Vo 1. 10, No. 1 
Page 3 
0 5* Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. L. Westemeier 
The nesting study on the Bogota Study Area in l966 revealed that many wildlife 
species besides prairie chickens are being benefited by the sanctuaries. The 
period of nest searching extended from June 20 to July 21 on the 77-acre Yeatter 
and 20-acre McGraw sanctuaries. Besides the five prairie chicken nests on these 
acreages in 1966 , there were 42 redwing blackbird nests, 19 meadowlark nests, 13 
dove nests, 6 dickcissel nests, 4 upland plover nests, 1 quail nest, 2,001 vole 
( Microtus sp.) nests, and 8 bumblebee nests. Woodchucks and several nest predators 
such as snakes and striped skunks were also encountered during the nest searching 
activities. 
These data provide a greater insight into the overall ecology of the sanctuaries. 
For example, the abundant vole population helps explain the large raptor concentra¬ 
tion present on the study area during the spring of 1966. The raptor concentration 
in turn played a significant role in the abandonment of one booming ground as shown 
in a previous report (Monthly Wildlife Research Letter, July, 1966 ). 
Rabbit Management j. a. Bailey, J. C. Hanson 
One-hundred twenty-four cottontails were trapped and tagged on the A1lerton 
Park 4-H Area during November 8th through 10th, 1 966 . In addition, 59 of these 
animals were marked by dyeing their tails yellow. On November 19th, Dr. H. H. 
Shoemaker and wildlife management students from the University of Illinois cooperated 
^ in the annual fall census of the 4-H Area. During coordinated drives of the study 
w area, 351 observations of rabbits were made: 140 of color-marked animals and 211 
of animals that were not color-marked. Using these data and the Petersen-Lincoln 
Index, it was estimated that the number of rabbits on the 4-H Area during early 
November, 1966 was 148 t 19 (95 percent confidence limits). 
Sixty rabbits were harvested from the 4-H Area during the period December 
1966, to January 8, 1967* Of these, 40 had been handled during the November 
trapping period. A second population estimate, calculated from this harvest data, 
indicates that there were 186 t 34 cottontails (95 percent conficence limits) on 
the 4-H Area during November, l 966 . 
The population of cottontails on the 4-H Area during the fall of 1 966 was 
higher than in any year since the population •'crash" of 1962. However, the 1966 
population was still below the average number of rabbits on this study area during 
autumn in the years 1956 through 1 96 1. 
