Maine Fish and Game Magazine, Annual Report Issue, Fall 1961

Carrabasset River, with Bigelow Mountain in background.

Governor John H. Reed

FISH AND GAME

DEPARTMENT OF INLAND FISHERIES AND GAME STATE OF MAINE

Roland H. Cobb

Comrnissioner George W. Bucknam Deputy Commissioner Stanley P. Linscott Supt. of Hatcheries Elmer H. Jngraham Chief Warden Dr. W. Harry Everhart Chief, Fishery Division Lyndon H. Bond Co-ordinator, Fishery Research C. Keith Miller Business Manager W. R. DeGarmo Chief, Game Division Carll N. Fenderson Dfrector, Information and Education Laurence F. Decker Chief Engineer Maine Fish and Game is published by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game, Augusta, Maine.

Carll N. Fenderson, Editor William C. Mincher, Managing Editor Kenneth E. Gray, Photo Editor Harvey 0. Elliot, Writer - Photographer No advertising accepted. Permission is granted for reprinting any text in this magazine provided credit is given the department and Maine Fish and Game. Unsolicited manuscripts, photos, etc., will be handled with care, but Maine Fish and Game cannot assume responsibility for loss or damage to same. They will be returned to the sender if accompanied by sufficient postage.

CREDITS All photographs in this issue were made by the Information and Education Division unless otherwise noted. Sketches, including back cover, by Ted Bunker. Front and inside cover photos by Ken Gray.

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

Annual Report Issue Vol. III, No. 2

Fall, 1961 Hunting Season Summary Legislative Roundup Atlantic Salmon Report Bear Facts Trout and Tributaries Progress in Conservation Education Game Kill Questionnaires Junior Sportsmen Wildlife Quiz Safety Is No Accident!

Beagles and Bunnies Letters, Notes, and Comment Answers to Wildlife Quiz The Recent Years (Department History) Notes From the Field Raising Pheasants Successfully Annual Report Section

Financial Statement Fishery Di vision Engineering Division Hatchery Division and Game Farm Game Division Warden Service Information - Education Division Life Story of the Pheasant

2 3 5 6 9 11 13 14 14

Carll Fenders on Bill Mincher Alfred L. Meister Howard E. Spencer, Jr. Roger P. AuClair Franklin A. Downie Kenneth W. Hodgdon

15 16

Ken Gray

18 19 20 Harvey Elliot 23 24 Bill Mincher 26-32

26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Back cover

THE COVER For six out of the past seven years, the beagle has been N umber One in popularity according to registrations with the A. K. C. See pages 16 and 17 for a picture story on these fine dogs.

1

the coming P deer season what will be like is get-

hunting weather. Last year, a mild "bluebird" fall with very little snow made for comfortable but unproductive hunting.

It's interesting that two thousand fewer bucks than usual were tagged last year, while the doe harvest remained about the same. This is an indication of the mild weather conditions which hampered hunters, particularly toward the last part of the season when the kill usually runs . heavily to bucks.

In the trophy department, however, 1960 proved to be more

REDICTING

ting to be more hazardous, now that Maine Fish and Game is getting older and wiser. Last year, we hinted that the 1960 deer season might set another record.

Well, we were wrong. But there were plenty of deer so we'll run our necks right back out again.

The 1960 harvest of 37,774 deer was the thirteenth in a row exceeding 35,000. It was about 10 per cent under the 1959 record season of 41,735, which was, incidentally, a season of excellent

productive than the record 1959 season. The "Biggest Bucks in Maine Club," as reported by the Department of Economic Development, lists 477 whitetails registered, with the usual run of really big animals well over 350 pounds on the hoof.

No re-hash of the previous year's deer season would be complete without mention of the ageless "thutty-thutty." Just for the fun of it, we tallied up the rifle calibers listed by the 477 buck clubbers, and found that 113 of them took their trophies

BIGGEST BUCKS, 1960 Name

Address

Date Killed

Felix Ouellette Larry Collins Paul Blethen James Leavitt Arthur Scott Lawrence Haggerty Dana Toothaker Harry B. York Earle A. Hall Albert Gagnon

St. John Plt., Maine Litchfield, Maine Winthrop, Maine Hampden Hlds., Maine Chester, Conn.

Houlton, Maine Phillips, Maine Sanford, Maine Athens, Maine Connor Pit., Maine

11/11/60 11/12/60 11/ 1/60 11/ 5/60 11/10/60 10/15/60 10/22/60 10/27/60 11/14/60 11/ 2/60

Where Killed

Firearm

Dressed Weight

Live Weight

St. John Plt. Litchfield Winthrop Newburg Cary Hammond Pit. Rangeley Pit. Blanchard, Maine Athens Caswell

32-Sp. 308 30-06 30-30 270 308 308 35 308 22

288 270 266% 255 254 253 253 251% 251 250

374 350 346% 331% 330 329 329 326% 326 325

The Forks Brownville Patten New Sharon Twp. 20

30-30 30-30 30-06 30-30 30-06

260 231 228 226 224

346 297 296 292 291

Men

Women Hazel Jones Anna Pinto Letha Tucker Florence Barker Rella Daigle

2

Belmont, Maine Newark, N. J. Patten, Maine Belgrade Lakes, Maine Madawaska, Maine

10/15/60 11/19/60 10/22/60 11/ 5/60 10/18/60

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

with this gun. Next in line was the 30-06 which accounted for 87 bucks, followed by the 32 sp~cial with 53; 300 Savage with 35; 308 Winchester with 33; and the veteran 35 caliber with 17.

It looks as though about one in every four hunters prowling the Maine woods for deer carries the 30-30. This doesn't prove much of anything except the continued popularity of this particular caliber.

conB owtinues to grow inhunting popularity AND ARROW

in Maine. Last year, archers set a new record of 22 whitetails, besting the 1958 total of 19. If you're bored with gunpowder, try the bow and arrow some time.

It isn't easy.

Getting back to the prediction department, we'll start off with favorable reports on the condition of the deer herd. Department field personnel were polled during the summer, and reports came in from nearly every section of the state indicating a plentiful deer supply with a good fawn crop.

Partridge are making a good comeback after causing some concern with slim populations two years back. Rabbits (snowshoe hares) are listed as "above average" and "much above average" in most sections, which would indicate another big year for the hound fraternity. Another good year on woodcock is also predicted.

Pheasant hunters can expect a few thousand more birds released this fall than last because of increased production at the game farm. Duck hunters can expect a below average crop of birds produced in this section of the flyway, and the picture nationally isn't being painted very brightly because of drought con-ditions in large areas of nesting country up north.

All in all it looks as if the game is there, and in good supply in most cases. The weather man will have the final say.

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

Legislative Roundup A summary of major fish and game law changes enacted in 1961 by the 100th Legislature

By Bill Mincher Editor's note: This article is intended simply to point out most of the major changes made in fish and game laws by the 100th Legislature. It should not be construed as being law. Certain direct quotations from the law are used and are printed in italics.

Hunting The deer season was changed in zone two - eastern Maine so that it now runs from November 1 through December 5. However, the special archery season for deer in this zone remains as before: October 1 through October 26.

It is now unlawful for more than six persons to participate in driving deer.

The use of horns, whistles, and other noisemaking devices is still prohibited.

The use of artificial lights to illuminate wild birds or animals is unlawful, during the deer season, including arch. ery season, between one - half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise, except as permitted in section 94 and section 113, subsection IV, of the fish and game laws. These sections apply in cases of crop damage and in legal hunting for raccoons, with dogs.

Crossbows are forbidden in the hunting or killing of any wild bird or animal.

Licenses Non-resident hunting licenses for small game may no longer be used as a ten dollar credit toward big game licenses. Any nonresident wanting to hunt deer in Maine should buy the big game hunting license at the outset.

The small game license, however, permits the hunting of bobcats, bear, and all other game in season, except deer.

Members of Canadian a rm e d forces stationed in Maine may buy resident hunting and fishing licenses. Commanding officers must certify that the person is stationed in Maine. The license will be issued by the clerk of the town in which the station is located.

Fishing The greatest change in fishing laws is probably the reduction in the bag limit under the general law. The law now says that no person shall take, catch, 3

kill., 01¡ have in possession more than 10 fish of the salmon, trout, togue, or black bass species during any one day of any open season from any inland waters of the state.

No change was made in the weight limit; it remains at seven and one-half pounds in the aggregate for the species mentioned, unless the last fish caught increases the combined weight to more than seven and one-half pounds. (It should be noted that this ten fish limit is a general law. There are many special regulations for special cases, and anglers should check the law book to be sure.)

Fishing in October is now permitted in certain waters in Maine for all fish except trout, salmon, and togue. The list is too long to print here but may be found in the law booklet. These waters are located in Androscoggin, Hancock, Piscataquis, and Penobscot counties and do not contain trout, salmon, or togue.

In any waters where the bag limit on black bass has been removed by rule and regulation of the commissioner, the season on black bass and the method of fishing for them shall be the same as for trout and salmon.

The opening of the open water fishing season has been changed for some counties. In Cumberland County, the season opens the last Saturday in April on brooks and streams. The open season for trout in brooks and streams in Oxford and York counties also starts the last Saturday in April. That same day will be the opening day for open water fishing in quite a number of ponds in the counties of Cumberland, Kennebec, Knox, Franklin, Hancock, Lincoln, Oxford, Waldo, and York. The angler is again advised to check the regulations booklet.

The use or possession of live fish for bait is prohibited in cer4

tain waters in Oxford, Franklin, Piscataquis, and Somerset counties. These waters are listed in the booklet.

In Sebago Lake, Cumberland County, the daily bag limit of trout and salmon is now four in the aggregate.

