TWRA, University of Memphis to Conduct Study on State's Rabbits and Squirrels
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 | 02:04am
NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, along with the University of Memphis, will be conducting a study on the distribution of rabbit and squirrel species in Tennessee in the upcoming hunting season.
Tennessee is home to three species of rabbits which are the eastern cottontail, Appalachian cottontail, and swamp rabbit. It is also home to three species of tree squirrels, the gray squirrel, fox squirrel, and red squirrel. Each of these rabbit and squirrel species have different habitat needs so are not distributed evenly across the state.
In order to determine current distribution, TWRA needs cooperation from hunters to collect heads from rabbits and squirrels that they harvest during the upcoming hunting seasons. Hunters that wish to do this need only to contact Roger Applegate, TWRA Small Game Coordinator at (615) 781-6616 or preferably by email, roger.applegate@tn.gov to receive instructions. The skulls will be taken from collected heads and studied by a student at the University of Memphis. Cooperation is greatly appreciated and the study will help TWRA better manage rabbits and squirrels.
---TWRA---