MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
January, 1973 
Vol. 16, No. 1 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat 
G. B. Joselyn 
It was pointed out in the previous report (MWRL 15(12);2) that differences in 
pheasant nest densities between seeded and unmanaged (mowing not controlled) road¬ 
sides on the study area are considered the best indicators of the response by 
pheasants to the seeding of roadsides. For the 10 years, 1963-72, pheasant nest 
density on seeded plots (2.7 nests per acre) was 2.4 times that on all (mowed 
and unmowed) unmanaged control plots (1.1 nests per acre). 
Density of successful (hatched) nests on seeded plots for the 10 years (0.8 
successful nest per acre) was 2.7 times the density of successful nests on all 
unmanaged control plots (0.3 successful nest per acre). On mowed, unmanaged 
control plots, density of successful nests was 0.2 per acre for the 10 years; on 
unmowed, unmanaged control plots, the success rate was 0.6 nest per acre. The 
density of successful nests on seeded plots ranged from 0.5 to 1.1 during the 10 
years. On mowed, unmanaged control plots, the range was 0.0 to 0.4 successful 
nest per acre during those years, and unmowed, unmanaged control plots had from 
0.4 to 1.1 successful nests per acre. 
C. M. Nixon, 
R. E. Greenberg 
Ecology and Management of Sguirre1s 
A total of 59 squi rre ]-hunter cooperators in the Northern Conservation Zone 
returned usable hunt!ng-report booklets for the hunting season of 1972. This 
total represents a 42-1 percent return after one follow-up reminder to return 
the booklet. 
Cooperators were asked to report the date, length, and success of each 
squirrel hunt and the reproductive status (pregnant or nursing) of female 
squirrels that were bagged. 
One of the most important aspects of squirrel management is the timing of 
the hunting season in relation to the summer breeding cycle. Squirrel hunting 
in northern Illinois traditionally opens on September 1, when many adult females 
are nursing young. These females in the hunter's bag represent the loss of 
baby squirrels that die cf starvation. 
Data derived from 1,233 squirrels (77-1 percent fox squirrels, 22.9 percent 
gray squirrels) bagged in the Northern Zone during the hunting season of 1972 
indicate that only 16 of 270 (5-9 percent) of the adult females in the bag were 
nursing and none we^e pregnant. The proportion of adult females that were 
