Vo!. 21, No. 4 
Page 2 
As populations of pheasants have declined in Illinois' prime range, hunters 
av spent fewer hours afield and have harvested a smaller portion of the cock 
population. Populations of pheasants could sustain substantially higher rates 
Isa ?n r^ r ^.' n ^ is k state - There is no evidence, based on data from the 
SSA in the i 960 s and the small sample collected from several study areas over 
the past year, that the illegal shooting of hens increases when numbers of 
pheasants are low. 
EcoloaY and Management of Squirrels c< M> Njxon 
L. P. Hansen 
Wildlife managers frequently recommend that some corn and soybeans remain 
.nharvested ,n the fall to provide winter food and cover for a variety of 
wildlife species. When unpicked rows are adjacent to woodlands, they may 
provide supplemental food for gray and fox squirrels. Y 
To evaluate use of unharvested grain by squirrels, we studied squirrel 
In nil ?I rn tW ° fie,ds in McLean Count y and unharvested soybeans 
II sl " elb v.County during the winter of 1975-76. There were four 
study plots 30 m long ,n the six rows of standing corn. On 12 September, 22 
November, 12 February, and 7 April, the study plots were checked for the total 
T S ° C ° rn ’ th£ nUmbSrS 0f ears eboveground and on the ground 
IlldflV ° T! f te " by wild,ife - The outer 30 m of the adjacent 
woodland were searched for fresh corncobs at each visit. J 
and ellll°lllill at 1,5396 of , unhar '' ested corn was highest in late winter 
■ , y p . 9 * ,n Fe bruary, only 57 ears had been recently eaten by wildlife* 
m early April, 109 ears had recently been consumed. wildlife, 
tv D .,In‘ k L* fter Sn ° wfa11s ln December and January indicated that squirrels 
typically fed on osage orange, hickory nuts, and acorns at the edge of the 
adjacent woods and did not enter the cornfield. On one occasion, 9 a squirrel 
raccoon^ hr ° U H • Standlng corn t0 feed on combined corn. White-tailed deer, 
raccoons, and mice ate most of the corn that was used by wildlife. 
The unharvested soybeans were adjacent to mature oak-hickory. As far as 
sauir^el ^ qU '!' re ! S d ‘ d not use the soybeans. At least, we never found any 
2 tracks in the rows of soybeans after snowfall. By April, 80 percent 
nhea^ ^° ybeans had been removed by other wildlife including deer, quail, 
pheasants, cottontails, and mice. y H 
. . , 0 n the basis of our studies, several rows of unharvested corn adjacent to 
°" 6r "° m0re benefits to a 5 uirre,s than would £™vlll£u 
uf Iie« LT : n I d • "°f fa " P ' OWdd - ln 11051 years ’ forests P r °'' ide 
sufficient food, and squirrels use corn only occasionally. Combined fields 
a'Ziale IIII f C ° rn - f0r ^ ° Cca5i °" al ^"9- A pur/corl dlM is nit an 
adequate food for wintering squirrels. 
