MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Illinois Federal Aid Projects W-66-R, W-87-R, and 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, 
Glen C. Sanderson and Eva Steger, Editors 
W-88-R 
AUG 
SUfttt 
8 1980 
Cooperati k$RARY 
Urbana, Illinois 
July, 1930 
Vol. 23, No. 7 
R. E. Warner 
Manipu lation of p heasa nt Habit at - W-66-R 
Pheasant investigations under Research Project W-66-R and the preceeding 
project, W-30-R, are unique among pheasant research endeavors in their longevity 
and intensity* For example, monitoring of certain parameters of ringneck 
populations and agricultural land use in east-central Illinois has spanned over 
3 decades* Also, various aspects of pheasant reproduction, survival, and manage¬ 
ment have been investigated for shorter periods. 
A long-time problem for project leaders has been lack of time for in-depth 
analyses of data and preparation of manuscripts when studies were completed. 
Thus 
3 information remains unpublished in 
cha11enge for this projec t * 
roject files. Herein lies a 
Recently, a step toward a more comprehensive analysis-publication effort was 
taken* Stan*Etter, leader of the pheasant, ecology project under W-66-R from 
1$64 to 1971, has returned on a part-time, hourly basis, 
Forrest, Jill no ss; during the w; 
and publication of manuscripts* 
Stan farms near 
Inter he will assist with the analysis of data 
c.n tr : 
on the Ssblev 
no, 
Study 
Stan analyzed survival characteristics of pheasant populations 
,rea. The survival data were generated during an intensive 
capture, marking, and observation study in the 1260's. Preparation of a 
manuserspt sumruar siting 
the 
indings of the survival study will begin next fall. 
Ecology and Manage ment of Sgu;rre1s - W-66-R 
C. M. Nixon, 
L. P. Hansen 
T 
18 
squirrels during a 
nfluenc© or lack of inf "ucnce of tree mast on the demography of fox 
•year study n&ar Dsnvi1 !e was discussed last month (MWRL 23 
( 6 ) 
2 ) * 
Parameters such as ps 
rcentage of adult females breeding, percentage of 
yearling f ema1©s breeding, and survival of young and adults exhibited considerable 
seasonal and annual variation that we could not attribute to food abundance. 
Other researchers, mostly in the laboratory, have demonstrated that some rodent 
species may exhibit intrinsic controls of certain demographic factors. Results 
of such studies show that in general as population densities increase, breeding 
and survival rates increase. We looked for similar relationships in fox 
squirrels in the Danville data by correlating breeding and survival values with 
the number c 
squ:rrels. 
adult males 
number of adult females, and total number of fox 
