MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Vol. 1, No. 7 
Page 3 
been compiled. Nest success in natural cavities on each of the three study units 
was as follows: Natural Unit, 67 per cent (6 of 9 nests successful); Tanglefoot 
Banded Unit, 50 per cent (9 of 10 nests successful); and Predator-proof Nest House 
Unit, 13 per cent (1 of 8 nests successful). Factors responsible for nest loss 
in natural cavities in each study unit were: Natural Unit—raccoon one nest, 
bullsnake one nest, and deserted one nest; Tanglefoot Banded Unit—squirrel two 
nests, unknown bird one nest, deserted one nest, and one unincubated dump nest; 
Predator-proof Nest House Unit—raccoon six nests, and deserted one nest. 
Nest success in the predator-proof nest houses located on the study unit 
was 79 per cent (19 of 2h nests successful). The causes of nest losses in pre¬ 
dator-proof houses, expressed as per cent of the total, were : raccoon UO per 
cent (2 nests), bullsnakes 20 per cent, and deserted 1;0 per cent. 
Live trapping was continued on the Allerton Park Study Area in Piatt 
County. Forty-seven raccoon captures were made including 38 different animals: 
13 individual females and 2JU individual males. Nineteen of the 38 were young- 
of-the-year animals. 
Sixty-seven opossum captures were made including 39 different animals: 
22 individual females and 17 individual males. Twenty of the 39 opossums were 
young-of-the-year. Twenty-eight of the opossums were caught for the first time 
and 11 were recaptures. In addition, nine litters of pouch-young totaling 68 
individuals were examined. Seven of these litters totaling 55 opossums were 
toe-clipped for later identification. 
W-61-R-2 F. Greeley, J. Ellis 
Rural mail carrier data were checked for computation errors during 
July, and preparations for the next pheasant count were begun. During the week 
of August 18-22, 1958, the mail carriers will be asked to count the number of 
adults, chicks and broods they see along their delivery routes. The number of 
broods seen by carriers in Michigan has been found to correlate with state kill 
figures based on questionnaires mailed to hunters. This correlation would be 
useful for predicting year-to-year changes in the state kill. 
The study of pheasant bones and egg shells as they relate to soil 
calcium was continued during July. One-hundred and forty-one femurs from hen 
pheasants killed on highways throughout the year are being analyzed for percent¬ 
age of ash in order to determine whether the amount of mineral in the bones is 
reduced during the egg laying period. The bone specimens available for ashing 
are largely from east central Illinois. Specimens are urgently needed from 
throughout the range of pheasants in Illinois. The thickness of the shells of 
unincubated eggs is being measured in order to ascertain whether there is any 
relationship to soil calcium. 
Field work on the BelLmont and Neoga areas was directed toward locating 
pheasant broods. At Bellmont 19 broods were found during July, bringing the total 
