Life Histories of North American Birds

Abstract

Pages 157-161: In 1866-1868 Bendire considered condors "moderately abundant on the great plains of the Tulare Valley; and I have seen assemblies of them numbering form six to fifteen on several occasions." He attributed major declines in numbers to poisoning, but gave no details. Page 158: "Why the range of the Vulture should be so restricted is hard to explain, but to this its rapid decrease is undoubtedly due, and poison so far has been the principal agent... Stockraising has increased enormously in southern California during the past twenty years, and these fastnesses have been completely overrun by stockmen to find pasture for their flocks during the hot summers when everything is dried up in the valleys. Necessity compelled this invasion of the retreats of numerous predatory carnivora, like the grizzly bear, the panther, lynx, and the prairie wolf. These, as a matter of course, preyed on the calves and flocks of sheep that were to be found everywhere in the mountains at that time, to be had for the taking, and they naturally enough committed a great deal of damage. "The simplest and certainly the safest way for the stockmen to get rid of such undesirable neighbors was to bait them with poisoned carcasses. This means was resorted to almost everywhere, and generally with considerable success. "The Vultures, too, with their keen sight and scent, found many of these, to them, tempting baits, and being sociable in disposition many of these birds were destroyed by this means, so that by this time comparatively few are said to be left." But, Bendire goes on to say, the birds now seem to be holding their own. Question: why would they? From all accounts, poisoning was still hot and heavy, maybe more so than earlier, in 1892.