Salt Lake Telegram | 1939-08-26 | Page 10 | Backseat Driving

I FRANK K BAKER TELEGRAM SPORTS EDITOR This is a time of year when hen sportsmen can do much to conserve the duck population by being on the watch I for sick ducks on the marshes west of Salt Lake City 1 Fish and game wardens have picked up as many as ailing ailing ail au ail ail- ing ducks a day and removed them to fresh water where most of them fully recover in less than a week It is us a tremendous task however to patrol the marshes in search of the sick suck birds and whatever volunteer help can be supplied by the sportsmen themselves will be well worth while The present difficulty is called botulism and is caused by a germ living in alkaline soils So long as the water keeps moving moving moving ing through the marshes the disease is not very troublesome but with the pools drying up at this time of year a great many of migratory birds are infected If the ducks could or would fly flyaway away from the diseased pools to fresh water they would be well weH in short order The sicker ones however become too weak to move and the disease is fatal unless wardens and sportsmen provide them hospitalization around fresh water Many of the birds already picked up have been moved to fresh water facilities at the Salt Lake County Fish and Game farm Scott avenue The percentage of recoveries recoveries eries cries is remarkably high game leaders say And as soon as they are well again they simply fly flyaway away to their natural haunts According to Newell B. B Cook state fish and game commissioner commissioner com corn missioner there is no danger involved in handling and moving moving moving ing the birds If representatives of the duck clubs find many of the birds and notify fish and game authorities they'll be glad to make the necessary transfers Should in individual individual individual in- in sportsmen find a few scattered sick ducks they will save the birds' birds lives by moving them to the Jordan river or Surplus canal he pointed out