Owners of shacks or temporary structures used in ice fishing may not leave or allow them to remain on the ice of any inland waters three days after the waters on which [they are] located closes to ice fishing. When said structure is on the ice of a.ny inland waters, the owner's name shall be painted on the outside of said s/J,ack in 2-inch letters.

There are, of course, several changes in the list of waters where ice fishing is or is not permitted. The ice fishing law booklet covers these changes.

Boat L ws The Legislature added new sections to the law regarding the regulation of motor vessel operation. The new sections are numbered 6-A to 6-E of Chapter 98 of the Revised Statutes; they cover speed regulations, dangerous operation, reckless operation, and so on. These sections should be required reading for everyone operating a motorboat.

The so-called boating law, Chapter 36-A, underwent several changes which will not become effective until January first, 1963. Generally, the changes increase the license fee for registration of motorboats with motors of more than ten horsepower ( five dollars for three years instead of two dollars, as at present), change the procedure for registration of boats for hire, and give the fish and game commissioner the authority to establish safety zones for limiting the use and speeds of boats, as well as the authority to make reasonable rules and regulations neces-

sary for the proper administration of the boating law.

No power boat may be operated in Merrymeeting Bay at a speed of more than ten miles an hour except within the buoyed channels.

The open season for trapping muskrat in Washington County was changed ( from March 20 to April 20) to the entire month of April only.

Penobscot Indians have an additional muskrat trapping season ( March 1 to May 1) on all lands and islands belonging to the tribe. It shall be unlawful for any person not a member of said Penobscot Tribe to trap muskrats during such open season.

The muskrat trapping season in Aroostook County was changed (from the month of November) to the month of April.

Trappers no longer must make written reports to the commissioner of numbers and kinds of wild animals trapped annually.

s No one except a law enforcement officer in line of duty, or persons with valid permits to carry concealed weapons, may have in or on any motor vehicle or trailer any loaded pistol or revolver. ( This simply removes "with a barrel length of over four inches" from the end of the quoted section of the previous law.)

It is no longer necessary for guides to report to the commissioner the number of persons they have guided annually and the fish and game taken by them.

Another miscellaneous change concerns the liability of landowners with respect to keeping premises safe for hunters, trappers, fishermen, campers, hikers, and sightseers. It is quite complex and is too long to go into in these pages.

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

AtQantic ÂŁ.aQmon

lR.Epont

By Alfred L. Meister Salmon Commission Biologist

A

LATE ICE-OUT and a cold, backward spring delayed the arrival of bright fish in our salmon streams, but sub-normal temperatures and high waters prolonged the run. Ideal angling conditions held up well into the summer.

The Machias River, rapidly becoming famous for its large fish, has enjoyed an excellent season.

As Maine Fish and Game went to press, 591 salmon had passed through the counting trap at the mouth of the river. Anglers accounted for 130 of these, and 326 salmon had passed through the Whitneyville dam, the last obstacle on their spawning journey to the headwaters of the river. Of interest is the rod catch of 16 salmon taken in tidewater at Machias before the fish could enter the main river.

The Narraguagus River has had an excellent season, with one of the larger rod catches of record. Veteran anglers, as well as dubs and duffers, have accounted for 109 salmon. At press time, the commission's counting weir at Beddington Lake had passed 28 salmon. Many of them were in the fifteen to twenty-five pound class.

The Dennys River yielded 98 salmon in one of the best years on record. The East Machias, an early season hot-spot, paid off to the tune of 14 salmon. At Columbia Falls, the Pleasant River, noted for its late run, rewarded the anglers' patience with an estimated catch of 45 fish. Maine's southernmost salmon stream, the Sheepscot River in Lincoln Coun-

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

ty, has also yielded salmon; but light angling pressure and an incomplete creel census prohibit a tally of the number taken.

Striped bass in the two-to-four pound class have provided sport for young and old in the estuaries of our Maine rivers. On several occasions, salmon have been hooked and landed, providing an added thrill for the striper devotees.

The construction of an icecontrol pam at Stillwater Pool on the Narraguagus River has brought mixed emotions to the many visitors at the site. Gone are the boulders and runs that gladdened the angler's heart, and in their place is rising a steel, stone, and wooden structure.

Designed and supervised by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the dam will be completed by mid-fall. All possible precautions are being taken to protect and preserve the Atlantic salmon run - an important asset to the economy of the community.

Passage of the commission's supplemental budget by the 100th Legislature opened the door for permanent riverimprovements that will aid the salmon program in Washington County. Plans and work schedules are rapidly being formed to remedy the troublesome fish passage conditions at the gorge in Machias and at Marion on Cathance Stream.

Other projects to be undertaken in the near future are water-control structures at Cathance Lake and Pleasant River Lake. Minor improvements at Saco Falls on the Pleasant River will enable fish passage at all water flows. One fish passage problem on the Pleasant River was resolved by the extremely high water in late May. Hathaway Dam at Columbia Falls was

Biologist Al Meister, who wrote the accompanying article, looks over a fine male salmon which has just been weighed and tagged at the counting weir on the Narraguagus.

destroyed, and fish now find free passage at all water levels.

An Atlantic salmon weighing more than fifteen pounds qualifies the angler for membership in Maine's "One That Didn't Get Away Club." At press time, the following anglers had qualified for membership this season: Charles Dowling, Whitneyville, 20 pounds 7 ounces, Machias River; James R. Brooks, Cherryfield, 20 pounds, Narraguagus River; Ralph Reeves, Machias, 20 pounds, Machias ; Don Phinney, Dennysville, 18 1h pounds, Dennys River; Robert Tweedie, Rockland, 18 1h pounds, Machias; Charles Dowling, 18 pounds 2 ounces, Machias ; Edward Foss, Jr., Machias, 18 pounds, Machias; Fred Curtis, Cherryfield, 17 pounds 12 ounces, N arraguagus; Allan Chesterton, Jones port, 17 1h pounds, Machias; Charles Dowling (two fish), 17 1h pounds, Machias; Henry Dowling, Whitneyville, 17 1h pounds, Machias; John Chapman, Salisbury Cove, 17 pounds 2 ounces, Narraguagus; Norman Hathaway, Brewer, 17 pounds 2 ounce.s, Machias; the others, all from the Machias River : Charles Dowling, 161h pounds; Robert Metherell, Bar Harbor, 16 pounds 4 ounces; Henry Dowling, 16 pounds; Philip Noel, Stratford, Conn., 15 1h :pounds; Charles Dowling, 15 pounds 4 ounces; Henry Dowling, 15 pounds 4 ounces; Arthur Oxton, Lincolnville, 15 pounds 4 ounces; Charles Dowling, 15 pounds 2 ounces; Jack Almeida, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 15 pounds; Charles Dowling, 15 pounds; Frederick Reynolds, Machias, 15 pounds.

But larger salmon successfully eluded the anglers, for fish in excess of twenty pounds have been checked by commission biologists at the Machias and Beddington counting stations.

I

r

r

o i sTRIBUTION BOUNTIES .

OF 3 8 39

BEAR

1950-53 FI S CAL YEARS

( ONE

DOT

REPRESENTS

ONE

BEAR ) FIGURE

I

four men and a boy to get out of the woods. Bear do reach weights in excess of one-quarter ton, as evidenced by one monster, recently live-trapped in a New York study, which weighed 562 pounds, on the hoof. Although there are some Maine records for bears over four hundred pounds, most adults range from two hundred to three hundred pounds, with many females running one hundred pounds less.

Most resident animals have more or less a "home" or "unit" range within which they live and die. The size of a bear's home range is hard to determine, but available evidence indicates that it is about five miles in radius, or seventy-eight square miles. The home ranges of two or more bears may overlap, however (and without conflict as far as is known).

Along their travelled routes, bears frequently make "marking posts" or "bear trees." The exact reason or purpose of these markers is not known.

The bear selects a tree along his path and, standing on his hind legs, makes several claw and/ or tooth marks in the bark at what appears to be his maximum reach. Bear marks have been noted in Maine on yellow and white birch, aspen, balsam fir, white cedar, and other kinds of trees. Different observers believe such marks to be associated with unit range or the breeding season ; or they may be simply a Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

form of sign post on which passing bears record their presence.

The habit of denning or hibernating during the winter is well known, although the bear is not a true hibernator like the woodchuck. Bears may be awakened readily and will leave their dens upon sufficient provocation. Hibernation for bruin is a prolonged period characterized by reduced pulse, respiration, and temperature. The normal body functions of eating and excretion are discontinued. The amount of fat acquired is believed to determine the .time in the fall when denning occurs. Usually, most Maine bears are down for the winter soon after December first, and they reappear during the first two weeks of April.

Blacky is far from a particular feeder and will make a meal of almost anything from garbage to grass and from cattle to carrion. Actually, more than three-fourths of his food is vegetable material of one form or another, with insects adding another 7 per cent. The remainder is made up of miscellaneous items - many and varied. Seasonally, the diet is governed by what is available. The spring period is usually a lean time for bruin, and he must rely on early grasses, insects, and the remains of winter-killed animals. Maine bears have been observed feeding heavily on spring sucker runs, much as Alaskan bears take salmon. Sheep and cattle raids occur more often in the spring.

Natural foods develop rapidly throughout the summer and fall, and blueberries, raspberries, and wild cherries are favored items. Ripening oats, occasionally corn, and often honey are 'taken with relish and again bring conflict with man's interests.

Acorns, beechnuts, and apples are staple foods. bear an excellent game aniM mal and a consider valuable economic resource, but the OST STATES

place of the black bear in Maine's wildlife picture is obscure. His appetite for sheep, oats, and beehives brings him an evil reputation with his unfortunate host. However, legitimate damages. to livestock are reimbursable by law. Natives of bear country often look with disfavor on the critter while "down staters" and "out-of-staters" seek him eagerly as a trophy. The camp owner damns him as a nuisance for breaking into a camp, but guests at camps can't get enough of watching bears at the dump.

