Beaver Season Nears
Pennsylvania’s 1955 beaver seas-
on will open at 7 a.m. on February
14; it will close at noon, March 5.
These furbearers may be taken by
the trapping method only. Non-
residents may not trap for beavers
in this State.
As last year, the number of these
furbearers allowed any trapper is 4.
A trapper may take the total num-
ber in one day or he may take his
4 animals over the entire season.
Trapping for beavers, the largest
member of the rodent family in
North America, will be allowed
throughout the Commonwealth this
year.
On publicly-owned land no trap-
ping will be permitted on
‘dams posted by the Game Com-
mission. Neither will it be permit-
ted on water areas on private prop-
erty, where the placarding has been
done at the request or by the con-
sent of the landowners concerned.
Warning notices have been posted
against beaver trapping at water
-impoundments in which beaver
numbers are low. This is done to
ensure sufficient brood stock for
later years.
Traps may not be set on the
structure of any beaver dam or
house, or within 25 feet of the water
line on the structure of either. One
person may set, tend or operate 10
traps only. Traps must be tagged
with metal name tags. These iden-
tifications must show above the ice
or waterline to permit easy check
without the traps being disturbed.
Beals shall be attached to beaver
pelts by State Game Protectors, to
whom the skins must be presented
within 10 days after the season
closes. Beaver hides may not be
sold or otherwise disposed of legally
until properly sealed. The skins
should be presented to the game
protector .in the district or county
in which the animals were trapped.
Beaver kill statistics by districts are
important to the Game Commis-
sion in planning future seasons,
‘Weather conditions affecting trap-
ping and travel and the pelt value
of beavers will, to a large extent,
determine the extent of trapping
and the total harvest-of these ani-
mals. In the opinion of some wild-
life men world supplies of beaver
hides are low. Wealthy European
men are said to be ordering beaver
coats for themselves and their lad-
ies once more. Beaver hair is used
in fine felt manufactured for expen-
sive men’s hats, and this better felt
is reported in demand also. These
are reasons given why the pelt
value of bears trapped this season
may be a little higher than last
year.
‘Since the condition of the hides
has much to do with their market
value it is emphasized that careful
skinning, fleshing and stretching
will result in a higher dollar re return
to the trapper.
Tracks In Snow Interpreted
Wildlife men hear many hunting
tales and strange observations. The
more amusing of these are some-
times retold, like this one by Game
Protector William J. Carpenter, a
McKean County officer, who says,
“One day this past bear season I
listened to several hunters discus-
sing their luck and experiences. One
man stated he saw the tracks of a
man walking around in the snow
in his bare feet. He was partly cor-
rect; bear feet did make the tracks.”
Pheasant Chick Program
In 1945, the first year of the
Game Commission’s day-old pheas-
ant chick program, 52% of the
birds were raised to maturity. The
score improved each year until re-
cent years, when there has been a
return of about 80%. ‘The quality
of the birds improved, too, with
the increase in success of the ama-
teur propagators.
Last year the Game Commission
supplied 218,625 of the chicks to
farmers and sportsmen. Approxi-
mately 83% of them, the best rec-
ord so far, were reared to 12 weeks
of age or older.
This year the Game Commission
will again have day-old pheasant
chicks for distribution to sports-
men’s organizations, farm-game co-
operators, rabbit farm cooperators
and farmers with a minimum of 50
acres of land open to public hunt-
ing. Five pounds of starting feed
will be supplied for each chick furn-
ished clubs or individuals.
The minimum age for liberation
is 12 weeks. However, the Commis-
sion will supply organizations with
one cockbird for each ten hens held
for liberation until March.
Applications for chicks and plans
for constructing the required hold-
ing pens may be secured from game
protectors. Each officer has a quota
of birds. Those wishing chicks
should apply early.
Pheasant chicks released by org-
anizations do not affect allotments
and distributions from State Game
Farms. Persons and organizations
interested should contact their Dis-
trict Game Protector. He must in-
spect the equipment and pens to be
used before he can approve appli-
cations. Applications must reach
the Harrisburg Office of the Game
Commission prior to April 1st to
insure feed delivery in time.
Chicks will be available between
May 15 and July 15. The majority
of the shipments will be made in
June. Better results are possible if
chicks are picked up at the Game
Farm thus avoiding delay and loss
in transit. Applications received late
will be filled if chicks are available
after all other shipments are com-
pleted.
The Game Commission is organ-
ized to do a real job with ringneck
pheasants but the help of farmers
| Just
Tack on
one of
TZ
Vas
il
KEEP
LET IN
il iin
out
COLD
5 ll Shatterproof
5 *lf| Cheaper
Ml Than
| Glass
Fernbrook Corners
Wez
HOLD IN HEAT. .
PHONES: DALLAS
Church St., Dallas
« KEEP OUT COLD
4-1441 and 4-3126
and organized sportsmen is needed
to make it more effective. Team-
work will provide more pheasants
and better hunting.
Bountiful Coon Tree
A Berks County game protector
relayed this report from one of his
deputies, a Wally Stoudt. Last fall,
a farmer near Rehrersburg was los-
ing poultry at a rapid rate. He sus-
pected a coon was the cause. He
tracked the culprit to a tree, where
he found not one but ten of the
masked robbers.
Deer Study Provides ,
Valuable Information
The history of Pennsylvania's
deer has been of tremendous in-
terest to the State’s hunters, con-
servationists and tourists since the
early days of this century. Other
States have profited from the Com-
monwealth’s pioneering and exper-
iences in bringing back its once-
depleted herd. The story has been:
almost no deer in 1900, too many
in the late 30’s, a serious overbrow-
sing of the State’s forests, and a
decline in numbers because of this
food shortage. Occasional deer stud-
ies had been made and considerable
was known about the changes
which brought about this reduction
in the herd, but scientific manage-
ment called for more facts.
