Nebraska.

Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943 11 Dr. M. M. Sullivan

Dr. M. M. Sullivan of Spalding, retiring chairman of the Nebraska Game, Forestation and Parks Commission, appointed in 1933, has completed ten years service. During the time Dr. Sullivan was a member of the Commission the state has seen many changes, the department has grown materially and the wildlife of Nebraska has benefitted by this growth. Many friends will miss Dr. Sullivan and his frequent appearance in behalf of Nebraska's wildlife problems.

THE FRESH WATER DRUM

By Glen R. Foster

It will interest the fisherman of Nebraska to know that a new fish has been added to the list of protected fish in the state.

This fish is known by a variety of names in various localities but generally the most common one used in Nebraska and elsewhere is the "Fresh Water Drum". The scientific name is "Aplodinotis grunniens" (Raf) and it belongs to the family of "Sciaenids" or "Croakers". In the Great Lakes the name "Sheepshead" is used but along the Ohio river it is uscually called the "White Perch" or "Gray Perch". Other local names used are the "Gaspergou" (an Indian name meaning fish) the "Croaker", "Drum", "Thunderpumper", etc. These last names refer to the croaking or grunting noise made by the fish. The noise is thought to be caused by forcing air through the air-bladder from one compartment to another. Another name used often is the "Jewelhead". The ear bones of the Drum are large and have a texture like ivory. They are often carried by boys and fishermen who call them "lucky stones".

The Fresh Water Drum is known to be abundant in the larger bodies of water in most of the western states. It is mostly a bottom feeder and feeds largely on crustaceans and mollusks. Its taste and food value seem to depend on the water where it is found and food present. Unlike most fish its quality is said to be better the farther south it is found and is highly esteemed in the southern states.

And many fishermen in Nebraska will vouch for its fine flavor.

The Drum is Grayish-silver in color, sometimes dotted. It has a blunt snout and a compressed back.

Your Fishing and Hunting Dollar Pays Dividends

A pictorial report of the deparments' expenditures for 1942, exclusive of parks; and a few of the many activities realized.  

14 Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943

MORE COVER MEANS MORE GAME

By L. P. Vance

Cover! Now Noah Webster says that 'cover' means to shelter; to protect; or to hide; and Webster's definition of cover satisfies Nebraska's wildlife only so long as it furnishes shelter, protection and a place to hide.

The game manager looks upon wildlife cover from several points of view. He realizes that 'cover' needs vary with the species and with the activity of the species. He is always ready and willing to associate cover and cover types to the abundance or almost total extinction of wildlife forms.

Consider our good old friend the bobwhite quail. When Nebraska was first settled quail were present in greater or lesser numbers throughout the entire state, being most abundant in that section of Nebraska southeast of a line that could be drawn from Omaha to Superior. Of course, they could be found in numbers along each of the stream valleys and in the pockets grown up with brush, in the tableland areas of other portions of the state.

When the early settlers came into Nebraska, many of them saw possibilities of producing luxuriant crops of corn and wheat and much of the prairie was broken by the plow. These farming practices, resulted in MORE and GREATER numbers of quail because the relationship of food with cover became more favorable. The quail were able to obtain ample food without ranging great distances from cover where they were protected from their natural enemies.

As agriculture progressed, more prairie was converted into cornfields, or cut for hay, or pastured by livestock. The number of quail declined until there was no longer enough to be harvested by sportsmen.

A similar story can be told of the prairie chicken and the sharp-tailed grouse. They, at one time, ranged the entire state but were pushed back, and ever back, by the advent of civilization. Sharp-tailed grouse are fond of wild, lonely, uninhabited areas. They do not become abundant in close association   Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943 15 with man. Finally they were pushed into the interior fastness of the great sandhill area of Nebraska where they are still to be found in fair numbers. The prairie chicken has retreated to this same area and is now most common about the outer portions of this great cattle-producing area. Chickens are limited in their numbers by the amount of grass cover that is available throughout the year.

Not many years ago the last ruffed grouse disappeared from Nebraska. They never had been overly abundant, but were to be found in numbers along the forested region of the Missouri river bluffs in the eastern and northeastern portions of the state. As the timber was cut, and bottom land fields cleared for cultivation, the ruffed grouse lost protective cover and disappeared from the list of Nebraska game birds.

