Vol. 18, No. 7 
Page 2 
1967* On the basis of this information the following analysis will be made: 
(1) nest placement along seeded roadsides in relation to distance from nearest 
hay, pasture, and small grain fields; and (2) positioning of broods observed 
along roadsides during early-morning brood counts in relation to distance from 
nearest hay, pasture, and small grain fields. These tests will be helpful in 
evaluating the possible need to initiate more extensive radiotelemetry work 
and perhaps a study of the food habits of broods in order to ascertain whether 
managed roadsides adjacent to row crops can sustain pheasant broods in the 
absence of supportive hay and small grain cover. 
Ecology and Management of Squirrels C. M. Nixon, 
S. P. Havera 
Two study areas were established on the Forest Glen County Preserve in 
Vermilion County, Illinois, for a determination of the effects of winter 
feeding on squirrels. Both the control area (B) and the experimental area (A) 
are 12.96 hectares (32.03 acres) and consist mainly of mature oak and hickory 
species with fair numbers of sugar maple, beech, ash, tulip poplar, and basswood. 
Four feeder sites were chosen on the experimental area so that each site 
was at the center of one of four areas of equal size. Each feeder held 
approximately 1 bushel of shelled corn. The feeders were filled on 19 December 
after 10 days of 1ivetrapping. The feeders were checked about every 2 weeks 
until they were emptied on 13 March. Feeder use appeared to be heavy by 
squirrels. On 31 January, three to four sets of squirrel, tracks were seen 
at each feeder in fresh 4-inch snow. The areas were livetrapped again 1-10 
Apri 1. 
The winter of 1974-75 was not one that favored winter feeding. The 
weather was relatively mild and the fall mast crop was excellent, with white 
oak, hickories, and walnuts abounding. The abundant mast crop allowed 
squirrels to enter the winter season in excellent physical condition. 
In December on the experimental area (A), 23 squirrels were caught; 13 
were fox squirrels (Sciurus niger ) and 10 were gray squirrels (S. carolinensis). 
On the control area (B), 14 were caught, all of which were fox squirrels. In 
April, the control area was trapped for only 7 days because of unusually cold 
nightly temperatures. Twenty squirrels (17 fox) were caught during the 7-day 
period in April on Area B. Eleven of these squirrels had been trapped in 
December. Area A was trapped for 10 days in April. Thirty squirrels were 
caught during 7 days of trapping and 34 (20 fox) were caught during the full 
10-day period. Twenty of the 23 tagged in December were recaptured in April, 
In December for Area A, the number of captures per thousand trap nights 
was 63 . 9 . On Area B, the control area, the number of captures per thousand 
trap nights was 38.9* Seven days of trapping resulted in 1l 9 .1 captures per 
thousand trap nights on Area A in April and 79*4 captures per thousand trap 
nights on Area B. The number of captures per thousand trap nights for 10 full 
days of trapping on Area A during April was 94.4. 
