Vol. 4, No. 0 
Page 2 
production in 1961 was down 18 per cent from 1960. Brood counts support the 
above estimates of brood production. In 1960, 4.12 broods were observed per 
100 miles of driving, while in 1961, 3.24 broods were observed, suggesting that 
brood production in 1961 was 21.4 per cent less. 
Productivity was greater on the area in 1961 than in 1960. During July and 
August of 1961, 74.1 per cent of the adult hens observed were accompanied by 
broods whereas during the same period in 1960, 55.7 per cent of the hens ob¬ 
served were accompanied by broods, indicating that the per cent of broodless 
hens was down 24.8 per cent from 1960 to 1961. In 1960, the average size of 52 
broods for which the count of chicks was considered to be complete was 7.4 
chicks at an average age of 7.1 weeks. In 1961, the average size of 38 broods 
was 8.5 chicks at an average age of 6.7 weeks. 
During the month, 300 soil samples were collected, 200 from the Sibley study 
area and 100 from the Neoga study area. Each sample was washed through soil 
analysis screens to remove gravel. The gravel was separated as to size and 
weighed. Average weight of the gravel collected from Sibley was 13.1 grams per 
sample and from Neoga 13.9 grams per sample. Thus, very little difference exists 
between the two study areas in regard to available grit. 
4. Rabbit Management R. D. Lord, D. A. Casteel 
The Project Leader was on annual leave in the month of August. 
Two, 100-acre study areas have been established on private lands in Hancock 
County. The areas are presently being manipulated (clearing square-acre grid 
lines) to facilitate censusing and trapping. The fall trapping session was be¬ 
gun in the last week of August. 
5. Investigations of Furbearers R, J. Ellis, T. U. Meyers 
Between March 1, 1957, and June 29, 1961, 221 raccoons were captured, marked, 
and released on the Piatt County study area. Prior to June 29, 1961, 120 (35.2 
per cent) of these were recaptured, sometimes by hunters. In the case of each 
raccoon captured four or more times within any 12-month period, the geographi¬ 
cal center of all capture sites, the "estimated center of activity," was calcu¬ 
lated. The average distance traveled by each raccoon from its estimated center 
of activity to the capture sites was then calculated and later used as an index 
to the extent of the movements of that animal. The results of the analysis are 
presented in table 1. 
The tests suggest that the extent of movements of raccoons did not differ 
appreciably between animals of different sex or age| however, a more adequate 
sample may reveal a significant difference between the movements of adults and 
juveniles. The data indicate a significant difference in the extent of move¬ 
ments between animals which were captured by hunters and those which were not. 
This significance is difficult to interpret because the live-trapping was re¬ 
stricted to the study area, but the hunters and raccoons were not. Thus, an es¬ 
timate of the movements of a raccoon whose center of activity was located on or 
near the boundary of the study area would be smaller when based on live-trapping 
data than when based on live-trapping data plus hunter-capture records. 
