ae 2a oar ge | by Stephanie Wiebe A small creature can cause a. large amount of trouble. Microtus pennsylvanicus, the furry grey meadow vole, is only about 13 centimetres long from nose to tip of tail, but this little rodent is furrowing the brows of local forest researchers. Bob Wilson: Collars, owl perches, a matter of finding what works. 5% OFF all components 2% cash discount *+SPECIAL PRICES *SPECIAL FINANCING INTEREST FREE for up to 4 months of, JOAN DEERE: Take advantage of this special Forestry Week offer! COAST & TRACTOR Terrace 635-7131 4650 Keith Ave., "The voles are a real pain,” says Bob Wilson, Ministry of. Forests Silviculture Resource Officer. "A licensee in the Houston district lost over $1 million worth of seedlings to voles last year." The voles like to nibbie tender tree seedlings the size of a man’s pinky finger, and are not particular about the species of their meal. Wilson says, "They simply remove the bark." A plantation in Salvus, "one of the richest growing sites in this part of the province", lost 75 percent of its trees to voles last winter, according to Wilson. The vole population changes greatly every three or four years, and vole populations may increase by 20 limes in this period. The iatest development in the war against voles involves tree collars, originally developed to prevent sun-scald on orchard trees, to armour the young seedlings against vole attacks. The plastic collars, cut to about 10 centimetres in length, resemble paper-tissue tubes spotted with small holes, and are slipped over the seedlings. The holes provide light and air circula- tion. Hopefully, voles looking for a free lunch will be deterred by the protective tube that surrounds the seedling and move on. "But our initial results haven’t been all that good," says Wilson. It seems the voles may be able to use _ the holes as a sort of ladder for climbing the cotfars, to munch on the seedlings from the top. Re- designing the holes into vertical slits may solve the problem. "It’s a 1 ‘ ‘ -&.? ra duende verbo he AP a 1. . ~ re, Pee gs WATE 3 3 Terrace Review — Wednesday, May 8, 1991. C7 -matter of playing with it," says Wilson. Another solution to the vole problem may be found in provid- ing perches for owls in the planta- tion area. Owls, being predatory birds, are attracted to perches where they can sit and watch for prey. Researchers are also looking into the effectiveness of placing certain scents in the area, to attract other fur-bearing predators. "Some- thing a little higher on the food chain, that hopefully wil! thrive," Wilson explains. As young trees grow, their pred- ators change. Once a seedling grows into a small tree, the voles are no longer a threat, but porcu- pines are deadly. Like voles, por- cupines are not particular about the species of their breakfast, and will "girdic" a tree, that is, they’ll gnaw off a large strip of bark around the trunk, which virtually kills the tree. Even munching at a small area of bark, a light porcupine snack, exposes the tree to disease and insect infestation. Wilson says, "Now, porcupines are becoming a problem in 15- and 25-year-old stands." Again, looking to nature’s food chain, the porcupine’s enemy is the fisher, or pekan, a member of the weasel family. "They are the only animals that will eat porcu- pines," says Wilson. Unfortunately for tree growers, the fisher popula- tion is on the decline. For the interior areas of British Columbia, squirrels are a major problem. As with the voles and porcupines, the squirrels are iree Little pest, big problem — foiling the voles bark gourmands. During heavy feeding periods, foresters have experimented with a friendly method of pest-control: sunflower seeds. The manual distribution of seeds in affected areas has greatly reduced the squirrels’ damage to trees, and dropping seeds from helicopters is now the method on trial. Some of the problems in silviculture have been intensified by man’s intervention. The devas- lation caused by the spruce-leader weevil is magnified in planted stands of pure spruce; the condi- tions for infestation are improved. A stand of mixed species is better protected against such species- particular pests. "Now we plant a mixture. It’s harder to manage, but it’s more natural," Wilson says. "We're paying the price for some of the management practises of the past. We’re modifying our man- agement practises. "There’s a lot of research going on. It’s one chapter of the forest renewal program." But it’s often a time-consuming matter of trial and error. "The trick is to try some- thing out, and monitor what hap- pens to see if you get the results you want. It may take several years before you see a difference." This new trend in forest manage- ment is toward more active tend- ing: thinning, weeding, fertilizing, and natural pest control. All this involves more research and creativ- ity than ever before. And, as Wilson says, "It’s a real jungle out there sometimes." - Financiers of es independent loggers | Terrace 638-8352 Al McKenzle Wayne Webber «Log brokerage company For information, contact Box 725, V8G 329 ALL WEST TRADING LIMITED sLog and standing timber — buyers s Stewart 636-2661 Rick Kearns | Terrace, B.C. Fax 638-1473