Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
The behavior of birds hunted by scullers differed radically from day to day. Sometimes nearer ducks would "leapfrog" no more than 200 yd (188.2 m) while at other times entire flocks would rise and move for 1 mile or more. Scullers disturbed birds and made them more difficult to approach, but movement of flocks of brant (Branta bernicla) by scullers were temporary, and probably benefitted shooters in open-water and shore blinds. Waterfowl suffered far more harassment from amateur crab fishermen and pleasure boaters equipped with high-powered outboard motors. Daily pressure exerted by hunters on the spit and the harassment by boaters have been chiefly responsible for eliminating the brant population which once spent November and December on Humboldt Bay. A sector of the bay should be closed to boats from October through April, when large numbers of waterfowl are present. An area of 200-300 acres (81-121.5 ha), less than 10% of the bay, should protect the birds.
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/literatr/disturb/bibli049.htm
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Menlo Park, CA [caww54]