Since 1947, Stanley E. Forbes, a |
graduate of Pennsylvania State Un- |
iversity, with a Master’s Degree in
Wildlife Management, has been
studying the State’s deer and con-
ditions affecting them. In collecting
data and specimens valuable to the
project he has received much co-
operation from other research per-
sonnel, field officers of the Game
Commission and sportsmen.
Forbes’ annual report, dated July,
1954, contains information based al-
most wholly on records and evid-
ence submitted. While most persons
believe the hunting season kill rep-
resents the total mortality to deer
in any year, the researcher found
that in the 12 months ending June
30, 1954, over 6,000 deer were kill- |
ed in other ways than by bullets or
arrows. These met death on high-
ways, were killed for crop damage,
died as fawns under mowers, killed |
themselves by running into fences,
or were destroyed by dogs. Though
the winter of 1953-54 was a mild |
one, approximately 2500 additional
deer were reported to have died
from malnutrition. The total does
not
deer not found or reported, nor
those illegally killed in season and
out. So it becomes apparent the
deer kill report would have to be
increased considerably beyond the
hunting season figure to show the
total mortality in any year.
Here are Forbes’ figures for the
period covered by this report. Total
legal deer kill (1953): legal antlered
deer, 37,384; legal antlerless kill,
16,252. (Antlerless figure breaks
down to 3202 males and 13050 |
females). The number of deer re- |
ported killed out of season in that |
year was: 2214 males, 3794 females
and 20 whose sex was unreported—
a total of 6028. The number of deer
estimated to have died of malnutri-
tion in that time was 2500, of which.
approximately 625 were males, 1875
were females. So the total of all,
these causes of mortality during the
|
THESE WOMEN!
By d’Alessio
“Of course, you can’t make it. { TOLD you the threshold
didn’t start at the gate!”
12-month period of this study was | In the year 2000, Easter Sunday
at least 62,164. Put in another way, | will be on April 23.
Five hundred Civil War flags now
displayed in the rotunda of the
Capitol in Harrisburg are in danger
of disintegration, according to Frank
Supplies, in whose custody the flags
are kept.
Hilton, with the cooperation of
the State Historical and Museum
Commission, already has got in
touch with leading museum and tex-
tile authorities to obtain informa-
tion about methods of treating these
flags in order to preserve them for-
ever,
“I understand that these flags
probably could be preserved al-
though preserving them would be
expensive,” said Hilton, a former
National Commander of the Veter-
ans of Foreign Wars. “But,” he
asked, “could anyone estimate their
value ?”’ They are a part of our heri-
tage.
“Because of the flags’ condition,”
he explained, “they must be hand-
led with the care that would be giv-
en irreplaceable documents, which,
in a sense, is what they are. They
are part of the record of the great
war in which thousands of Pennsyl-
vanians lost their lives. They are
memorials of the heroic dead.”
The Civil War flags, which are
displayed in six built-in glass-pan-
eled cases, naturally have deterior-
ated during the ninety years or more
that they have been without ade-
quate protection. This is not a criti-
cism of past custodians, Hilton
pointed out, because only very re-
cently processes have been develop-
ed for preserving flags which seem
to be satisfactory.
Many other Pennsylvania flags,
which are in the custody of the His-
torical and Museum Commission,
are now displayed in the War
History Room of the State Museum.
These include flags carried by troops
in the Revolutionary War, the War
of 1812, World War I and World
War II. Experts are of the opinion
that because of modern methods of
preservation and proper lighting, the
flags in the Museum should last
indefinitely.
The Civil War flags, which Hilton
wants saved before it is too late,
played an important part, he point-
ed out, in the history of Pennsyl-
vania and of the United States.
“Some girls spend four years
learning how to behave in polite
society, and the rest of their lives
trying to find it.”
86.3%
open season Kill; 13.7% of deer | |
deaths was attributed to miscellan- |
€eous causes.
From this total mortality for the
year, Forbes is able to figure the
annual rate of reduction for both
antlered bucks and anterless deer.
And from this, he is able to compute
the total number of deer still alive
in the spring and predict the coming
fawn crop. It is vitally necessary
that this information be received so
entifically control the hunting sea-
son kill through the setting of prop-
er seasons. [Such facts and intelli-
gent interpretation of them will in-
sure the future of deer hunting in
HN
ONE FREE
EACH WEEK
Pennsylvania.
SENEREERERRRENERENENEENNEEEEEEEEEY
Magazine Campaign
Opens At Dallas-Franklin
The annual magazine campaign at
Dallas-Franklin Township School
is now open. During a brief
assembly program, students were
selected as class leaders: 12th grade,
Joanne Lewin, Deanna Townsend;
11th grade, Arthur Belles, Alan
Mosier; 10th grade, Marie Goodman;
9th grade, Janice Hilbert, Pat Whit-
taker; 8th grade, Betty Harris, Con-
nie Vietch, Sharon John; 7th grade,
Priscilla Martin, Grace Bachman.
Faculty advisor is Miss Ethel Shultz,
assisted by Mary Lou Ehrgott and
N
Trucksville
Ellen Walsh. The campaign will end
February 15th.
Sordoni Builds Depot
Sordoni Construction Company is
the general contractor for the new
million dollar Lehigh Valley Rail-
road freight and passenger terminal
years
cheaper
than glass
All 36" wide
i WNW,
A)" ANI SCL ER
For Poultry
House Windows
For Hog House &
Barn Windows
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Warp Bros., Chicago 51
FLEX-0-GLASS
too!
just pennies, too!
PLASTIGLASS
WyR-0-GLASS
D SCREEN GLASS
Snow, sleet, rain,
AND LIFTING