Legally, he's a sort of nonentity - on a par with red squirrels in that he may be trapped or shot any time of the year without limit or restriction. For many years, bounties were paid for bears - about twelve thousand dollars a year. But bear problems did not decrease, and bounties on bear were discontinued through legislative action in 1957.

Bears shot and held in cold storage can be sold to 7

visiting hunters for whatever the traffic will bear anywhere from fifteen to one hundred dollars, depending on size and quality. So there you have him - a creature of contradictions.

Bear hunting as a sport is at best a rather uncertain pastime, though in recent years about fifteen hundred bears have been killed annually in Maine.

General observations indicate that they are more numerous in the higher elevations associated with the so-called Moosehead Plateau. An insight of where some of the better bear country occurs may be gained from reviewing the distribution of the more than 3,800 bounties paid over a period of four years, as illustrated in figure 1. It should be remembered, however, that few bounties were paid in wildland towns and for some years none in Franklin County. Generally speaking, Oxford, Franklin, Somerset, Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Aroostook counties all offer good opportunities for the serious bear hunter to bag a trophy. Although most of us want something a little more potent (like a "thuttythutty" or bigger), members of the Robin Hood set have been successful. Just this spring, three hunters made single-arrow kills in the Patten region within a week.

A few sporting camp owners are beginning to take a serious interest in promoting bear hunting.

With skillful, knowledgeable effort, there appears to be a good chance for increased popularity of the sport. Shooting bears coming to carefully located baits may prove the best hunting method as the sport develops in the future. (Like tiger shooting in India, you know.) Hunting with hounds is successful in some situations, and watching abandoned

SPRINO

SUUIIER

(Based on l4 stor.iadls , 46 scats) (April 15 - JUne 15)

(Based on 62 atomadls , 322 sea ta) ( J wie 16 - Sept. 15 )

Arthur Sharpe, kneeling, showed these archers where to find bear in the Patten area. Harold D. Schmidt, left, Boyd F. Engle , right, both of Baltimore, Md., and Charles Kronyak , Sr., of Carlstadt, N. J., each shot a bear.

apple orchards or garbage dumps has provided a trophy for many a patient nimrod. Superior pelts for rugs or mounting come from bears killed in early spring, and fall is the next best time. y ouNGER BEARS under two hundred pounds are often excellent eating, but a lot depends on field treatment. Most bears have considerable fat and, consequently, spoil quickly. The hunter who wants to treat his friends to a bear roast will see to it that his animal is thoroughly cleaned out, propped open, and, if possible, hung to cool for several hours before being removed from the woods. The trophy should be skinned, cut up, and refrigerated as soon as possible. ¡ Driving around town on a hot October afternoon with bruin lashed to the family hack for the neighbors to admire will probably produce steaks that'll discourage the hardiest of hunters.

(Show 'em pictures and the rug instead.)

When it comes to cooking, everybody has his own recipe. Some adhere to the old tried and true method for cooking a loon, but if good bear gets to the kitchen in good condition, no host need apologize for his menu. A roast, thoroughly trimmed of fat, may be cooked well done on the oven rack with a pan below to catch the drippings. Given a fair chance, even the wife will like it.

Those who would like a more comprehensive bear story will find many additional details in Game Division Bulletin No. 4, The Black Bear and Its Status in Maine, which may be requested from the department.

a

FALL

(Based on 12 stoma cns, 9 scats) (Sept, 16 - De c. 15)

Fh~ure 2.

8

Seasonal food habits of Maine bears, 1953-54 (per ctnt by volume)

Maine Fish and Game -

Fall, 1961

'Tnout andl 'Tnibutan.iu J

twenty-five years ago, before I ever dreamed of becoming a biologist, we fished most of the brooks in the Cumberland County area. It was difficult to find a spot where we could catch a mess of small trout.

One place where we could always see trout, though we were not allowed to fish there, was a tributary to Watchic Pond. All the years of my youth, this "feeder" brook was CLOSED TO FISHING. We were told that the brook was kept closed to feed the pond with trout and that some day there would be good trout fishing in the pond. But the trout fishing in Watchic Pond never materialized, and I often wonder how many thousands of trout hatched, grew, and died in that brook. I know now why Watchic never became a trout pond.

Since that time, we have set about to learn many things about the habits of trout. This knowledge has made it possible to remove the NO FISHING signs from hundreds of brooks and streams. Most of the old preservationists have been replaced by conservationists who want to know why this or that brook is closed to fishing or why partridge are abundant one year and so scarce a few years later. People are no longer satisfied with answers that come from the rocking chair philosopher. They want accurate information gathered in the fields and forests and on the waters of Maine.

The biological staff of the Maine Fish and Game Department has been working on the

By Roger P. AuClair Fishery Biologist

REMEMBER

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

tributary problem for many years. Thousands of trout have been trapped, tagged, and recaptured in the tributaries of Maine trout waters. We have electrofished hundreds of streams, both before and after the fishing season, to learn how many fish of all sizes these waters contain and to find out what effect fishing has on trout populations.

We don't have the answers to all the questions, but we know enough to get rid of some of the old "bugaboos" like the one on the tributary to Watchic Pond.

In that case, the trouble is in the pond and not in the tributary.

Watchic is full of pickerel, perch, hornpout, sunfish, and chub.

Trout simply cannot compete.

We discovered that a good, natural, trout stream is never fished out - even in the southern part of the state, where the fishing force is greatest. After the

Biologist AuClair lifts a trout from the trap he and his assistant, David Locke, right, built for thei r study on Socatean Stream.

fishing season is over, there are many legal-sized trout left in the stream, as well as smaller ones that will be legal-sized by the following season.

During the past five years, we have been working on Socatean Stream, the principal troutspawning tributary to Moosehead Lake. Fishermen were very coop er a ti ve in reporting their catches of tagged trout from all parts of the lake, and we have learned a lot. But the work is not finished : More questions arise with each year's findings.

We had no trouble trapping and tagging the more than one thousand large trout that go upstream in the fall to spawn. This run of trout, producing more than half a million young, is a good, "free" hatchery system.

What happens to these half million young trout? At first, we thought they grew in the stream

for a couple of years and then went down to Moosehead to become the large squaretails the lake is famous for. We kept our traps in use from the time the ice went out until the stream was frozen, to catch and count these four-to-six-inch trout that "should be going down to Moosehead." We tried different kinds of traps, but fewer than two hundred little trout were found to be migrating each year. After five years, we concluded that there is no real migration of yearling trout, and we began to think in different terms.

While working on the stream in the early spring, we observed many trout fry in the deadwater area of the stream some distance below the riffles where they were spawned. At first, we did not attach much meaning to this, but after discovering that there is no sizeable migration of four-to-sixinch trout, we wondered if the

...-"¡s fry migrated immediately after coming out of their gravel nests.

These newly-hatched fry are only one inch long and will go through ordinary traps. So we made special traps with window screening and set them in the water early this spring. We spent some time watching the stream, and we found that the tiny fry were, indeed, going downstream. We saw them swim

10

down to the screening and purposely avoid it. The screening is so fine it probably looks like a solid wall to the trout.

Although we were not successful in trapping fry, we feel certain that most of the half million small trout produced in the stream do go down to the deadwater area soon after hatching, and probably continue to the lake shortly thereafter. It will be quite a job to trap and count the fry and find out when they enter the lake, but we hope to do so next season.

During the study of Socatean, we also used electric shockers to catch and mark hundreds of trout several miles up the stream.

None of the marked trout came down through our traps in the lower section of the stream.

This means that mature trout in the upper part rarely migrate in any number to contribute to the lake populations. We feel cer-

Two large fisht raps used in t he Socatean study were taken across the Moosehead ice by motor-drive n sled.

tain that at least the upper area of the stream, above the deadwater, could be opened to fishing without affecting the lake.

There are three kinds of streams that give us trouble in the trout stream management program. The first is the local brook where residents of the area caught trout years ago and cannot understand why they don't have trout there today. These

are usually brooks that have a very limited capacity to produce trout or that have been changed by man's use of land and water.

The only thing we can do with these streams is to stock legalsized trout for the people to catch immediately. Very few trout can be expected to stay there the year round. Large, hatchery trout are expensive to grow; therefore, the numbers are limited.

The second kind of troublesome brook is the very cold one.

Here, trout are abundant but don't grow big enough during their short life span. Actually, these small trout should be caught and kept bâ‚Źcause many will die of old age without reaching legal length. In order to harvest these small trout, however, special regulations would have to be in effect on the particular streams. You can see that a shorter length-limit on some streams would make it difficult for wardens to enforce the sixinch limit anywhere. Some improvement occurs on this kind of stream when beaver build a series of ponds. The shallow ponds allow the water to warm up somewhat, and the trout respond by growing faster.

The third troublesome situation involves the brook, stream, or river flowing into a lake or pond noted for its good trout fishing. In this case, we are concerned with good streams that can provide recreation for the ardent stream or brook fisherman. The questions that need to be answered are: Can these streams be open to fishing without harming the trout fishing in the lake or pond that they flow into? If such streams can be kept open to fishing, what regulations are needed to protect the spawning runs? Which is more important, the lake fishery or the stream fishery?

The last question could start quite an argument between a dyed-in-the-wool stream fisherman and a pond fisherman, but, since we have both critters in Maine, we must and can manage the waters to benefit both.

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

Teachers attending courses at Bryant Pond enjoy the field trips which take them to such scenic spots as shown above, Mt. Blue State Park.

