MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Vol. 3, No. 2 
Page 2 
F. Bellrose 
W-55-R-3 
Two censuses of waterfowl were taken in central and northern Illinois in 
February; the first on February 11, the second on February 27 and 28. 
Cn February 11, mallards numbered 188,000 in the Illinois and Mississippi 
River valleys, whereas on January 4, 529,000 mallards had been found in the same 
area. On February 27 and 28, only 151,000 were found. 
The spring migration appeared to be starting on February 11 when 2,490 
pintails were found near the mouth of the Illinois River. Furthermore, a northward 
movement of Canada geese into the Illinois River valley had increased the population 
from 1,700 on January 4 to 3,000 on February 11. Subsequent cold weather and snow 
stopped and even reversed the spring migration, for on February 27 only 470 
pintails were found. 
VJ-56-R-4 G. Sanderson 
Data on the age and sex of raccoons harvested during the 1959-60 season 
have been tabulated. Of 4,500 males, 66.8 per cent were born in 1959. This is 
essentially the same percentage found during the three previous seasons in Illinois. 
The sex of more than 1,450 raccoons were determined during the past 
season. Of these, 47.9 per cent were females: 4 per cent lower than the average 
of the four previous seasons in Illinois and slightly lower than the percentage of 
females found during any of the past twelve seasons in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois. 
The higher percentage of males taken during the 1959-60 season reflects the warmer 
than normal weather during the latter part of the hunting season which allowed 
more than the average amount of hunting at a time when a high percentage of males 
usually are killed. 
The disease which appeared among the captive raccoons during the last half 
of January and in February has been identified as canine distemper at the University 
of Illinois Diagnostic Laboratory, rather than infectious enteritis which was 
present earlier. The canine distemper was responsible for the death of six 
captive animals, all but one of them adults. All captive raccoons (30) have been 
vaccinated with live canine distemper virus furnished by the Pittman-Moore Company 
of Indianapolis. 
W-61-R-3 F. Greeley 
J. Ellis 
Statistical design and feed charts were worked out for an experiment on 
the effect of the calcium:phosphorus ratio on breeding hen pheasants. Two 
thousand pounds of a mash feed were mixed with nine combinations of calcium and 
phosphorus. Nine pens with 6 to 7 hens in each will be used. Because of limited 
space, replication will have to be spread over two years. 