The wild turkey was once a native of this state. That noble game bird has joined the annals of the ruffed grouse because the type of cover that the wild turkey preferred has been destroyed, the chances of its ever coming back into this state are practically nil.

The elk and bison are gone. The antelope has been reduced to such numbers that it is unlikely that he ever again will regain the abundance in this state that he once had.

The deer, while once abundant over the entire state, is now to be found in great numbers only in those areas that furnish that kind and type of cover in which he can hide and be safe from his natural enemies and man. It is not possible that the deer can extend his present range within the state without becoming a serious competitor to agriculture and to livestock. Even where the deer is now found, he is becoming so numerous that his interests conflict with the interests of man.

Game managers are interested primarily in increasing the abundance of wildlife. They find that certain factors dealing with the environment can be manipulated so that wildlife species can become more abundant.

All wildlife populations are limited by certain environmental factors. These factors are considered as predators and disease, man and weather, and food and shelter. Each of these, or the effect of each, may be altered by the game managers to the extent that the potential reproduction of the species is increased.

  16 Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943

Whether or not a species is subject to predation depends on two factors: The abundance of predators and the ability of the species through environment to escape predation.

In the chain of life, it is well known that plants feed on the nutrients in the soil, that certain insects feed on plants, that these insects are fed on by birds and animals and that these birds and animals may then be utilized by man to his advantage.

Utilization of soil nutrients, plants, insects, animals or birds, depends upon their ability to escape use. Even in the field of inorganic chemistry essential plant nutrients sometimes combine with other elements so that they may escape being utilized by the plant that normally feeds on them. Plants develop characteristics by which they avoid utilization by insects. Insects in their turn, develop mechanisms by which they attempt to escape being utilized by birds and animals, and who is not familiar with the ruses and escape mechanisms of the different kinds of birds and animals to prevent their utilization by mankind. Each of these escape mechanisms may be thought of as a particular and special type of cover that has been developed especially for that plant nutrient, that plant, that insect, or that bird or animal. They are cover types in a sense, but they are not readily manipulated by man. Manipulation here may be in the sense of conservation. Wise use of plant nutrients, according to the standards set up by man, would mean that use be limited so that food or shelter might be the ultimate goal of that plant nutrient whether or not it be direct or through the chain of predation described.

The prevalence of disease may be manipulated by man's control of concentration or by expansion of available cover which the species can utilize over a wider area. It is well known that disease is directly correlated to the concentration of a given species on a given area. By making available more abundant cover for nesting, roosting, escape, or for loafing, concentrations on given areas can be held to a minimum so that disease can be held in check.

Man's relation to cover has been mentioned previously; his relation to the pushing back and decreasing the numbers of quail, prairie chicken, sharptailed grouse, the deer, elk, and the antelope.

While man can be destructive, he can also be constructive in replacing cover for birds and animals to live in. The control of man and the control of cover are the most important measures that the game manager can utilize. The effect of weather is directly correlated to what man has done in the destruction or construction of cover. The effect of food and shelter is related in the same manner.

The original conception of game management was to control the harvest of the game species. This was done by prohibiting shooting or harvest at certain periods during the year. When this was found ineffective, bag limits were set controlling the numbers that could be taken in any one day or in any one season. When these measures were found ineffective, a third manupulation was used, that of setting aside areas on which the wildlife would be protected from man. The effect of this was limited to the immediate vicinity of the protected area and was not sufficient over a large enough portion of the state to satisfy all of the demands for more abundant wildlife. A fourth effort to increase wildlife forms was the production of wildlife species under artificial conditions to be liberated over a wide area. This control was limited because it was soon realized that wildlife species are abundant in relation to the available food and cover that the particular wildlife species demands.

Wildlife management is found to be a similar program to the program of farming—the preparation of the seed bed, the seeding, and the harvesting of the crop. Preparation of the seed bed consists primarily of providing a place for wildilfe to live. Seeding is the simple expedient of stocking wildlife species where their numbers are limited or where none have existed before. Harvesting consists of taking only that portion of the crop that can be termed a surplus over and beyond those numbers necessary to insure normal reproduction.