At the Bryant Pond campus,

Progress in Conservation Education

By Franklin A. Downie Conservation Education Director are the basic building blocks of the state's economy.

Yet this obvious fact somehow seems to escape us in our feverish activities to build a better life.

Intelligent use of these natural resources as our basic building blocks is the responsibility of everyone, but knowing what to do and how to do it calls for instruction and education. Developing the proper attitude toward our resources is the prime objective of Maine's Conservation School.

The school is situated on the shore of Christopher Lake in the village of Bryant Pond and is- attended by school teachers and other adult -groups as well as by young people.

Directing the school is Franklin A. Downie, who has two regular instructors on the resident staff. They are professors Robert Miller MAINE'S NATURAL RESOURCES

Maine Fish and Game=-- Fall, 1961

,,_

-+Director of the School, Franklin A. Downie, left, helps explain how to estimate the height of a tree.

Prof. Robert Miller of the faculty is at the right.

Courses cover enough basic material to give the students a good grasp of lumbering, agriculture, and so on.

They learn why conservation is necessary and how it's carried out. ~

Covering fishery management, Dr. W. Harry Everhart, chief of the Fishery Division of the Fish and Game Department, shows how water is analyzed to determine its quality.

~

One of the subjects covered by Game Division personnel is trapping. Ken Hodgdon, assistant division-chief, lectures during one of the outdoor class sessions on the campus.

of Farmington State Teachers' College and John Mudge of Gorham State Teachers' College. College credit is given those teachers who attend the workshop sessions. Among the facilities for use by groups on the campus are the stone lodge which is used as a study hall, a new dining and recreation hall, two new dormitories, and the 120 acres of the campus which provides many opportunities for study of trees, shrubs, birds, animals, and so on.

Since 1957, summer workshops for teachers have been held at the Conservation Campus. Teachers learn at first hand of the natural resources of the state, and they learn, too, what is being done to manage these riches properly.

Specialists from several resource agencies, give teachers up-to-date information on the various resources, and they explain what conservation practices are and how they work. Sending their top specialists to the workshop sessions are the U. S. Soil Conservation Service; the Maine Departments of Agriculture, Forestry, Inland Fisheries and Game, Sea and Shore Fisheries, and State Parks; and the Water Resource and Water Improvement commissions.

These experts familiarize the teachers with the activities, objectives, and practices of their agencies.

They provide an outdoor laboratory experience in Maine resources which can be obtained only at the Conservation Campus. All classes are held outdoors.

Playing an important part in this program are field trips to areas where good conservation practices may be observed. The campus itself is a sizeable laboratory, with fine facilities for demonstrations.

Besides these teacher workshops, instruction is provided, on a less intense scale, to youth groups from schools, the Maine Grange, 4-H clubs, and

scouting units. These young people each spend a week on the campus, where they receive instruction from some of the same specialists who work with the teachers.

The future of Maine's natural resources rests in the hands of our youth, and their teachers realize that the correct attitude is all-important. If the children are to develop an awareness of the great need for conservation, the teachers must take their newly-gained knowledge to the classrooms. There, it must be made a part of the regular teaching schedule. Only in this way will our youth get the benefit of the Conservation School and learn the roles they must play in providing a heritage for themselves and future generations.

The ruin caused by forest fires is shown dramatically by a model supplied for exhibition by the Maine Forest Service. Complete with model trucks and other equipment, the scene was displayed in the study hall.

At left, Robert L. Dow, marine research Director for the Sea and Shore Fisheries Department, tells how this special fence protects clams from green crabs, their main enemy.

12

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

Game Kill Questionnaires Every year, about 7 per cent of Maine hunters are asked to fill out questionnaires about their hunting success. Here's the reason why their co-operation is valuable to then1selves and others

By Kenneth W. Hodgdon Assistant Chief, Game Division the hunting season is over, there is always the age-old question asked by many sportsmen, "How many ( deer, partridge, rabbits, etc.) were shot this year?", or "It seems that there were less deer shot here this year - wonder if that's true all over the state?"

For twelve years in succession now, the Game Division has been finding the answers to these questions through its game kill questionnaire. The system is like the hunter's way of finding out the kill in his home territory: He asks as many others as he can. The questionnaire does this in a 7 per cent random sample of all hunters licensed in Maine.

This sample is taken by license number from department files; the list for the 1960 game kill study included 11,593 names. The books weren't closed until December 31, 1960, and when the bulk of the license stubs were received in the Augusta office, it was late in January, so the first contact with the sample of hunters could not be made until February. For those who forgot to answer the first letter, a second (reminder) was sent, and eventually a third if necessary.

Our Maine sportsmen do quite well in answering these requests for their help; responses from year to year have varied from 65 to 87 per cent. This year we received a 65 per cent response.

Certain changes in the questionnaire have been made at different times over the years, and the most recent was in 1959. It involved the addition of questions about when and where the hunter went for his sport and how much time he spent. The answers have been very helpful, and these questions were included again in the 1960 questionnaire.

WHEN

Maine Fish and Game-Fall, 1961

Partridge Rabbits Ducks Pheasants

41,200

Woodcock

33,300

Bear Gray squirrel

1,940 23,400

All waterfowl are grouped together in this study, but a more detailed breakdown of the Maine waterfowl kill is made in a waterfowl questionnaire conducted by the federal government with state cooperation.

For several reasons, some people who buy hunting licenses do not get the opportunity to go hunting. This is more common with residents than with nonresidents; the total for 1960 was 11 per cent.

Plans are being made now for a publication of the results of several years' questionnaires. The publication will be written by Harold Blanchard, regional biologist in Greenville, and John Gill, leader of deer management research in Orono, who conducted this year's questionnaire. It will come off the press in the spring of 1962 and will be available to the public, free of charge.

13

Junior Sportsmen

WILDLIFE QUIZ 1. The average black bear cub in Maine weighs less than one pound when it is born in January. How much may its weight average when it dens up the next fall?

2. True or false. Open water fishing in Maine ends Sept. 30.

3. How can you tell the difference between a salmon parr, a salmon smolt, and a brook trout?

4. True or false. The beaver is the second largest rodent in the world.

5. About how long would it take a beaver to cut down a five-inch willow tree?

The first of the fishing season brings out the youngsters with enthusiasm.

At Bingham this year, this scene

depicts typical activities; fishin', stomping to warm up the feet, and discussing ¡which lure is best.

A. B. C. D.

One minute.

Three minutes.

Eight minutes.

Fifteen minutes.

6. True or false. You can hold a queen bee in your hand without danger of being stung.

7. Can you tell a deer's age from its antlers?

This young lady does some fishing, too, but admiring fawns is also high on her list. Her name is Jayne Mincher, and her dad takes a few pictures for Maine Fish and Game, which explains how she got here. The fawn was only a couple of days old when it arrived at the game farm.

8. Name two fish species in Maine of which the male builds the nest and later guards the eggs and youngsters.

9. True or false. There are no poisonous snakes native to Maine.

10. What is the difference between landlocked and Atlantic salmon? ( Answers are on page 19)

14

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

Interest stays high even durin g coffee break

Stan Mate , left, and Carll Fenderson

The fo!ht against shooting mi haps

Safety Is No Accident!

Maine's campaign, in co-operation with the National Rifle Association, to teach hunting safety methods to young people is still growing. As Maine Fish and Game went to press, the list of N.R.A. instructors in the state had grown to more than six hundred, and the number of students they had trained was approaching 3,100.

Early this spring, Stanley Mate, of the Washington office of the N.R.A., conducted three public training sessions for department field personnel. The sessions were held to show those attending some of the best ways of teaching and also to familiarize them with the N.R.A. course so they may help volunteer instructors organize and conduct their classes to be of the greatest value. " Keep the action open when the gun's not in use!"

Audiences were very attentive

Maine Fish and Game-Fall, 1961

Humorous demonstrations, too, have their value

15

Text and photos

by Ken Gray "One for the stew! " Many rabbit hunters actually prefer to miss the rabbit when they shoot (although they won 't admit it) so the dogs can have a longer chase.

Beagles and THIS

LITTLE HOUND with a gay personality, with the expression of friendship on his face, is one of the most practical canine breeds that man has ever developed. Although beagles are ideal pets, they are eager to leave the comforts of home any time, for the hunt.

Originally used as a fox hound in England, the beagle has been bred down from about seventeen inches to fifteen inches or less, with some as small as five or six inches. The height is measured at the shoulders.

This versatile canine is a natural hunter and needs very little tutoring to develop into a rabbit hound. Some run their own bunnies at the age of five or six months. Many are also trained to hunt other animals and upland birds.

Beaglers enjoy their sport year round in Maine, with rabbit season open from October 1 through

Dogs to be cast are led back into the rabbit cover. When the field marshal gives the signal, they are all turned loose (cast) for the chase.

Before the hounds are cast, all dogs are measured for height. Dogs under thirteen inches run separately from those between thirteen and fifteen inches. Each dog has a number painted on its side to aid the judges in identification.

"Tally ho! " The snowshoe hare, when pressured by hounds, runs in circles with short bursts of speed. It spends much of its time resting while listening to the dogs run.

February or March, depending on locality. Field trials run through all but a few weeks in July and August. The trials are enjoyed by young and old alike. Entries in Maine this year came from handlers ten to eighty years of age, hailing from every section of New England.

As a pet for a youngster or a hunting companion for an oldster, the beagle is ideal in every respect.

Many of the country's best blood-lines are to be found in Maine kennels.

Bunnies

times a year. We would welcome your opinion on the suggestion.

Senator Muskie Writes I am enclosing a clipping from the [Washington Star] which includes some photos taken from your spring· edition of Maine Fish and Game. I thought that you and Ken Gray would be interested in seeing the use to which your good work is being put.

