Vo 1. 10, No. 3 
Page 3 
5- Re sponses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. L. Westemeier 
Preliminary results in studies of grass culture on the Bogota Study Area 
indicate that grassland farming can be profitable and at the same time, perhaps, 
provide nesting cover for prairie chickens. A 1-acre plot of redtop and four £- 
acre plots each of timothy, orchard grass, smooth brome, and mixed timothy-field 
brome were established on the 60-acre Donnelley Sanctuary during late summer, 1965 . 
All plots were fertilized according to soil tests made by the Jasper County Farm 
Bureau, and seedbeds were carefully prepared. 
Three weeks after the peak of hatching for prairie chickens in southern 
Illinois (about June 1) the four ^--acre plots were mowed; they yielded 275 bales 
of high-quality hay. At 50 cents per bale, gross income amounted to $68.75 per 
acre. In spite of the dry summer in I 966 , regrowth on the hay plots appears to 
have been sufficient to provide medium-quality nesting cover in 1 967 . The plan in 
1967 is to include a nitrogen application after mowing, thereby to improve regrowth 
of nesting cover for the subsequent year. 
Most spectacular of the initial grass-culture studies was the 1-acre redtop 
plot which, when combined in late July, yielded 235 pounds of weed-free seed worth 
the top price of 35 cents per pound, or $82.25 per acre. Since there is little 
production cost involved in growing redtop, $ 82.25 per acre seems relatively 
competitive with corn or soybean farming. 
Hopefully, as the overall acreage of the refuge system increases, larger 
experimental plots can be established. It is important to learn whether grasses 
managed in the strict economic sense can also provide high-quality nesting cover 
or prairie chickens. For example, 2-year-old stands of redtop having an admixture 
of red clover have had the highest nest densities during the past 4 years of nesting 
studies at Bogota. However, stem densities on the experimental redtop were about 
four times greater than on a typical stand of redtop. Conceivably, such thickness 
mig t be unacceptable to nesting hens and might hamper the movements of young chicks. 
6 . Rabbit Management 
J. A. Bailey, J. C. Hanson 
Habitat conditions at forms used for daytime resting cover by radio-tagged 
cottontail rabbits were observed during spring and autumn, 1965 , and during summer 
and autumn, 1 966 . Cover preference was measured by the percent usage of habitat 
types available. 
In the spring, 60 percent of the daytime resting forms were located in 
predominately grass cover, and 76 percent were found in grass during late autumn. 
However, during the summer months 3S percent of all forms were found in weedy forbs, 
and 24 percent were located in mixtures of weeds, grasses, and artifacts. 
Vis.bi1 1 ty around the forms decreased from 56 percent in April to II percent in 
June, and increased again to 72 percent in October. In spring and fall, an average 
of 5« percent of all forms observed were located in habitat with sparse overhead 
cover whereas, during the summer, 89 percent of the forms observed had dense, 
herbaceous overhead cover. 
No significant evidence was found to show that cottontails selected one type 
of daytime resting cover over another. Rather, habitat at the forms seemed to 
coincide with the annual cycle of growth and death of the vegetation. Either the 
habitat is of little importance to cottontails in their selection of daytime resting 
cover, or the methods used in this study were not able to detect any selectivity. 
