Evaluation of Techniques in Estimating a Mearns Cottontail Population

Field research to obtain information on the productivity and population of Mearns cottontail was conducted from June 17 to December 4, 1953. The study area of about 80 acres was part of a dairy farm, Section 13, Woodland Township, Decatur County, a central southernmost cm~nty of Iowa. The plant cover consisted of alfalfa 30 acres, oats 20, pastured grasses 10 acres, fallow forbs 10 acres, and trees and shrubs, chiefly along fence lines and gullies, 10 acres. The precipitation of 13 inches during the period, little more than one-half the normal, reduced the plant growth considerably. Reduction in cover through close grazing by cattle of one-half of the alfalfa was offset to rabbits in part by 15 acres of oats left unharvested