In Nebraska, preparation of the seed bed by providing places for wildlife to live is being accomplished in many different ways. Realizing that wildlife is inescapably linked with wise land use,

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Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943 17

Dogs

DOG THIEVES

By Roald Amundson

Not many years ago, horse and cattle thieves were promptly strung up by their necks until their heels cooled permanently. Not a few Nebraska dog owners would gladly participate in a similar necking party if it would help to bring back their stolen dogs. Pictured below is a springer spaniel, "Rex", owned by Chet Nelson of Bridgeport—owned by Nelson, that is,.until someone stole him. Brown and white, mostly white with a brown patch on his rump; age three and one-half, stub tail with a few white hairs on the end. Nelson offers a $10.00 reward.

RUSTY

Rusty, was also stolen from H. C. Howard, Minden. My own female Dalmatian, "Nip", disappeared from the streets of Lincoln and has thus for escaped detection. Dog owners not only love their dogs—they also have good hard cash and hours of patient training invested in them. A dead dog is dead but a stolen dog will always remain a pang in his master's heart, as he wonders if the new "owner" remembers to feed and water him and give him a warm place to sleep.

Rusty may look like a yellow mutt, but I'll put my money on him against any dog in the state.

As usual this year's most successful pheasant hunters were those who took a dog along. Thousands of crippled birds were saved which otherwise would have been lost. Even so, the number of unclaimed pheasants far exceeded the number of hens that were shot "accidentally" and left to rot in the fields.

Since he can remember, Hube Howard has always owned some kind of a dog, going the extremes from a toy terrier to a huge German shepherd. His latest and best is something to talk about, and Hube never misses a chance to describe Rusty's attributes.

Hube selected Rusty from a crossbred litter because he seemed to have personality. I watched that personality (and the dog, too) develop from a leggy elongated yellow pup to a huge sleek hunter which still retains some of the awkward pup appearance and the extreme elongation.

Hube and I nursed Rusty through the crises of puppyhood and watched him grow bigger, and, we feared, more worthless. At about six months, Rusty discovered he had a nose. It was very cold, and always wet, but it could smell. His tongue at first seemed to be the most active part of him, and many a well meaning dog-patter found himself mopping off a well-slurped face.

Rusty was trained on rabbits. He learned first, and forcefully, not to chase them. A natural retriever, he soon learned that we wanted the rabbits

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18 Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943

THE CARP FOR VICTORY

By C. F. Culler Regional Supervisor of Pish Culture, Region 3 U. S. Pish and Wildlife Service.

As it becomes more apparent that the midwest and inland northwest faces a reduced supply of certain fish and seafoods which had been counted on to augment rationed meat supplies, the unjustly maligned carp assumes new importance as a food fish.

The requirements of our expanding military forces, naval forces, and leaselend, with the attendant problems of transportation have resulted in a drastic curtailment of shipments of some types of food fish for civilian consumption. This is particularly true of canned seafoods. Meanwhile, fish are being shipped from the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic coast while fish from the Atlantic in turn are being sent to the midwest. This exchange of products has served only to increase the nation's transportation problems, with the likelihood that the practice will be cut down, leaving the inland states to rely upon the fisheries products of their own regions.

That's where the carp, whose good eating qualities have long gone unsung, offers a solution of the food fish shortage. There is an over-abundant supply of carp available in the north central states, and it is time that the people of this region take advantage of it. Contrary to misguided public belief, the carp contains all of the health-giving food values of its more respected finny brethren and, properly prepared, is excellent eating. It is my belief that if the carp were prepared in the same manner as wall-eyed pike, crappies, sunfish, bass and other members of the warm water family, the diner could not distinguish between the several species in flavor. For years, in towns along the Upper Mississippi, this fish has been an article of staple diet, being on sale both smoked and fresh at butcher and grocery shops.

The carp is a vegetarian and his flesh is very palatable. The spreading of the erroneous belief that it is not, can be laid mainly to the sportsmen who have cussed him out because of his fecundity and because of the damage he does to the habitat of game fish. Granted that the flesh of the carp is not as good in the summer time as it is later when water temperatures are lower, but that also is true of the more respected bass.

As an important advance toward the goal sought by those same sportsmen, the campaign to establish general acceptance of the carp as a food fish will go far to reduce his numbers—although, frankly, you will never get rid of him entirely—and thus make for better habitats for the game fish. Even though a goodly number of game fish were killed in the seining of carp during the winter months, it is my opinion that it would be worth while because, once given the food and improved habitat, the game fish would propagate so fast that the sportsmen would be agreeably surprised.

