Vol . 19, No. 8 
Page 3 
between September and November. It is important to note that in April, almost 
68 percent of the ears were still available as wildlife food although some of 
the ears were beginning to deteriorate. 
The number of ears aboveground decreased through the winter as the 
stalks decayed. In September, 89*5 percent of the ears were aboveground; in 
April, only 44.9 percent would have stood above a normal snowfall. 
The number of incidents of animal usage within the plots was highest in 
late winter. In February, 57 ears had recently been eaten by wildlife and 
109 ears had recently been consumed in April; of these, squirrels ate 1 ear 
in February and 4 in April. 
Based on the number of fresh cobs found, squirrels relied more on the 
unharvested corn in March and April than in the previous months. A total of 
58 fresh cobs were found in April whereas none, 15, and 19 were found in 
September, November, and February, respectively. 
The tracks found after snowfalls through January indicated that squirrels 
often fed on osage orange, hickory nuts, and acorns at the edge of the woods 
and did not enter the cornfield. Some squirrel use of the standing corn was 
noted, but on one occasion a squirrel passed through the standing corn to feed 
on waste combined corn. Deer and quail often passed through the standing corn 
to feed on waste combined corn, but raccoons and mice, and also deer, fed on 
the standing corn. 
Track observations in late spring were prevented by the unusually mild 
weather, but squirrel use of unharvested corn seemed to be light through 
January. Squirrels apparently fed on nuts and osage orange as long as they 
were available. Corn may be most important in late February, March, and 
early April, when the supply of natural foods is low and before the spring 
foods appear. 
Because about two-thirds of the corn in the plots was still present in 
April, and since many wildlife species seemed to feed on combined corn as 
readily—or even more readily—than on standing corn, it may be less wasteful 
for man and just as beneficial to wildlife to harvest the corn if (1) the 
fields are not fall-plowed, (2) the efficiency of combines is not greatly 
improved, thereby leaving less waste grain in the fields, and (3) if waste 
corn left on the ground does not rot by 1 April. 
Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. L. Westemeier, 
D. R. Vance 
Abandonment of prairie chicken nests was uncommon during the period of 
1963 through I 968 on the Bogota Study Area. Intact, deserted eggs were 
found in only 2 (1.7 percent) of 120 prairie chicken nests during this 6-year 
period. Flooding was the apparent cause of one desertion and a road-killed 
hen was found near the other nest. 
