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Show Fish and Game News Notes With the advent of recent heavy snows and cold weather, an increasing in-creasing number of inquiries have come daily to Department of Fish and Game offices and personnel relative to the feeding of pheasants. pheas-ants. It is during such weather that the birds are more readily . seen and it is then that many well-meaning well-meaning people believe the birds are in distress. Game managers note that conditions con-ditions so far this winter present no serious threat to pheasant populations pop-ulations over the state. They cite ample evidence and data to show that any supplemental supple-mental feeding of pheasants, even under the most severe conditions, generally results in more loss of birds and many detrimental effects ef-fects as compared to the beneficial benefic-ial results. During the latest critical winter periods of three and five years ago experiments were conducted in comparable areas where pheasants pheas-ants wintered. In some areas heavy feeding was done, in some less feeding, in others not at all. Results of these experiments showed the survival of birds to be about the same whether on the feed stations or left to the natural feed and habitat. Actual weights of birds trapped during both situations sit-uations indicated the birds left to shift for themselves were heavier heav-ier and in much better condition to face the elements. Pheasants, like most other creatures crea-tures of the wild, tend to become less thrifty when put on the "dole." It is known that they use up the limited' amount of natural feed found near a feeding station and then become more and more dependent upon the handout of grains from the feed bags. As birds may be concentrated by feeding, they become ready prey to their natural enemies. This data, plus the fact that only a portion of the state's pheasants phea-sants could be reached by a feeding feed-ing program, makes such feeding inadvisable even under extreme conditions.. In the near future approximately approximate-ly 150 antelope are expected to be ' released into the San Rafael Desert country of southeastern Utah, according to J. Perry Egan, director of the department of fish and game. Egan said the animals were being be-ing obtained through the cooperation coopera-tion of the Montana Game and Fish Department. Montana department de-partment personnel will trap the antelope in the vicinity of Helena, Hel-ena, where they will be loaded into specially equipped transports for the 850 mile journey to the desert des-ert planting site. The director noted ' that the present plant will be supplemental to the small herd of pronghorns in this area from an original stocking program in 1949. The additional ad-ditional animals should play an important part in building this herd to huntable populations. |