Vo 1. 18, No. 1 
Page 2 
Si loam Springs was first opened to squirrel hunting in 1972. Apparently 
populations of both squirrel species consisted mostly of adult squirrels- ace 
?p^n 5 nn?r- ab ^ rma "i: '“V" ' 972> l973 ’ there was a significant increase 
(P< 0.005) in the number of juvenile gray squirrels killed. This pattern of 
an ‘ncreased kill of juveniles after 1 year of hunting also occurred on the 
Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge, Williamson County, Illinois, in 1952. The 
increase in juvenile kill may represent a lessening of juvenile dispersal as 
a result of fewer adults being present after a year of hunting or an increase 
in female fecundity in response to reduced squirrel densities. Both mechanisms 
may be involved. The gra y: fox ratio did not change significantly (P>0.05) 
between 1972 and 1973 at Si loam Springs. V 
There were some relationships between hunting pressure and squirrel kill 
on the public hunting areas. On the Si loam Springs and Forbes areas there 
was a s.gn.ficant correlation (Pc 0 .05) between the number of hunters and the 
total kill of both species of squirrels. This correlation was highest at 
S.loam Springs for fox squirrels (r = +0.86) and lowest at Forbes for fox 
squirrels (£ = + 0 . 68 ). 
At Forbes, all sex- and age-classes of fox squirrels were positively and 
sigm ficantly correlated (P<.0.05) with the number of hunter trips and hunter 
? u y s ‘ 7be adu * t f emaIe class had the highest correlation values (P<0.01) 
with hunting pressure, which were significant every year between 1971 and 
. 1 ,. Howe yer, for gray squirrels, only the kill of juvenile females was 
significantly correlated with hunting pressure, whereas adult males had the 
lowest correlation value (r = +0.28, P>0.90). 
At Si loam Springs, where approximately 80 percent of the kill was qray 
^p U 'n r n^ thS ‘"'I 1 ° f juveni,e female fox (£< 0 . 01 ) and juvenile female gray 
0.05) squirrels increased significantly with greater hunting pressure. 
Only fox squirrels are present at Kankakee River. There was a significant 
positive relationship between the kill of juvenile males and females and 
hunting pressure but none for adults. 
There were some meaningful relationships between the sex- and age-classes 
of squirrels and the weekly period when the kills occurred on the public 
hunting areas. Adult fox squirrels were killed in greater numbers early in 
5 ?* n e nl°\ n Kankakee River > where the adult fox squirrel kill was significantly 
r - °A°« a 2 d n ®9 a J ,ve] y correlated to the week of the season (r = - 0 . 73 , males; 
£ - -0.81, females). At Si loam Springs, also, the kill of adulT male fox 
squirrels was significantly greater (Pc 0.05) at the beginning of the season, 
and the same was true for juvenile male gray squirrels. At Forbes, the kill 
of juvenile female fox squirrels increased later in the season. 
Weekly kill samples were small for all three areas, and relationshiDS 
between hunting pressures and the composition of the squirrel harvests should 
be considered preliminary. 