Congratulations and best wishes.

Edmund S. Muskie U. S. Senator, Maine

Letters of general interest are welcomed.

They should be signed, but

initials will be used on request.

Sharp Eyes As always, I have read with interest Maine Fish and Game, and think that the spring, 1961, issue was fine.

I would like to make inquiry as to the article "The Early Years," as both the picture on page 13 and page 15 look to me to be brown trout and not landlocked salmon. The spots are not typical, and the heavy square tail is a brown trout type tail and not salmontype.

Erastus Corning 2nd Mayor Albany, New York

Score one for the mayor of Albany! We checked the old photographs from which the cuts were made; written on the back of each is information telling about the pictures and calling the fish salmon. We didn't examine the photo as carefully as we should have. It is good, though, to know that we have readers who know their fish and fishing. A few others also picked up this error.

Monthly Magazine . This is the most outstanding fish and game booklet available to us here in Maine at the present time. I hope some day it can be published on a monthly basis. Again, congratulations

18

and best wishes for the corning fishing season.

George Hale WABI Radio Bangor, Maine

Quite a few readers have expressed interest in having Maine Fish and Game published more frequently. Some day, that may happen, but it takes a good bit of doing in manpower, etc. We feel that a higher quality magazine twice a year is better all around than a smaller and less attractive one more often.

Publish More Issues ... I, too, would like to see your publication become either a monthly or bi-monthly. . . . I suggest that the magazine be placed for sale . . . about two dollars a year for either the monthly or bi-monthly plan . . . .

John F. McPherHon Togus, Maine

As we said above, it takes a bit of doing. We have no plans for publishing more often but have often wondered whether the public would just as soon pay for the added expense of bringing out Maine Fish and Game four or six

We appreciated the letter and the clipping, which used some of Ken's photographs in an article the Star ran on fly tying. Our thanks to Senator Muskie for taking time to drop us a line.

Edibility of Fish I would like to see a survey of the Androscoggin River and an article on the edibility of the rainbow trout up there. . . . I have seen people use them for fertilizer, cat food, or just throw them in the garbage can because they say they're not palatable or edible. . . . It aggravates me because they will eat them when they catch them in the tributaries or on their spawning run in the spring.

R. P. Arsenault 623 Maple Street Rumford, Maine

License Fees NON-RESIDENT SEASON, FISHING ....... . $ 8.75 15-DAY, FISHING ....... .

5.75 (EXCHANGEABLE FOR SEASON ............. . . .

3.25) JUNIOR, FISHING ....... .

2.25 THREE DAY, FISHING .... .

3.75 BIG GAME ..... •'• ...... . 25.25 SMALL GAME ........... . 10.25 JUNIOR, SMALL GAME ... .

5.25 ARCHERY .............. . 10.25

RESIDENT FISHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

HUNTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

HUNTING & FISHING . . . .

ARCHERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. 75 2.75 5.25 4.25

For other fees please write to the department.

Maine J<'iHh and Game - Fall, 1961

New Council Chairman Dr. Alonzo H. Garcelon of Augusta is the newly elected chairman of the department's advisory council. He succeeds Maine Hills, Sr., of Belfast, who retired (see page 22).

Dr. Garcelon is a wellknown Maine sportsman, an expert on guns, and an outstanding benchrest shooter who has taken many a wards in regional and national competition.

The retirement of Mr. Hills left a vacancy on the council. Gov. John Reed has appointed Ralph R. Thompson of Belfast to be the new council member.

The question refers to the fact that these fish come from impure water. This letter was answered

by Lyndon H. Bond, assistant chief of the Fishery Division, and we pass along his comments for the benefit of other readers who may be interested: "These rainbow trout, ... as far as I know, are a fine table fish. A friend of mine fishes these tributaries and the main river where the tributaries enter, and always eats all of the fish that he catches.

There is no information that any of the rainbows taken in the Androscoggin could not be used as a food fish."

Bear Photo Identified?

I recently had a Fall, 1960, issue of Maine Fish and Game given to me by a friend. This is the first copy that I have seen, and I enjoyed reading it very much . . . .

The picture on page 24 was interesting to me since I think Henry W. Briggs took the picture when he was cooking at Yoke Pond Camps in the 1930's. ¡ I haven't seen this picture for several years so could be wrong. He put a string from the cupboard to the camera to set off the flash. The bear Maine :Fish and Game- Fall, 1961

was after hams in the cupboard. He cleared out fast when the flash went.

Kenneth S. Chapman Houlton, Maine

Likes Season Summaries . I was very much interested in the article "The 1959 Fishing Season in Maine" (spring, 1960, issue). I hope this particular article will become an annual thing, as it gives the members of the club a chance to compare their catches as the years go by.

I also would be very interested in an article on brook trout in the state, showing the top fish in, say, the past ten years.

John A. Dixon R.F.D. 3 South Brewer, Maine

Trout Study A change has been made in fishing regulations on two remote trout ponds that are the subjects of a study by the Fishery Division.

As of April 1, 1962, Johnson Pond, T. A, R. 10, which has been closed, will be open to fishing under the general law, except that live fish may not be used as bait.

Jo Mary Pond, T. B, R. 10, which has been open, will be closed to all fishing for 1962 and 1963.

Both ponds are located about eighteen miles west of Millinocket.

We plan to continue the summaries of previous seasons, both fishing and hunting. An article on the brook trout is in the works and may appear in our next issue.

Changing your address? If you want Maine Fish and Game to follow you, please let us know your new address. The magazine will NOT be forwarded automatically.

Write to the editor, at the address shown at top of page 18.

Answers to Wildlife Quiz on Page 14 1. The cub could weigh nearly one hundred pounds, but seventy pounds would probably be about average.

2. False. It used to end then, but October fishing is permitted now in certain bodies of water and for warmwater fish only.

3. The parr and the brook trout would most likely be confused, as their markings are similar. The parr has vertical bars on its sides and has red spots like â&#x20AC;˘a trout. But it has black spots, too, especially on the back and its tail is fairly well forked. The brook trout has a squarish tail, no black spots except when very young, and has dark, wavy, wormlike lines on its back. The vertical bars on the sides change, as the fish ages, to a marbled arrangement of the general marking. The salmon smolt has a silvery sheen that covers the red spots and the bars, although the black spots can still be seen; its tail is wellforked.

4.

True.

5.

B.

The largest rodent is the capybara, of South America.

That's a lot of chewing in three minutes!

6. True. stings.)

Queens sting only other queens.

(Drones, or male bees, have no

7. Not reliably, although older bucks usually have larger antlers and more points.

8. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, sunfish, stickleback, and black crappy.

All but the stickleback are members of the sunfish family, by the way.

9. True. A timber rattler might find its way into extreme southern Maine, but it's been about one hundred years since one has been captured.

10. They are considered to be the same fish, structurally. The Atlantic not long from salt water has a silvery color, but time in fresh water brings out darker shades and the fish closely resembles the landlocked salmon although the Atlantic may be much larger. Both fish have the same scientific name Salmo salar Linnaeus.

19

Fish and Game Management in Maine

The Recent Years Concluding a two-part article

By Harvey Elliot

in 1900 were really worried. Their chief concern was that some day they might have to pay to hunt and fish.

One year before, the "September Law" had required Maine hunters to buy a four dollar license if they wanted to kill a deer in September besides the two allowed during the regular season later in the fall, when a license was not required.

The rub, though, was this: Although there had been closed seasons on deer and moose since 1830, and, since 1873, the first bag limit on deer had restricted each hunter to three deer a year, Maine residents had never before been charged to hunt and fish in their own state.

Mainers had always felt that the wild birds and animals of their forests, the leaping fish of their streams and lakes, were fair game for anyone skillful enough to take them.

But the more far-sighted realized that game and fish must MAINE

20

FOLKS

be conserved like any other resource, else hunting and fishing would become steadily worse.

Conservation would cost money, and the fairest way to get it would be by licensing hunters and fishermen themselves.

It didn't happen right away, but by the 1920's, resident licenses were pretty well established. Hunting licenses were set up for Maine residents in 1919, and resident fishing licenses within a few years. Each cost twenty-five cents. The resident license fees went to fifty cents, in 1929, for either hunting or fishing, and one dollar for a combination license.

Non-residents had been paying two dollars for a season fishing license since 1917, when 7,500 visiting sportsmen bought them for the first time. The fee went to three dollars in 1921.

Now there was a source of income to support the work of conservation and management of fish and game resources. Laws were passed to help make sure

Not long after the turn of the century, at the old Auburn hatchery, Supt.

John Stanley, left, and Truman Damon are ready to strip a brook trout.

that Maine fish and wildlife species would not be depleted like the caribou and blueback trout.

Hunting and fishing were growing in popularity, and management of the resources was a necessity.

The supply of ducks has regulated the open season on them, which makes a good "for instance." In 1905, the Maine duck season was four full months, from September 1 through December 31. In Hancock County, in 1907, a law was passed setting open season on goldeneye ducks from November 1 through March 31 of the following year, with fifteen birds a day allowed each hunter.

Today, with fewer ducks and more hunters, the picture has changed. Last year's season was split, from October 7 through October 29 and from November Maine FiRh and Game - Fall, 1961

19 through December 10. The day's bag limit was three ducks per hunter.

Another law, one which has helped the game wardens in the battle against market hunters, is the federal Lacey Act of 1900.

It prohibits shipping illegallykilled game or fish across state lines or U. S. borders with Canada and Mexico. Also, it provides that game taken into another state or country is subject to its laws.

less, the legal deer kill has grown, over the years. The record, 41,735, did not occur long years ago but in 1959. In 1920, the kill was 5,829; in 1930, 13,098; in 1940, 22,201; in 1950, 39,216; and in 1960, 37,774.

