NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY 
APR 5 1974 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
library 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
March, 1974 
Vol. 17, No. 3 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat 
G. B. Joselyn 
Of the three possible approaches to management of roadsides in east-central 
Illinois, discussed in previous reports, it is the judgment of the project leader 
and of personnel in the Department of Conservation that initial management efforts 
should be directed towards seeding graded roadsides. Approval has been obtained 
for a Federal Aid Project (W-85-D) that calls for seeding of graded roadsides in 
a nine-county area, comprising most of the prime pheasant counties, over a 5~y ea f’ 
period beginning in 1974. 
In the first 5-year span of the project, seeding operations will be under way 
in the nine designated counties by the third year. During the initial year, only 
those graded roadsides located in the counties of Ford, Iroquois (except the north¬ 
east quarter), Livingston, and McLean (east half)--estimated to be 250 miles (500 
acres)--will be seeded. The second year, operations will be expanded to include 
the four counties mentioned above and two additional counties (Champaign and 
Vermilion), bringing the expected second-year management development to approxi¬ 
mately 450 miles (900 acres). For each of the remaining 3 years, development will 
also include the counties of Douglas, Piatt, and Macon (north half). Seedings 
are expected to involve approximately 750 miles of roadside (1,500 acres) per 
year for the third, fourth, and fifth years of the project. 
A full-time project leader, Dennis Kirkham, has been hired. In addition, the 
plan calls for 2 months of time annually from Conservation Representatives and 3 
months annually from District Game Biologists. 
Ecology and Management of Souirre1s C. M. Nixon, 
S. P. Havera 
We are investigating the effects of nest boxes on a population of fox 
squirrels located on two 70-acre oak-hickory stands in Vermilion County, Illinois. 
Nest boxes have been in place on one tract, Danville A, since March 1972. Density 
of nest boxes ranges from 1 to 3 per acre on the area. 
All nest boxes were checked for use by squirrels in January 1974. Squirrels 
were captured in 26 boxes. Twenty-four boxes contained only one squirrel and two 
boxes had two squirrels present when checked. Many additional boxes showed signs 
of recent use by squirrels, fourteen additional boxes were used for raising 
1itters during 1973. 
