Vol. 17, No. 3 
Page 2 
In early February 1974, the boxed area was livetrapped for 4 days to provide 
a ratio of squirrels using nest boxes to squirrels using leaf nests or tree dens. 
A total of 22 squirrels were captured at least once, 13 of which (60 percent) had 
been captured in nest boxes during January T974. /Thus, more than half the 
squirrels on the area this winter are using nest boxes for shelter at least some 
of the time. 
Responses of Bobwh1tes to Habitat Manipulation J. A. Ellis 
To determine the proportion of juveniles among the quail harvests by week on 
the Forbes Area, the harvests were distributed by age according to the week of the 
hunting season for the years 1964-71* During this period, the Illinois quail 
season extended from the second week of November until the end of December, 7 weeks. 
The proportion of juveniles among the harvests ranged from 78 percent (fifth week) 
to 86 percent (fourth week). Juveniles comprised §3 pereent and 81 percent of the 
harvests during the first and seventh weeks, respectively. There was no significant 
difference in the proportion of juveniles among total harvests by week (X 2 = 5*68; 
ref. X 2 (6)*10 = 10.6). These data suggest that the ratio of juveniles to adult 
quail remained fairly constant during the hunting seasons on the Forbes Area. In 
most upland game species, the proportion of juveniles to adults decreases as the 
hunting season progresses. 
Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. L. Westemeier, 
D. R. Vance 
To date, 17 acquisitions totaling 1,460 acres (1,000 in Jasper County, 460 
in Marion County) are being managed for prairie chickens. Acquisition is, however, 
only the first step, as most of the land acquired was intensively farmed cropland 
when purchased. Subsequent management involves a great deal more than just seeding 
the land to grass. Because prairie chickens require a diversity of early success- 
ional stages of grasslands for nesting and brooding and strategically located 
sites for booming grounds, a combination of sharecropping and prescribed burning 
is employed to provide these essential habitat components at minimal cost. 
During 1973 the management of established nest-brood grasslands involved 
the following activities: Redtop and timothy seed harvest, 431 acres; prairie 
grass seed harvest, 19 acres; legume seed harvest, 5 acres; hay harvest, 84 acres; 
pasture grazed, 68 acres; mowing for weed and brush control, 228 acres; firelanes 
disked, 8-9 miles; prescribed burning in March, 96 acres; prescribed burning in 
August, 24 acres; and selective basal spraying, 8 acres. 
Management to provide booming grounds and to develop new sods involved the 
following activities: soybeans, 124 acres; corn, 8 acres; milo, 16 acres; wheat, 
72 acres; redtop seedings, 102 acres; legume seedings, 21 acres; prairie seedings, 
12 acres; limestone applications, 30 acres; and long-term fertilizer applications, 
46 acres. 
