Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for
Date of this Version
March 1982
Abstract
Entire symposium
Highlights of the Sixth Eastern Pine and Meadow Vole Symposium
The Sixth Eastern Pine and Meadow Vole Symposium was held at the Cliffside Inn, Box 786, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 25425, March 10-12, 1982, for the purpose of assessing the current status of research, extension, and industry programs relating to the problem of vole damage to fruit trees. The meeting was intended to create a problem solving atmosphere in which growers; various governmental agencies such as EPA, USDA, USDI; the chemical industry; and university personnel could ob¬serve the current thrusts of research and extension programs and their potential impact on future control strategies.
By the 1982 meeting the influence of the USDI contract monies for pine and meadow vole research had been effective. Both the quality and quantity of research papers was increased. Information relating to the ecology, behavior, physiology, movements, population monitoring, repro¬duction, and control methodology of these animals had been generated by the various research groups. The meeting provided an excellent oppor¬tunity for various research groups to interact and to assimilate the meaning of various research programs with regard to vole damage control.
The orchard tour prior to the meetings emphasized differences in ground covers, soil types, and vole populations under various cultural management programs. Of particular interest were the wide-band, bare soil culture created with herbicide and cultivation methods. These methods combined with limited hand baiting or no treatment were reported to have adequately controlled both pine and meadow voles. The excellent tour and local arrangements were made by Dr. Roger S. Young, Research Pomologist with the West Virginia University, who is stationed at the University Research Farm at Kearneysville, West Virginia.
In all, the Sixth Eastern Pine and Meadow Vole Symposium was proba¬bly one of the most important symposia to date. The quality of the presentations was impressive and data represented useful and much needed information. What was more gratifying was the productive exchange of information and ideas which went on "after hours" between the researchers, extension personnel, growers, and chemical representatives throughout the symposium. The cooperative spirit of those involved in vole biology research, damage control and the support offered by USDI funding were certainly responsible for increased understanding of the vole control problem.
Comments
Published in Proceedings of the Sixth Eastern Pine and Meadow Vole Symposium, Harpers Ferry, WV, March 10-12, 1982, Ross E. Byers, editor. Copyright © 1982.