September, 1945 



Brown & Yeager: Squirrels in Illinois 



451 



were employed, and they were visited at breeding, pregnancy and lactation. Many 

 least daily, and, as often as possible, twice squirrels were taken repeatedly. This 

 daily. The most serious disadvantage of phase of the study supplied information 

 this trapping method was that of taking on species ratio, sex ratio, population den- 

 animals other than squirrels. These in- sity, movements and home range, in addi- 



^••»- 



^jy.~'^ -^i sft- •IT'** 



Fig. 2. — Live trap, baited with shelled corn, in a tyjiical set location. Fifty live traps, used 

 in three Pike County areas, yielded useful information on squirrel populations and life history. 



eluded skunks, foxes, raccoons, opossums, 

 woodchucks, cottontail rabbits and a 

 variety of birds. Since No. 1 traps were 

 used, practically all mammals caught ex- 

 cept squirrels and rabbits were uninjured 

 and were released at the point of capture. 

 Most birds caught in the traps were dead 

 when found. Blue or red corn was found 

 to attract fewer birds than yellow corn, 

 but it appeared to be somewhat less at- 

 tractive to squirrels. 



Live trapping, which was conducted in 

 three wooded areas in Pike County, in- 

 volved both fox squirrels and gray squir- 

 rels. Shelled corn was used for bait. 

 Fifty live traps of the type described by 

 Baumgartner (1940) were used, fig. 2. 

 Squirrels so taken were not killed, but 

 were examined in the field for evidence of 



tion to breeding and related data. Vari- 

 ous animals, including woodchucks, cotton- 

 tail rabbits, skunks and opossums, and a 

 few birds, were captured in the live traps. 

 These were unharmed and were released. 

 The period of continuous trapping was 

 from October 16, 1941, to August 7, 1942. 

 Prior to each of the two hunting seasons, 

 1940 and 1941, covered by this project, 

 copies of a questionnaire were distributed 

 thr(jughout the main squirrel hunting 

 regions of the state. This questionnaire 

 contained blanks to be filled by hunters 

 before the copies were returned to the 

 project leader. It was hoped that from 

 the returned forms information pertaining 

 to kill, distribution, species ratio and 

 population trends could be obtained. A 

 total of 3,300 forms were distributed 



