Vol. 2k , No. 5 
Page 3 
of human interference showed a need for reducing public visitation and increasing 
supervision of visitors to the prairie chicken booming grounds (leks) (MWRL 
23(12): 3~k ). 
The number of blind mornings was reduced from 52 in 1980 to 30 this spring, 
and the number of visitors viewing the courtship activities dropped from 325 to 
129. The result was that the number of visitor-free days per lek during the 
first 3 weeks of April increased from 5-3 in 1930 to 12.5 this spring. The 
number of known instances of humans flushing birds per blind morning decreased 
from the norm of 1.2 to 0.9* 
The number of harrier attacks per hour was reduced from 0.7 in I960 to 0.1 
during the first 3 weeks of April. Also, the Illinois Cooperative Crop Reporting 
Service reported relatively mild weather with only 1.03 inches of precipitation 
at Newton and temperatures 7 to 10°F above normal for south-central Illinois 
during the peak of the courtship season. A negative factor is that pheasant 
numbers may be at an all-time high at Bogota, according to the preliminary census. 
We would expect an increase in nesting effort by prairie chickens this year 
due to the low level of harassment on the leks and the relatively mild weather. 
However, the increasing pheasant population at Bogota may be highly detrimental 
to nesting prairie chickens this spring and in springs to come. 
Ecology and Management of V/hi te-tai led Deer " W-87”R C. M. Nixon, 
L. P. Hansen, 
J. E. Chelsvig 
The 1981 deer captures in Allerton Park are summarized in Table 2 by age 
and sex. From 5 December 1930 to 19 March 1981, 22 deer were marked in or near 
the Park, approximately 27% of the total population of 82 deer (MWRL 2k(k):3). 
In addition, 7 of the 23 deer marked in 1930 were seen in the Park area, making a 
total of 29 marked deer, or about 35% of the total population in the Park. 
The relatively mild winter weather and greater availability of food made 
attracting deer to the bait more difficult in 1981. Deer visited bait sites 
only at irregular intervals and never established any consistent patterns. 
Therefore, it was difficult to choose nights on which to attempt captures. 
A capture method that involves the use of a drop net will be tried in the 
future. This method has been used with great success in Indiana, and we believe 
it will be a useful supplement to the rocket net. 
Table 2. Age and sex of white-tailed deer captured in Allerton Park in 1981. 
Sex 
Age 
Ma 1 e 
Fema1e 
Total 
Adul t 
1 
6 
7 
Fawn 
10 
5 
15 
Total 
11 
11 
22 
