Wood mouse and box turtle populations in an area treated annually with DDT for five years

A 117-acre area of dense woodland on the Patuxent Research Refuge received an aerial application of DDT in oil at the rate of 2 pounds per acre gnnually for five years. DDT reached ground level in a much smaller amount (thousandths to hundredths of a pound per acre). Treatment was made during the first week of June of each year from 1945 through 1949. Field studies of the wood mouse population in DDT and check areas showed no significant differences in the two areas before and after the 1949 DDT treatment. There was no significant difference between trapping samples taken in DDT and check areas in 1945 and those taken in 1949. Field studies of the box turtles in DDT and check areas in 1945 and 1949 showed no significant difference in population size. Growth of the four young turtles taken in the DDT area in both 1945 and 1949 appeared to be normal in comparison with growth of check area turtles.