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MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
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Illinois Federal Aid Project W-66-R 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
August, 1978 
Vol. 21, No. 8 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat r. E. Warner 
Roadsides in the Ford County Management Unit (FCMU) seeded in 1 968 were con¬ 
sidered to be mature as of summer 1970. Each farmer cooperator agreed not to mow 
these roadsides before 1 August in subsequent years. Since 1970, the chronology 
of roadside mowing has been monitored to determine the extent of adherence to the 
delayed mowing agreement. This summer (1978) approximately 60 percent of the road¬ 
sides were unmowed as of 1 August. On the same date, 1970-77, the percentages of 
cooperator miles unmowed were 72 , 81, 78 , 89 , 87, 63 , 64, and 48, respectively. 
The experience of these years shows that even though a high level of support for 
the roadside program has been expressed by participants (MWRL 1 9(4):2), a tendency 
exists for some cooperators to mow early, if time is available. In 1977, when 
only 48 percent of the roadsides on the FCMU were unmowed, the Illinois Crop Report¬ 
ing Service (CRS) records show that crop planting that year was one of the earliest 
on record. This summer, crop planting was delayed beyond normal because of rainy 
weather; presumably because of the late planting, early roadside mowing was not 
as extensive in 1978 as in 1977* An in-depth analysis of the correlation between 
planting phenology and chronology of roadside mowing on the FCMU will be presented 
after statistics on planting in 1978 become available from the CRS. 
For the third year, seedings on previously graded roadsides scattered through¬ 
out Ford County were monitored for chronology of mowing. In 1978, 50 percent of 
these roadsides (177 miles) were unmowed through 1 August; 64 and 21 percent were 
unmowed in 1977 and 1976, respectively. Thus, in 1978 early mowing was somewhat 
more evident on the scattered roadside seedings (50 percent mowed prior to 1 
August) than on the FCMU block seeding (40 percent mowed prior to 1 August). 
Ecology and Management of Sguirrels C. M. Nixon, 
L. P. Hansen 
Seed crops of selected shagbark, pignut, and mockernut hickories were sampled 
for 6 consecutive years, using 33-gallon drums as seed collectors. Seed yields 
were found to vary greatly among years, ranging from a low of 11.3 percent (5/44) 
of sampled trees producing sound seed in 1974 to a high of 61.3 percent ( 27 / 44 ) 
producing sound seed in 1977 . 
One obvious and constant influence on tree growth and seed production is 
climate. Such factors as the amount of rainfall during the growing season and 
freezing temperatures during the spring when trees are blooming have been shown 
to influence seed yields in the oaks. 