The number of hunting licenses sold in Maine, both resident and non-resident, has increased, but not as much, percentagewise, as the deer kill. The number of hunting licenses sold in 1920 was 27,164; 1930, 74,951; 1940, 98,019; 1950, 153,222; and in 1960, 186,092.

Comparisons of numbers of fur-bearing animals trapped in Maine in 1909 and 1959 show that things have not necessarily gone from bad to worse as far as game in the Pine Tree State is concerned: Mink Raccoon Otter Beaver Muskrat Weasel Bobcat

1909 658 40 97 395 2,045 348 23

1959 2,766 3,011 416 6,819 20,613 585 198

JN1907, the sale of trout, land-

locked salmon, togue, white perch, and black bass was prohibited by law. The emphasis in the hatchery system, meanwhile, was shifting from landlocked salmon to trout.

Trout were more difficult to hatch successfully, so their gain in popularity forced the improvement of operating methods. The improvements resulted in a 90 per cent survival of fish eggs by 1916. By 1920, fish were being transported by trucks instead of railroad trains.

The years passed, and there was a consolidation of hatchery units which has resulted in a drop in the cost per pound of fish raised. Today, there are seven hatcheries and six rearing stations in Maine, far fewer than the thirteen hatcheries and nineteen rearing stations the department operated in 1932. Fish are held at the rearing stations to a larger size nowadays before stocking, and more of them live after they're planted.

Deer, the state's most important game animal, also came in for management. During the 1907 and 1908 deer seasons, York and Cumberland counties had a bucks-only law. Except for those instances, though, Maine has always had the any-deer law.

The number of hunters kept growing, and in 1926, the legislature limited all hunters in Maine to one deer each season instead of the two that had been allowed since 1892. NevertheMaine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

THE OLD AND THE NEW Above, the Auburn hatchery, 191 O; bel ow, Cobb hatchery at Enfield , 1959

21

'T'l!E DEPARTMENT hired its first .!engineer in 1932, and construction began on the state game farm in Gray. Next year, 1,660 pheasants from the farm were stocked. Additions to hatching and breeding facilities have brought increases in the number of pheasants. In 1940, 85-hundred were released, in 1949, 17-thousand, and in 1960, 30-thousand.

Scientific management of game species was becoming recognized as the best method, and collegetrained fishery and game biologists soon became members of the department. Game research in Maine before 1938 was done by wardens, along with their many other duties. The first game biologists were hired the year after the Pittman-Robertson bill of 1937 was passed by Congress. It provides federal funds for conservation of game animals and birds.

A similar bill, the DingellJohnson bill of 1951, provides funds for fishery research and management; and the department hired fishery biologists that year for the first time. Until then, fishery research had been handled by hatchery men.

Progress elsewhere brought about the Warden Flying Service in 1937. It is used for backcountry patrols, search and rescue work, stocking fish in remote waters, aerial photography, and other activities.

rpnAY, there are seven divisions in the department: Administration, Engineering, Fishery, Game, Hatchery, Information and Education, and Warden Service. The department employs about 230 persons; the largest division, with 120, is the Warden Service.

The department, however, can do no more than guide the way in conservation of fish and game. The thousands of sportsmen and women in Maine and the thousands who come here

to hunt and fish are those who do the real job. Willingness of Maine sportsmen to do more than their share in fish and game management is shown in many ways.

Sportsmen and department employees are working today, as they have down through the years, with the aim of maintaining and increasing the supply of fish and game in Maine.

The outlook for the future of Maine's wildlife resources seems not bleak but rather bright.

The first class at warden training school, University of Maine: Left to right, front row: Archer Grover, Levi Dow;. George Stobie, commissioner; Caleb Scribner; W. L. Brown; Raymond Ingraham; Daniel Malloy; Roy Gray;

deputy commissioner; Joseph Stickney; W. B. Small; second row : Irvin Smith , Charles Green, Guy Nelson, Morse; Lloyd Clark; Lester Brown; third row: Elmer Adelbert Piper; Verne Black ; W. Earle Bradbury.

Chairman of Advisory Council Retires

Maine Hills, Sr.

22

With twenty-eight years' service, Maine Hills of Belfast retired this summer after seven annual terms as chairman of the Maine Fish and Game Department Advisory Council.

Now seventy-six, he still works from nine to five every day in his own drug store. With his retirement from the advisory council, he hopes to have more evenings and week ends free for hunting and fishing.

Bright-eyed and proud, soft-spoken and pleasant, Maine says he'd "rather catch a trout from a quiet brook under an alder any day than out of a boat on some lake."

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

Anyone who hasn't seen the Indian Rock smelt run at Rangeley in the springtime has missed a really good time. On May 6 this year, there was a heavy run of smelts, and about 1,100 fishermen took around 2,800 quarts of smelts.

I checked one smelter who had lost his wife and wanted to know if I had seen her. I replied that I hadn't. He said, "Why haven't you?" Then I told him, "Sir, I would not know your wife."

Another smelter, who did not seem to be in poor spirits, was soaking wet. He told me he had lost his false teeth in the river ($150 worth) , but he added, "I am having one hell of a good time, and now I am going to gum a hotdog." I told him that perhaps a smelter would d1p up his choppers, as they were shoulder to shoulder, dipping.

Dr. Vik of Norway, who is studying tapeworm in salmon and who had obviously never been in a canoe, stepped into a canoe and had no more than sat down when over it went. He said to a warden, "That is a stupid craft."

One group of men had no smelts or nets, and I asked what they were doing. They said that they had been watching the crowd and taking pictures, as it was "much better than a circus." They added that they come up every year from Massachusetts for this performance.

I would like to have a psychiatrist go up on the smelt run some time, as I have always classed smelting as a disease.

- Warden Supervisor Jack Shaw, Strong D

D

D

Apparently all the bear in Baxter State Park have read the big, bold letters, NO FIREARMS ALLOWED, on signs throughout the park. ConseMaine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

quently, the bear is as conspicuous as the fisherman at the Fowler Ponds in T. 5, R. 9. When undemocratic anglers don't offer to share their food, the bear just walk into the lean-tos and help themselves.

Now, Kenneth Willett and his wife, of Patten, would share their food with any hungry passer-by in the woods, but they do like to s1eep late in the mornings. Mrs. Bruin and her babies, though, have the habit of arising and eating early in the day. So, one recent Sunday morning, the Bruin family decided to have breakfast before the Willetts were up.

Mrs. Bruin was in the lean-to, sorting over the food, when the trouble started.

There would have been no trouble, had the Willetts been alone, but their pet dog was along. He is strictly a town dog and is not informed on the democratic ways of the woods. So, naturally, he tackled the big intruder. Old friendships were forgotten as Ken clobbered Mrs. Bruin with the camp axe.

In spite of vocal support from her cubs, Mrs. Bruin was taking a licking, and she soon withdrew to concealment nearby.

Now I know how the expression "a bear for punishment" originated, for she was back for more within a half hour. Ken, who had cooled off some, told the bear he had no personal quarrel with her but that he was ready to protect his dog, no matter what! They called a truce right then and there and parted as good friends as ever.

- Warden Sherwood Howes, Patten D

D

D

For three days, a woman living on Longfellow Ave., Brunswick, kept hearing a noise in her fireplace chimney. She and her husband discussed it and decided that it was probably being caused by either a squirrel or chimney swifts. On the evening of the third day, they heard a commotion in the fireplace itself. When they looked, they found a black duck, apparently in good health. The man caught it, carried it outdoors, opened his hands, and away she flew!

- Game Biologist Howard E. Spencer, Jr., Orono D

D

D

Nature usually takes pretty good care of wildlife, but twice during the past year in the Greenville area she did the snowshoe hares wrong. Last fall, the snow was late in coming, but the rabbits changed their brown coats for white right on schedule. The protective coloration didn't work so well with white rabbits on bare ground. Then, this spring, the snow stayed late, and the rabbits went through their change of attire per usual. Then they were brown on white ground!

- Game Biolog¡ist Harold Blanchard, Greenville

23

Care and Common Sense Minimize the Problems of

easants Successfully

By Bill Mincher Only one week old, these pheasant chicks require careful treatment.

HE BASIC RECIPE for success in ra1smg ringnecked pheasants can be summed up in just five words: Use care and common sense. To be sure, there are a few dangers to watch for, but common sense and care will do nicely as the main ingredients. With this formula, up to thirty thousand of these sporty game birds are raised each year in Maine for stocking in the fall.

Since the pheasant program began in the Pine Tree State, more than 450,000 birds have been hatched at the Fish and Game Department's game farm located at Gray. The program began in 1933 and is now a co-operative project in which both individuals. and groups of sportsmen take part.

These co-operators receive their birds after the pheasants have gone through what is probably the most critical part of their lives. They have had expert, professional care at the game farm, under the supervision of its manager, John Bentley. Using proper equipment and knowledge safeguards the young birds during the time when they are most likely to have trouble.

Most of the eggs used for hatching come from the brood stock of around 1,500 mature birds that are kept at the game farm each winter. Automatic incubators hold the temperature of the eggs at 991/2 degrees for twenty-one days. The machines turn the eggs from side to side every two hours, also, actually taking better care of them than a female pheasant could.

As the temperature is important in assuring the hatching of as many eggs as possible, so is it important in keeping the newborn chicks healthy. As soon as they're hatched and counted, the birds go into electrically heated brooders, in groups of about 450. For a week, the brooder temperature stays at

24

90-92 degrees; then it is gradually reduced until, at the end of four weeks, the chicks can manage without artificial heat. Two or three more weeks go by, and the shipment of birds to co-operators begins.

