Vol. 24, Mo. 4 
Page 2 
Although oaks will do well under this management program, hickories will 
not. Hickory seedlings and seedling sprouts grow more slowly than most other 
species, and on average or above-average growing sites, they are soon overtopped 
by more vigorous competition. 
Our research has shown that a single release cutting will not result in 
increased height growth of suppressed hickory stems <15 years old In clear-cuts. 
Therefore, we recommend reserving a few suppressed hickory poles on each acre to 
be clear-cut. About one half of these trees will die the first few years after 
the canopy is removed, but the remaining trees will probably reach seed-bearing 
age in a dominant position. Nutritional studies with penned fox squirrels fed 
nuts of shagbark and mockernut hickories show that each acre should average 
about 1,800 sound nuts per year. (Adult fox squirrels eat about 10 hickory nuts 
per day in winter; 1,800 nuts are needed for 100% of the diet from October to 
March—180 days.) 
Seed production studies for shagbark, pignut, and mockernut hickories 
indicate that 20, 13, and 12 trees, respectively, 12+ Inches dbh are required 
to produce 1,800 sound seeds in an average year. Doubling this number of stems 
to allow for mortality would mean reserving 40 shagbark, 26 pignut, or 24 
mockernut hickories per acre before clear-cutting. 
Responses of Prairle Chickens t£ Hab?tat Manipulation - W-66-R R.L. Westemeier, 
J.E. Buhnerkempe 
This spring prairie chickens were censused for the 19th consecutive year 
near Bogota in Jasper County, near Kinmundy in Marion County, and near Mt. Erie 
in Wayne County. The count near Hoyleton in Washington County was begun in 1969. 
These 4 areas are the only known sites in 1981 still harboring native remnants 
of the millions of the pinnated grouse once distributed over at least two-thirds 
of Illinois. 
The Bogota flock dropped from a near-average level of 92 cocks in 1980 to 
70 cocks this spring, a decline of 24%. Fortunately, the population was on the 
high side of our predicted level of 63.4 ± 15 (MWRL 23(12):3 and 24(3):3). The 
count at Bogota has ranged from 40 cocks in 1963 to 206 cocks in 1972. 
Near Kinmundy the population level jumped from 64 cocks in 1980 to 38 cocks 
this spring, the highest on record, and the 1st spring since 1967 that the count 
in Marion County exceeded that of Jasper County. The count at Kinmundy this 
spring was nearly double the long-term average of 45*5 cocks; the low point was 
30 cocks in 1971. In contrast to the Bogota flock, the Kinmundy flock was well 
distributed over the 5 sanctuary units in Marion County. 
The prognosis is bleak for the 2 unmanaged flocks. Near Mt. Erie, 4 cocks 
were found in 1980 but only 2 cocks were located this spring. The best 
remaining habitat, 50 acres of redtop-timothy seed meadow, was hayed after seed 
harvest in 1930 and then plowed in mid-April this spring. 
