Notes on a Method for Censusing Snowshoe Hare Populations

Abstract

In May, 1935, a strip for censusing snowshoe hare populations was devised and it was used for nearly two years on a number of areas in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Although the results were encouraging, the method has not been thoroughly tested. It is presented at this time as a tentative proposal in the hope that it will be tried by others in various varts of the snowshoe hare range. The method is a modification of that devised by R. T. King (unpublished data) to census ruffed grouse populations. Because King's grouse census method has been described by Fisher (1939) and others, it seems unnecessary to present a detailed description of it here. Briefly, the ruffed grouse census is taken by walking along lines . mile apart and determining the of the birds seen, that is the distance from the point where the grouse is flushed to that of the observer at the time it flushes. Success with grouse is due largely to the fact that when these birds flush they make a considerable noise with their wings, so that none of the birds are overlooked. The number of birds flushed on the census line is the population of a strip, the length of which is the number of miles of census line covered, and the width is twice the average flushing distance. The ruffed grouse census method is not directly applicable to snowshoe hares because of the difference in flush-