534 
to the Groppel Lake colony) released in 
southern Illinois have firmly entrenched 
themselves there. The total estimated 
population in the Shawnee National For- 
est in 1939 was 48. They numbered only 
19 in December, 1935, and 25 in 1937, 
according to U. S. National Forest esti- 
mates of furbearing animals in national 
forests. Bonnell (1941) reported ‘‘about 
70” beavers present in the Shawnee Na- 
tional Forest by 1940. ‘They are now 
widely scattered and should continue to 
increase. 
TOTAL ANNUAL CATCH 
Probably about 958,000 individuals of 
our eight common furbearers are caught 
annually in Illinois, or 17 per square 
DistTRIBUTION OF PREDATOR CATCH. 
Fig. 26.—Distribution of predatory species 
in Illinois as indicated by fur-takers’ monthly 
reports for the seasons of 1929-30, 1930-31 
and 1934-35 through 1939-40. 
ILLINoIs NATURAL History SURVEY BULLETIN 
Vol. 22, Aria 
mile, amounting roughly to 9,400 per 
county. Individual fur-takers average 
about 37 animals each per year. 
Most of the predatory and omnivorous 
species are caught in the southern, south- 
western and western counties, fig. 26, 
where extensive woods or bushy areas 
make favorable habitats for them. Most 
Table 11.—Estimated average annual num- 
ber of common furbearers caught in Illinois 
beginning with the 1929-30 season and ending 
with the 1939-40 season (1931-32, 1932-33 and 
1933-34 omitted because data for these sea- 
sons were not available). 
FuURBEARER AVERAGE 
ANNUAL CatTcuH 
Muskrat. ac... ee 653,000 
Possum sc3 30 5 141,000 
Skunk 520 2 Cine 58,000 
Mink 56,000 
Coon i232). ee 32,000 
Red ‘fox isuct kar ee ee 8,000 
Long-tailed weasel........ 6,000 
Gray fox? cs a ee 4,000 
Total ipiceet nee eee 958,000 
of the muskrats, the state’s single legally 
caught herbivorous furbearer, are taken 
in the northern counties, fig. 4. 
The total number of furbearers caught, 
so far as we are able to estimate from 
data collected, was about as great during 
the 1938-39 and 1939-40 seasons, covered 
by the oral survey, as during any other 
recent 2-year period; although there was 
a decline in the total numbers of minks 
and coons caught in the seasons in which 
Brown made his survey, an unusually 
large number of muskrats and an in- 
creased number of long-tailed weasels and 
foxes were caught in those seasons. 
About 68 per cent of the common fur- 
bearers caught in Illinois during the pe- 
riod beginning with the 1929-30 season 
and ending with the 1939-40 season were 
muskrats, table 11 (the seasons of 1931- 
32, 1932-33 and 1933-34 are omitted from 
the calculations because data for them 
were not available). Possums held second 
place, making up about 15 per cent of all 
furbearers caught. 
During some seasons more minks than 
skunks were caught, but over the period 