At this point, some of the pheasants go to persons who haven't raised this kind of bird before. For them and for others who are interested, this art\cle lists some of the areas in which special attentiorl is needed.

the most important thing to remember is that pheasants must have drinking water available at all times. They should have food before them, too, but the water is an absolute necessity for their well-being.

Their pens must be absolutely bird-tight, as pheasants can escape through relatively small openings. Wire fencing of one-inch mesh (no larger) should be used for the lower two feet of the fencing

P

ERHAPS

Maine Fish and Game -

Fall, 1961

around the pen. This wire should run down into the earth at least six inches, not only to keep the birds in but also to keep rodents out. Above eighteen inches from the ground, less expensive wire with two-inch mesh may be used; it should be laced to the finer mesh and to the wooden or metal framework supporting the fencing. The two-inch-mesh wire should go over the top of the pen, with no openings a bird might use for escape.

The outdoor pen should be large enough in area to prevent crowding. A minimum of fifteen square feet per bird is recommended. This may seem like too much for birds at the age of six weeks, but they grow rapidly, and fifteen square feet is barely enough when they get their growth. The best kind of ground for the pen is either a sod or brushy area, not bare earth.

Brush shelters should be provided in the yard ; they may be built by piling pine branches on a stake or other support, leaving a space about eighteen inches high under the branches so the birds can get some shelter.

floor space can be less than the area required for the outdoor yard or pen.

As for food, any commercial turkey- or gamebird-grower is satisfactory. It should be in pellet form, and the birds should be fed from a hopper. To combat a tendency of the pheasants to peck at one another, pull feathers, etc., part of the upper mandible or beak is removed at the game farm. The process makes the use of the beak somewhat less efficient in eating, so feeding by a hopper is beneficial; the birds have less trouble eating the pellets from the hopper than they would if they had to pick food from the ground. Ordinarily, the pheasants will not require a second debeaking even though the beak grows back. However, if birds are kept too long in a confined area, they may start feather pulling again, and it may once more be necessary to debeak them.

the story on raising pheasants. A few points to remember, plus care and common sense, result each year in providing another kind of game bird for Maine hunters. Pheasants make many a fine hunting day, grace many a dinner table, and take some of the pressure off our native grouse. In coastal areas, especially, some birds have established residence with success and withstand the winter snow and decrease in food supply. They, along with the birds that are stocked in advance of the hunting season each year, contribute to the annual bag of more than 35,000 ringnecks in Maine.

T HAT'S

V-type shelters of wood, aluminum, etc., are even better and need not be elaborate in design or too expensive.

Pheasants must have protection from the weather, and a building of some kind is needed. I ts :Maine Fish and Game-Fall, 1961

25

Financial Statement

Annual

By C. Keith Miller, Business Manager

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Game is operated for and supported by the sportsman.

Funds for department operations come from dedicated revenue - income from the sale of licenses, from fines, fees, and so on - and not from tax money.

The department was in sound financial condition at the close of the fiscal year, with revenues up a little over previous years. Budgets are prepared on the basis of estimates made before the end of the year, and any revenue in excess of these estimates will be used in following years for non-recurring capital expenses.

The "operating capital" reserve is required to carry the department through the first few months of the fiscal year when revenues are at their lowest level. The "emergency" reserve is maintained to finance department operations in the event of, for example, a closing of the woods because of fire danger, which would cause a drop in license sales revenue.

Capital expenses included (in round figures) $14,000 by the Warden Service for the headquarters building at the Greenville plane base; $9,000 by Warden Aircraft on buildings and improvements at

For the fiscal year from the base; and $3.5,000 by the game farm for a new brooder house and equipment.

Balance forward, July 1, 1960 ..... .

Adjustment to balance forward ... .

Cash balance, July 1, 1960 ....... .

Total revenues ................. .

Total available ................. .

Less total disbursements ..... .

Cash balance June 30, 1961 ...... .

Earmarked for emergency reserve " " operating capital .. " " commitments made Unencumbered cash June 30, 1961 ..

Budgeted for next fiscal year ..... .

Unencumbered cash reserved to be available for renovation and construction during spring, summer, and fall of 1962 .............. .

$ 904,457.58

330.26 904,787.84 2,238,222.11 3,143,009.95 2,059,348.43 1,083,661.52 250,000.00 150,000.00 202,757.95 480,903.57 290,485.00

190,418.57

Nonresident hunting licenses

-+-Nonresident fishing licenses

30.20%

16.76%

Resident hunting licenses

12.76%

IneoJDe Resident fishing licenses

11.55%

Resident combination licenses

9.14%

Federal aid: PR

8.35%

Fines and fees

4.10%

Warden Service

All other r evenue

-

3.45%

Federal aid: DJ

Resident guide-trap licenses

2.47%

1.22%

Information-Education Division

Engineer-

2.48%

1.81%

~

Hatchery Division

40.16% 26

14.27%

Outgo Game Division (75% PR)

13.01%

Fishery Division (32% DJ)

8.31%

Administration costs

6.41%

All other costs

5.79%

Game farm

3.91%

Warden aircraft

3.85%

ing

Division

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

Report July 1, 1960, through June 30, 1961

Fishery Division

By Dr. W . Harry Everhart, Division Chief

Bass introductions. To provide more sport to continually growing numbers pf fishermen, smallmouth bass were introduced in 1960 to three ponds, and largemouths to six ponds. Since 1956, smallmouth populations have been established in fourteen lakes and largemouths in fifty-three. The bass, free from tapeworm, go only into lakes where they can thrive without harming existing game fish populations.

Pond reclamations. A pond where rough fish outnumber game fish is unattractive to anglers; the cure is to remove all fish and start over with trout only. Eighty Maine ponds have been reclaimed in the past ten years, and the program is continuing.

A safe, sure, but expensive chemical called rotenone has been used for killing the fish; during the past year, toxaphene - much less costly - has been tested with encouraging results.

Oxygen studies. Water quality in many Maine trout ponds was studied last winter. Ice and snow keep the sun from the water ; and plants, both tiny and large, continue to use up oxygen. In several ponds, the lack of oxygen became worse until ice-out and spring run-off. It wouldn't take long for extremely low oxygen levels to limit seriously or even eliminate trout populations.

Union River. The inventory or survey of this Hancock County river was completed. Fishery management there is complicated by a large impoundment - Graham Lake - and two dams. Studies will be made of travel of Atlantic salmon and alewives from the sea to spawn and from nursery areas to the sea.

Other investigations. Work with the lamprey eel continues at Love Lake, Washington County. Lampreys have not yet caused any extensive damage in Maine inland lakes, but the division wants to be ready to control them if necessary.

The creek chubsucker which lives in southern Maine competes with game fish for space and perhaps for food. Very little is known of its life history and habits, and a study has been started.

Lake surveys. Completion of ninety new lake studies brought to 1,130 the total of management and sounding maps available. The use of tiny amounts of radioactive carbon has begun, to gain another measure of a lake's ability to produce fish.

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

Biologist Keith Havey weighs a salmon, in connection with a study at Love Lake , Washington County.

Partly built Denil fishway at Little Falls, Pennamaquan River. An aerial view is on page 28.

Engineering Division

---

By Laurence F . Decker, Chief Engineer

Buildings. Division personnel designed and supervised construction of a 20' x 228' brooder house at the game farm, and also a storage shed. Two double garages were built at the Governor Hill hatchery; a four-bay garage and a 34' x 43' area headquarters building at Greenville; and a two-bedroom addition to the duplex dwelling at Embden. The headquarters building at Greenville has office and storage space for the Warden Service and the Fishery and Game Divisions, and sleeping space for use by department personnel working in the area.

Surveys. Extensive surveys were made at the Grand Lake Stream hatchery in Washington County, which is being rebuilt, and at the Conservation Campus at Bryant Pond. Property lines were estab-

Above are two views of the same spot on the Northwest River at East Sebago. Blasting a channel has made it much easier for migrating fish to go upstream, with a twofoot jump eliminated.

A combination of two kinds of fishway is shown here. From the top of the picture, fish use the Denil fishway to reach a resting pool, then take a pool-fishway to get to the quiet water above the dam. This is Little Falls, Pennamaquan River, at Pembroke.

28

Engineer C layton G rant surveys a section of Brownfield Bog , a department game managem ent area .

lished there and at the Governor Hill hatchery in Augusta. Lesser surveys were made of fishway and dam sites in several localities.

Dams. A timber control dam was designed for the outlet of Massachusetts Bog in Massachusetts Gore Township. Division personnel made alterations on the Chesterville marsh dam, and dams were built at Sorrento and Charlotte for the waterfowl propagation program. Preliminary engineering and construction have been done at Scarboro and Brownfield marshes. Material was ordered for repairing the Sebago hatchery dam at Raymond this summer.

Fishways. The fishway at the outlet of Cold Stream Pond in Enfield was completely rebuilt, and the one at the outlet of the Great Works game management area at Edmunds was rebuilt and considerably enlarged. Eleven other fishways were designed, and engineering personnel built two of them for stateowned dams.

Other work. A large fish-weir was designed and

Badly needed at the game farm was this new brooder house which is now in operation. It helps prevent crowding of pheasant chicks and also allows other facilities to operate with more efficiency in the production of pheasants for stocking in Maine covers.

built by engineering personnel at the inlet of Love Lake, in Washington County, to be used by the Fishery Division in a study of salmon and lampreys.

The booklet "Fishways in Maine" was slightly revised and re-issued to inform the public about the nature of fishways as built in the state.

Designs have been completed for additions to the Wade station at Casco, consisting of a new hatchery-and-dwelling building and eight more concrete pools.