But getting back to the carp as a food fish, it might be interesting for you to learn that the carp—which, by the way, is not "German" but of Asiatic origin—was first brought to the United States from Germany in the 1870s as a valuable food source. Carp culture was begun in Europe in the 13th century and before the war at Wittingan, Bohemia, there was a carp pond establishment comprising 20,000 flooded acres. In Europe the carp is considered a delicacy and food fish without peer.

Even if you do prefer whitefish, or salmon, or wall-eyed pike, or trout, such a choice may not be open to you for long—and when Meatless Tuesdays come around, the carp, in my opinion, will be mighty acceptable and, something else to be considered, much less expensive than "imported" fish.

Of course as M. C. James, Chief of the Division of Fish Culture, says: "Eating carp now will not win the war in itself, but it may help to work out some of our food problems, and it certainly will be of benefit to the conservation of the more desirable game fish species."

So, may I suggest that you try carp for some of your meatless meals this spring? There are some tested recipes in the August issue of Outdoor Nebraska, offered by the Fish and Wildlife service.

Outdoor Nebraska-March, 1943 19

Sportsmans Widow

MY WIFE IS DIFFERENT

By James W. Kimball

My wife is different. Sure, I know you think your wife is different too, or at least you did in your courting- day. But that's another subject entirely from the one I'm talking about.

Duck hunting is a rough game. The technique is complicated, the rules are hard, and the penalties are severe. It requires patience, endurance, and sometimes it requires the taking of a lot of punishment from a north wind. Oh, I didn't say it wasn't worth the pleasure. Of course it is, but even if it weren't it wouldn't make any difference. Once a man starts duck hunting he never stops. At least I never heard of a case. But that isn't the point. What I'm trying to say is that duck shooting is no game for fair weather hunters. And, in most cases, I'd say it is no game for the ladies. They'd better stick to the upland game. But, to get back to the subject, here is where my wife is different.

It was back a couple of years. Before the "blessed event", before 2 o'clock feedings, before tooth cutting, and before high chairs. In fact, it was back in the days when I was a Forest Service timber cruiser that my wife went on her first duck hunting trip. I did my hunting in those days with a couple of other frostbitten timber cruisers who knew what it was to spend a winter on the Canadian border, and could take a twenty mile snowshoe hike in their stride..

Emmy Lou, that's my wife, had been pheasant hunting with us all fall.I never knew how she kept our pace but somehow she did. And because she did Meach and Ackey, my hunting pals, consented to my taking her along duck hunting.

It turned out to be, everything considered, one of the toughest trips I was ever on. We started out Friday night on a 200 mile drive to Meach's cabin. It stormed, it got very cold, the roads were bad, and we arrived too late to even bother with sleep. After we arrived I can't remember much work of importance that we three fellows did. —Meach and Ackey in one boat, Emmy cooked the coffee. Emmy produced the food and made the lunches. What did we do? Must have got the decoys out or something.

Then we were off to the duck blinds —Meach and Ackey in one bot, Emmy and I in the other. No, she didn't row. Well, later she did, but at least I did the morning rowing. Boy, was it cold. Ice on the gunn'els, ice on the oars, and little crystals of ice in that blasting north wind. I wonder if she regreted the day she met me. If she did I never knew.

Did we get ducks? Oh, I guess so. We usually did, ,but I don't remember. For me the high point of the trip was reached on the way home. We had stopped for a cup of coffee while Emmy slept in the back seat like the exhausted girl she must have been. When we were getting back into the car Meach nodded to the back seat and said,   20 Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943 "You've really got something there, Jim."

"You sure have," added Ackey.

What does that prove ? It proves two things. First, that it is possible for a woman to steal the show even on a duck hunting trip. And second, that my wife really is different.

RODENTS

(Continued from Page 6)

4. Whitefooted Mouse.

A medium sized mouse, with the tail about half the length of the body, well haired, but having some scaly appearance. Ears rather large, not heavily haired. Upperparts dark brown, whitish below. Another very common Neraska mouse, nocturnal in habit, prefers wooded or brushy areas, but is common to grasslands, and uplands where it burrows into the soil.

