EXPERIMENTAL ROADSIDE 
MANAGEMENT AREA 
Vol. 13, No. 5 
Page 2 
v 
«\ 
v ) 
Roadsides remain unmowed and have 
been seeded with the co-operation 
of farm operators and for the 
associated benefits of all wildlife 
species 
Illinois Department of Conservation 
Illinois Natural History Survey 
Co-operating 
In mid-May, a check of roadsides on the area showed generally good stands 
of brome and alfalfa throughout the Management Unit. In some locations, however, 
the stands of the seeded species were inadequate or of lower quality than desired. 
Weeds thus far in evidence that may cause concern to farmers are goatsbeard 
( Traqopoqon spp.) and curled dock ( Rumex crispus ); both species occur at scattered 
locations but are mostly confined to roadsides having the poorer stands of brome 
and alfalfa. It is anticipated, based on the experience with seeded roadsides at 
Sibley, that the occurrence of goatsbeard will diminish as the seedings age. The 
curled dock presents a somewhat more difficult problem, however. 
3- Factors Influencing Distribution and Abundance of Pheasants W. L. Anderson 
The possibility that pheasants and other game birds carry dangerous levels of 
mercury recently came into sharp focus in Alberta, Canada, where pheasants and 
Hungarian partridges were found to carry concentrations as high as 0.47 ppm of the 
metal. Similar findings have been reported for pheasants and partridges in Montana. 
The tolerance level for mercury in human foods, as suggested by the World Health 
Organization, is 0.05 ppm. The pheasants and partridges in Alberta and Montana 
apparently became contaminated with mercury by eating seed grain treated with 
organic mercury fungicides. 
When news of the "mercury scares" in Alberta and Montana broke, it was 
reassuring that, in Illinois, we had previously analyzed tissues of pheasants 
for mercury and had found none in the birds. Blood, liver, kidneys, and other 
internal organs from 20 juvenile hens, collected in Ford, Livingston, and 
ch^trlr^»° Un rr ^ ri ? 9 Februar V >968, were analyzed for mercury (and 61 other 
chem,cal elements); the lower limit of detection was 0.10 ppm on a wet-weiqht 
bas.s Because trace elements are known to concentrate in the Iiver, Jdnfys 
one or^nre of^h lnternal or 9 ans > any mercury in the pheasants would appear in 
The !naTuse. ° r 9 ans bef ° re “laminating the edible portions of ?he birds. 
The ana yses were conducted during an investigation of the possible effects of 
(MyRL^,02)?rand°HWRL e ,2(2);2)" tiOn “ d ° f Pl “ tS " lin0iS 
*. g&ju; arc ya? cssr-ss tsyarsx 
of" me^ury 9 a^d a othe k ™ W . pra ‘ tical ' Y . "oth i ng’aboutThe presence'and ’ concent rat ions 
mercury and other toxic elements in our other common game species. 
