Vo 1. 23, No. 5 
Page 2 
Table 1. Continued - page 2. 
MAIN EFFECTS:- 
Area 
1.6 
.182 
Road 
0.4 
.645 
Loca tior£ 
1.3 
.257 
Year 
47.2 
.001 
^Covariates were measured as distance (meters) from the plot to the 
nearest farmstead, hay, and small grain field. 
^Area = quadrant of FCMU; Road = dirt, gravel, or blacktop; Location = 
plot located within the central 4 sections or on the outer perimeter of 
sections; Year * 1973 to 1979» 
^Location was considered a potential indicator of differences in nest 
densities related to dispersal of pheasants on or off the FCMU. 
Ecoloqy and Management of Squir rels - W-66-R C. M. Nixon, 
L. P. Hansen 
Trap-capture overlap among and within sex and age classes of fox squirrels 
on the Danville study areas was discussed last month (MWRL 23(4):1-2). Another 
method of looking at squirrel distribution within a habitat is to compare the 
variance to mean ratio of capture rates per plot with that expected if the animals 
were randomly, evenly, or aggregately distributed. Random, even, and aggregate 
dispersion would have variance to mean ratios of 1, less than 1, and greater 
than l, respectively. 
The results of this analysis were similar to those reported for trap overlap. 
Adult female fox squirrels were evenly dispersed (coefficient of dispersion 
CC.D.l = .82) whereas adult males were randomly to aggregately dispersed 
(C.D. = 1.06). When all sex and age classes were combined, we found that fox 
squirrels tended to be evenly dispersed (C.D. = 0.88). Similar analyses for 
gray squirrels indicated that gray squirrel distribution was much more clumped 
(C.D. * 1.46) than that of fox squirrels. Gray squirrels apparently are 
attracted to each other or to specific, perhaps limited, habitat whereas fox 
squirrels, especially females, tend to avoid one another. Some researchers have 
indicated that social systems in fox and gray squirrels do not differ. This 
analysis, however, suggests that some behavioral differences exist and these 
) differences could influence maximum potential densities. The gregariousness of 
gray squirrels might allow higher densities than fox squirrels, which tend to 