5. Meadow Mouse.

A very common mouse, having a robust body with a comparatively short tail. Ears almost hidden in pelage. Body well furred, legs well proportioned to body size. Upperparts may vary from lighter to darker brown, the underparts gray with a dusky cast in some individuals. The meadow mice form a large, widely distributed group which may vary in coloration with the geographic location. Peed on vegetation, may become very destructive to field and orchard crops when abundant. Comprise a large part of the diet of snakes, hawks, owl, weasels, foxes, wildcats, skunks and other carnivorous animals.

6. The Pack Rat.

A large rat-like rodent, inhabitiing the western counties of the state. Gets its name from its habit of carrying small articles about, strewing its dens and nests with odds and ends of bric-a-brac, ranging from feathers, bits of grass and bright stones, to empty cartridges and coins. Often when one article is stolen from a spot, the pack rat will replace it with another, thus earning the name "Trade Rat". Closely resembles the house rat in general, ears larger, pelage soft and long; usually nocturnal, but is sometimes seen in the daytime.

7. The Beaver and Muskrat.

The largest of the Nebraska rodents, the beaver reaches a weight of over 60 pounds. An aquatic dweller, like the muskrat, is too widely known and recognized to require description or discussion here.

MORE COVER MEANS MORE GAME

(Continued from Page 16)

that is with conservation of soil and water resources, the preparation of the seed bed necessarily entails attention to measures that should save soil and water and at the same time provide cover type for the species that is deemed important.

Burning stubble fields or grass fence lands is being discouraged for two reasons, one reason being that these cover types provide nesting and roosting cover for many types of game birds. The other reason is that these types of cover furnish protection to the soil, preventing it from blowing away and also preventing rapid run-off of water.

Badly eroded areas have, in some instances, been dammed to control water run-off and to build up the soil in these areas. By planting the margins of the ponds thus formed, wave action and further bank erosion are limited and cover is provided for fish and water-loving wildlife species. Some of the eroded areas are fenced to allow them to become stabilized. In other instances, these areas are planted to food and cover producing vegetation to provide immediate places for wildlife species to live in.

Some entire tracts of land are being set aside to develop natural places for wildlife species to increase. These areas by providing shelter, protection and places to hide, result in natural increases that cannot be obtained in any other manner. For more abundant wildlife we must always bear in mind that shelter must be present at all times of the year; that food must be available; that food and shelter combined may limit the effects of severe weather; that man must be controlled in his innate desire to destroy; that the effects of disease are directly related to the lack of cover causing concentration; that the effects of predation are noticeable only to the extent that the wildlife species are subjected to predation by the lack of nesting cover, roosting cover, loafing cover, and escape cover; that a combination of cover types for each wildlife species must be provided at all seasons of the year if wildlife is to become abundant and important. Wildlife management can and must be practised by each individual if the net results of wildlife management are to be effective.

Outdoor Nebraska—March. 1943 21

Junior Conservationist

F. H. A. FOR BIRDS

Feathered Home Accommodations for Birds

With living conditions so difficult to obtain, may I suggest that as junior conservationists we try to ease the situation, at least as far as the birds are concerned, by starting an earnest and active home building campaign for birds.

If you have never had the joy of planning a little home for the birds in your back yard, by all means start immediately in your manual training class, and H first of all plan a comfortable home for a pair of birds in your own back yard, which will not only please the birds, but be an added point of beauty to your own home.

The pleasure that you will get from planning and building this little home will be multiplied many times when you see a pair of feathered tenants moving their nesting properties into their new house, and as the nest building work is finished and later the young are forthcoming, you may spend many happy hours watching the parents and the young birds around the house that you provided for them.

On this page you will find a few possible plans which you may use. After you have finished your house, if you will send us a picture of it, we will be glad to print it in this magazine.

A bird in the bush is worth a great deal of pleasure to you.

RUSTY (Continued from Page 17)

brought to us when we shot them, and stood ready to accept his just reward. A ten pound jackrabbit is a load for any dog to haul across a plowed field.

So much for rabbits. But how would he work with pheasants and ducks ?

I got in only one hunting trip this year that amounted to about two hour's pheasant hunting. Hube had guaranteed me a limit of birds, so we set out optimistically. I'd sworn to get the first bird I shot at, and it was some time before we got up a bird.

