Snowshoe 
From Forest Research Digest, 
Lake States Forest axperiment Station, 
February, 1933. 
SIZE OF STOCK IN RELATTON TO ANIMAL INJURY 
George S. Perry, Research Forester of the Forest Research 
Institute at Mont Alto, Pennsylvania, advances an interesting ex- 
planation of the apparent preference of deer and rabbits for large 
planting stock. 
In a recent article l/ he introduces evidences to show that 
deer and rabbits do more damage to larger sizes of stock. In 1932 
and 1933 a number of coniferous plantings were established in open 
fields at an elevation of 2,100 feet above sea level.  Red pine, 
white pine and several exotic species were used. In May, 1934, 
an examination was made to determine survival and the amount of 
damage done by deer and rabbits. The smaller stock, two years old, 
was established just about as well as the older, which was three 
years old when planted. However, the sraller stock showed far 
less damage as a result of grazing by deer.  The theory is that 
large trees grown in fertilized nursery soil contain mineral salts 
in such large quantities as to make them especially attractive to 
deer and rabbits. 
The Station has had similar experiences but attributed it 
to the fact that the small stock did not attract the notice of 
deer and rabbits as much as the larger plants.  A striking instance 
of this is a seed spotting experiment begun at Moose Lake on the 
Superior National Forest in May ll31.  The seed spots germinated 
well and the seedlings were doing splendidly.  The damage by 
rabbits was very slight up to the time the plants reached a height 
of about 3 inches.  After this the proportion of nipped plants 
increased very noticeably. 
Another very striking case with similar implications is a 
grading test carried out on the same National Forest.  The stock 
planted was Norway pine, all of which was the same age, 2-0. The 
plants varied considerably in size, however, and they were graded 
on a size basis into three classes, large, medium, and small. The 
different sizes wvere planted in adjacent rows. The following table 
shows the proportion of the trees damaged by rabbits during the first 
summer and also during the second growing season. 
Size Class                        Per cent damaged 
First season         Second season 
Large                        13%                 38% 
Medium                       11                  31 
Small                        9                   23 
1/ "Open Field Planting" - George S. Perry, Service Letter, 
December 6, 1934. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Forests & Waters.