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Description:
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Wildlife Management Slide Show created by the USFS in 1938. Transcribed from original program. 29..Some of our most important wildlife species are those which have not great economic value for meat, sport, or fur. These are the smaller mammals, which have a very definite place in natures scheme. The cottontail rabbit seen here, along with other hares and rabbits, comprises the principal bill of fare for nearly all predatory animals and birds which include the lynxes, wolves, coyotes, bobcats, foxes, weasels, minks, eagles, owls, hawks, and snakes. The cottontail is also prized as a small game animal and eagerly sought. All species of rabbits and hares are very prolific, producing from two to three litters of young annually. In spite of the drain upon their numbers by predators, they periodically become overly abundant. When the population becomes too abundant, disease epidemics occur, and in a comparatively short while nearly the entire race is wiped out. Following such epidemics the numbers of predatory animals which prey upon them fluctuate almost accordingly. In such years, predators are forced to prey on other animals or starve to death. Naturally, in such years, depredations upon livestock, poultry and game are much heavier than in normal years.
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