Hube took the west side and I the east of a five acre corn patch near Minden. Rusty, whom I hadn't seen for several months, ranged out ahead in fine form. Hube yelled and I looked up to see a lone cock about sixty feet up and streaking down on the northwest gale. I led him what seemed to be too far. The right barrel of the 16 gauge withered him, but he was so high and going so fast I marked him down as lost. Rusty had other ideas. The moment the bird crumpled, old Rusty streaked out in the direction the bird was going. When we got to the north end of the cornfield, there he was, proudly holding the pheasant and wagging his whole body. I think he was more proud of the bird than I, although Hube insisted I was shooting "way over my head."

22 Outdoor Nebraska—March,1943

IN THE MAIL

Wilber, Nebraska, December 12, 1942 Mr. Paul T. Gilbert, Secretary Game, Forestation and Parks Commission, State House, Lincoln, Nebraska Dear Sir: I am very much impressed with the little magazine you put out, known as the "Outdoor Nebraska". One subject I especially believe should interest all farmer hunters and those interested in conservation of food, and consequently, the production of food. I refer to the subject of hawks and their protection. The destruction of hawks by the public is due to the ignorance on the part of the shooters. You may be interested in a recent experience of mine which proves my argument. Last spring while attempting to plan a 16 acre field of combine wheat stubble, I noticed an unusually large number of field mice being turned up. I immediately procured a suitable club and carried this on the tractor for the purpose of killing these mice as soon as I saw that I turned some up. I had not been plowing long when two large hawks came and perched on the nearby cottonwoods. Every once in a while I observed one of these birds shoot out straight as an arrow and sail over what looked like 100 to 150 yards, and then swoop down, grab something, and go up to a nearby tree. At first I thought that they picked up the dead mice which I left on top for them to eat. But such was not the case. After some more observation, I saw one of those birds sail out of the cottonwood tree and swoop down near the tractor, and upon lifting out of the furrow, I saw a live mouse dangling and kicking in his claws. An idea struck me. I stopped the rig and stepped off the distance from where the hawk caught the mouse to the base of the cottonwood tree, and found it to count up 130 steps. I am 5 foot 8 inches, so I assume I took almost a yard or so to a step. On another occasion, I counted 160 steps from where one of those birds sat, to the place he carried out a live mouse. The birds, of course, could see these rodents only when they moved. They took none of the dead mice I put out for them. I tell you, they really possess some eyesight to be able to see a mouse at a distanc of approximatly 160 yards. I plowed for two days, and by the time I got done, there were four hawks working with me. I myself killed 137 adult mice (these were the large gray bob-tailed variety) and also destroyed almost that many little ones that were suckling their parent, and which I didn't count. The hawks, as far as I could count, caught no less than 14 or 15 live mice during the time I plowed the field. They, as I should mention, no doubt caught very many more, for they hunted in this field all fall and winter before I plowed the stubble. No one can argue that these mice which were killed were causing great destruction among my crops. How they multiplied to the extent which they did, I can't say. Yes, I know that the farmer's chickens all run and flock into the coop or under the crib when they spy one of the hawks soaring up in the sky. I do believe that some of these big hawks actually do that to see the hens beat it for cover. Maybe they are smarter than we give them credit for. From my own obsrvation, I am sure that we need to protect the large hawks, for they are the farmer's friend. When it comes to the small pigeon hawks, or others, which have a habit of catching birds and chickens, well, that's something else again. I think you are doing a great service to the farmer and consequently to the country at large where you, through your magazine, educate the public in regard to the hawks. I don't think you can stress that too highly. Very sincerely, HENRY F. KRAL. APPRECIATION APPRECIATION Mrs. Cora B. Couture of Rosalie, upon the death of her father, James W. Brink, donated fourteen Canada geese, two white-fronted geese, and one white brant, to the Game and Parks Commission for exhibition purposes. The geese were taken by the Commission to the State Park on the highway west of Fremont, and are now exciting the interest of visitors and passing motorists. The late Mr. Brink was a wildlife enthusiast, and kept a haven for waterfowl on his land along the Missouri river.

Outdoor Nebraska—March, 1943 23

Good Hunting

And so closes another happy hunting season with many game aspirations realized, while hopes still linger for more such seasons, if and when.