Vo 1. 19, No. 4 
Page 2 
5. Twenty-five (48 percent) of the farmers have hunted on their farms 
in the past 9 years. 
6. Forty-three (83 percent) of the farmers would recommend the seeded 
roadside program to other farmers. 
7. When asked for suggestions to improve the seeded roadside program, 
the most frequently mentioned suggestion (by 21 farmers, 40 percent) was that 
a weed control project should be instituted by the I DC. Spraying was 
mentioned by nearly all of the farmers. 
Conclusions and recommendations in view of the results of the survey of 
FCMU farmer attitudes will be reported in next month's research letter. 
Ecology and Management of Squirrels C. M. Nixon, 
S, P. Havera 
Twenty years after clear-cutting, stands on the better sites contain 
trees 6 inches in diameter and 40 feet tall. Little understory remains, many 
suppressed trees are dead or dying, and the dominant trees are beginning to 
produce seed. 
On our study area of 9.3 acres we captured nine individual gray squirrels, 
four taken in October, eight (four recaptures plus four new squirrels) in May, 
and four (three recaptures plus one new squirrel) in July. Of these nine 
squirrels, four were adult females, three were adult males, one was a subadult 
female, and one a subadult male. 
Even with live traps open around the perimeter of the cut, we captured 
squirrels as deep as 72 meters into the clear-cut (center = 83 meters from 
the edge); with the outer traps closed, squirrels were captured at the center 
of the clear-cut. Squirrels were clearly foraging more often and at all 
seasons throughout the 20-year clear-cut; however, food production was not 
significantly higher (JP>0.05) in the 20-year cut compared with the 15 -year 
cuts. For the first time since the stand was clear-cut, acorns were the most 
important food produced (by weight), followed by gill fungi, flowering dogwood, 
and grape. Thus, squirrels now had access to a storable food for the first 
time since the stand was clear-cut 20 years ago. 
There were three leaf nests present in the 9’3-acre cut, none in use 
during the winter months. There were no natural dens present in the stand. 
In a companion study, nest boxes were placed at a density of two per 
acre in another clear-cut 20 years old. For 2 years boxes were checked at 
intervals for squirrel use. Gray squirrels did not use the boxes during the 
2-year period, but flying squirrels made extensive use of them, including 
raising young in several boxes. 
Thus, although squirrels will forage widely in a clear-cut 20 years old, 
they are not permanent residents and are dependent on the uncut forest for 
