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[[preprinted seal on paper]]

[[underline]] C O P Y [[/underline]]

Dodge Land Company,

Chico, California.

July 28, 1918.


Honorable Clarence E. Lea,
c/o House of Representatives,
Washington, D. C. 

Dear Sir:

With regard contemplated legislation affecting migratory game birds, we desire to submit for your consideration certain facts regarding our experience during the last two seasons in the Sacremento Valley, with particular reference to wild ducks destroying crops of rice.

In the fall of 1916 we suffered less due to the ducks coming into the fields at night and eating rice, but being operators in a new section somewhat distant from the older rice growing section, the greater portion of the birds not being aware of the new feeding grounds passed over our fields to land further east or south.

Beginning with September 1917, ducks, more particularly of the Teal variety began coming in in large numbers to feed on the slightly matured rice; the inroads being most particularly noticed where the birds had also been found in 1916. Following a heavy storm on the Pacific Coast, the mallards came in in enormous flights, three flights arriving within a few hours one evening were estimated to contain 750,000 birds.

During the month of October and November the enormous number of ducks coming in necessitated our employment of large numbers of men with guns, skyrockets and sundry devices to scare off the birds, but these efforts were only partially successful. In some instances a flock of mallard arriving during the middle of the night would completely consume the crop on an area rangeing from a few acres, five or six, to fifteen or twenty acres. In one instance a patch of forty acres was completely consumed in one night. In another instance about fifteen acres of rice which had been cut and shocked were consumed, the ducks tearing down the shocks and also rearing apart the bundles.

We estimated the loss of rice incurred last season due to the depredation of the ducks to have had a market value of fifty thousand dollars. This loss had to be distributed on an area of 6500 acres.