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MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY 
MAR ' 6 1973 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating MRWY 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
February, 1973 
Vo 1. 16, No. 2 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
Efforts by the Department of Conservation to seed graded roadsides through¬ 
out Ford County during September 1972 were described in an earlier report (MWRL 
15(9) :1)» This project involved the seeding of brome and alfalfa on 67 miles 
of graded roadsides in the county. Weather conditions during the winter just 
ending exemplify one problem encountered in obtaining a successful "take" of 
such seedings. 
Above-normal precipitation (mostly rain) during the last 3 months of 1972 
drenched ground already saturated from heavy September rains. Insulating snow 
cover has been virtually absent, and alternating periods of thawing and freezing 
have been prevalent. These conditions are ideal for causing heaving of roadside 
soils with attendant damage to brome and alfalfa seedlings. The extent of the 
damage--possib1y extensive--wi11 be unknown until spring. 
Eco logy and M anagement of Sq uirrels C. M. Nixon, 
R. E. Greenberg 
One of the most important aspects of squirrel management is the timing of 
the hunting season in relation to the reproductive cycle. The squirrel hunting 
season in southern Illinois traditionally opens on August 1, when many adult 
females are pregnant or are nursing young. These females in the hunter's bag 
represent the loss of unborn young and of baby squirrels that die of starvation. 
Data derived from 3>597 squirrels bagged in the Southern Conservation Zone 
during the squirrel hunting season of 1972 indicate that about 14 percent of the 
adult females harvested were pregnant or nursing (compared with 17 percent in 197 0* 
The proportion of adult females that were pregnant or nursing was high during 
August and peaked at approximately 20 percent during August 1-14 (compared with 
a peak of 27 percent during August 16-31; 1971)* Reproductive activity declined 
sharply after August 28. Less than 14 percent of the adult females shot during 
August 29-September 11 were pregnant or lactating (compared with 13 percent last 
year), and the prccortion was below 9 percent for the remainder of the hunting 
season. There were no pregnant or lactating females in our sample of 1 58 adult 
females harvested September 2 6 -November 15* 
Unfortunately, many hunters are reluctant to admit that they are shooting 
^ ""arsing or pregnant squirrels. Thus, information received from squirrel hunters 
should be construed a c only an index of the numbers of breeding females killed 
each year. 