Hatchery Division and Grune Farm

By Stanley P. Linscott, Hatchery Superintendent

Production. The division completed its best year of operation in 1960, with more pounds of fish produced on less feed than ever before. A total of 193,587 pounds of brook, brown, and lake trout, and Atlantic and landlocked salmon were produced on 518,090 pounds of feed.

About seven thousand eggs were taken from wild brook trout and have been hatched. It's planned to use some of the fish in a reclaimed pond to see if they will live longer than two years, the life of the present stock. After two years, the rest will be crossed with hatchery fish in the same study.

Equipment. New transportation equipment resulted in more fish being transported, but fewer miles driven. All hatcheries now have aluminum troughs, and the truck tanks are also aluminum.

Water conditions. The only trouble occurred at Oquossoc and Littleton, whose fish were taken to other stations until the water temperatures dropped to suitable levels.

Wild salmon for stripping are taken from the Kennebago River, stripped at the Oquossoc hatchery, then released in the river.

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

Buildings. Plans were completed, and work started, on renovating the Grand Lake Stream hatchery. A new pipeline will be installed to improve the water supply; and fourteen new, 100-foot, concrete pools, a freezer plant, and a garage will be built.

Stations at Dead River, Birch River, and Newport will be put on a stand-by basis in 1961, with personnel transferred to other stations. The division plans to produce enough fish, without those units, to fulfill biologists' recommendations and requests from the fishing public.

Personnel. The year marked the end of a very successful career for the retiring superintendent, Gerry Wade, who has given much of his life to the improvement of fish cultural operations in Maine. Richard Morton resigned from his position at Raymond.

Plans. On order are 200,000 lake trout eggs from Manitoba, and fish are to be stripped at Cold Stream Pond for more. A new site at East Grand Lake will be explored for salmon eggs. Also ordered are 150,000 brown trout eggs and 1,050,000 brook trout eggs. It is hoped to supplement these last with 300,000 brook trout eggs from hatchery stock.

Game farm. Completion of a third brooder house

at the game farm in Gray has greatly improved hatching and rearing facilities for pheasant chicks.

With brooding equipment and space increased by about 50 per cent, it is now possible to hatch around 32,000 birds and complete this part of the operation two or three weeks earlier than before. This means that in the future, all birds released before the hunting season will have that much more time for growth. More mature pheasants will have better plumage, will be stronger fliers, and will better test the skill of the hunter and his dog.

Members of fish and game clubs requested more than 15,000 six-weeks-old chicks this year to raise under the department's co-operative plan. That's the largest number applied for since the program began.

Visitors to the game farm continue to enjoy the animal and bird exhibits in great numbers.

Aerating water in the tanks on the fish truck helps keep the fish healthy during their ride. Arthur Hall loads brook trout at .Palermo hatchery.

Game Division Dy W . H. DeGarmo, Division Chief

Deer. Poor weather and hunting conditions in 1960 were largely responsible for the deer kill drop to 37,774. With the season the first under the recently established zoning, there were encouraging signs that there was some shifting of hunting pressure toward Zone Three (northern Maine).

Work was continued in the co-operative venture with the U. S. Forest Service on the White Mountain National Forest. This work included the preservation of evergreen shelter in one deer yard. Elsewhere in deer yard management, plans were pre-

30

pared and approved for leasing cover strips in eight yards. The cover strips are left for the benefit of deer (and other wildlife) through co-operation of timberland owners in their cutting operations.

A major deer bulletin, "Deer in Maine," was completed by Chester F. Banasiak and is available to the public.

Investigations. Research work continued on deer and also on waterfowl, fur resources, annual game kill, and the effects of potato top sprays. Considerable progress was made in beginning work on the study of the snowshoe hare, an inventory of Maine wetlands, and on the possibility of using beaver as wetlands managers.

Development work. Two small marshes were built on leased lands in Charlotte and Sorrento. Maintenance of state-owned and leased areas is creating more work each year. In Washington County, a new fishway was built at the upper dam on the Pennamaquan River, and improvements were made to one at the Great Works game management area. Goose pasturage was continued at Swan Island.

Detailed surveys and engineering plans are being completed for the beginning of the Brownfield game management area, and a management plan is being prepared for Swan Island.

Land purchase. The major effort was still on the Scarboro marshes, with the purchase of a seven hundred acre segment of the area about 80 per cent complete at year's end. Work was also under way on the purchase of an area of about four hundred acres in the town of St. Albans. A long-term option was obtained on a tract of land on the Weskeag marshes near Thomaston.

Game Biologist Kenneth Anderson prepa res to release a female hooded merganser, found as he was checking the use of nesting boxes.

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

A Warden Service Cessna has its fish tanks filled with water. The planes carry many fish to remote lakes.

Indicated by the arrow is an access site on the Muddy River at Topsham, acquired by the department. A parking area will be developed there.

Warden Service

By Elmer H. Ingraham, Chief Warden

Radios. A change in State Police radio frequency last fall required a change in warden radios, which use the same frequency. New sets have been bought and installed. A spare set in each division is used to replace any improperly operating set. Making repairs at the convenience of the technician ¡s aves time and travel.

Night hunting. In some areas, there was more night hunting last fall than in other recent years.

During the fiscal year, 340 cases were prosecuted the largest number for any one year since mandatory penalties were enacted into law.

Dogs and deer. The problem of dogs chasing deer continues in settled areas. It involves not only the loss of deer but also much warden time in some districts through the winter.

There was sentiment in the 1961 Legislature for finding better ways to combat this situation, including the hiring of more wardens. The chief warden believes that hiring more wardens is justified by larger numbers of sportsmen and special fishing regulations but does not think it is the answer to the dog problem.

Wardens estimate that about 75 per cent of the Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

dogs they kill for chasing deer are either unlicensed or have no identifying tags.

Equipment. Two planes were traded: the ten-yearold Super Cub and one Cessna. A few more wardens have asked for state cars. There are now seventeen men using their own cars, with the others using state cars. Boat and motor needs have been filled.

Personnel. Maynard Marsh of Gorham has become assistant chief warden, and Charles Allen of Guerette has replaced him as supervisor of Division

A. With Warden Dale Speed as a subject, State Trooper Detective Blaine Ambler demonstrate s the use of the lie detector during a session of warden schooi.

Another warden is needed for the Clayton Lake section and will be appointed.

Salaries. With improvement in warden salaries, there is far less turnover in personnel. Several men with college training have taken warden examinations during the last year, including some this August. Men with interest and aptitude for warden work find college training beneficial to them and to the department.

Information and Education Division

By Carll N. Fenderson, Division Chief

Circulation of Maine Fish and Game continues to grow by leaps and bounds, particularly among outof-state readers. Work on the magazine takes up a good bit of the division staff's time, but public response more than justifies the effort. A second place award in the free magazine category from the American Association for Conservation Information in national competition last year wasn't too hard to take, either. The division has received one first and two second place awards for its publications in the last three years in AACI competition. It has been said that "he who blows horn loud loses wind fast."

But we just can't resist the opportunity since the magazine is one of the division's pet projects.

As the public becomes more safety conscious, division activities in this field increase. The hunting safety program, in co-operation with the National Rifle Association, is showing encouraging signs of progress. At the last count, more than- six hundred sportsmen had signed up as instructors with better than three thousand youngsters trained in the safe Ken Gray, I & E cinematographer, edits film for one of several motion pictures he has produced for the department.

Bill Mincher edits radio tape. About thirty radio stations in northern New England use department recordings.

use of firearms. Working with youngsters in the N.R.A. hunter safety training program is a tailormade project for fish and game clubs, and it is hoped that more Maine clubs will join the ranks this fall.

A letter or postcard to the I&E Division will bring information on how to get started with such a program.

Now that the department has been given the responsibility of administering the state's new boat regfstration law, the I&E Division is making plans for increased water safety campaign activities. A year's experience under the new law has shown the need for programs in the field of water safety.

Regular news releases continue to be the mainstay of the division's public relations program, with taped radio shorts distributed in northern New England. The demand for department photos continues heavy from a variety of outdoor media and newspapers.

Production of two badly needed films on Maine hunting and fishing is underway by the division staff. Several new prints were added to the film library during the year, and a number of worn out films were replaced.

The Christopher Lake Conservation School completed the summer with two teacher training workshops and a wide variety of youth education programs.

Maine Fish and Game - Fall, 1961

A deer was here

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and GamE_LJ_-t--t-+--+-+-+-+-+-+-t-1 1 1 State House Augusta, Maine

BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE

PA ID Permit No. 256 Augusta, Maine

Form 354 7 requested

-1~ r;tJ

i::z

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fl

1/11 ~~ \

RINGNECK

There is no problem in recognizing the sexes.

Moles ore brilliontly colored, but the femoles settle for less goudy dress. Femoles build nests, dorting in April in southern Moine, ond loy 1217 eggs which hotch in 23-24 days. The young feed moinly on insects, graduoting later to o diet of both seeds ond insects.

11

While much of Maine is not considered ideal pheasant cover in winter months, the ringneck can and does survive in some numbers. Pheasants are called ground feeders and rarely eat tree buds as the ruffed grouse do.

Stocking assures a good fall supply, and pheasants take some of the hunting pressure off the native ruffed grouse.

~'1··~~1.1·' r- \' \

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have been in North America for about 250 years. Maine ringnecks are descendants of Asiatic pheasants, of which there are several dozen varieties. The first recorded stocking of these birds in Maine was in 1897.

About 30,000 pheasants are produced annually at the Fish and Game Department game farm at Gray. Sportsmen help out in this program, and raise some of the birds at their own expense, starting with six-weeks-old chicks from the game farm. All pheasants are stocked before the fall hunting season, in areas open to the public.