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ferret signs on foot. All burrow openings were examined for signs of ferret <br /> diggings, trench formations, scats, manmals exhibiting evidence of having been <br /> killed by a ferret and freshly covered entrances. For each colony surveyed, <br /> the number of prairie dogs observed, the number of burrow entrances and an <br /> estimate of the size of the colony (acres) were recorded on standard field <br /> data sheets. <br /> ;''=LIFE ORIENTED RECREATION <br /> Since hunting is a principal recreational opportunity in the vicinity of the <br /> study area, the extent to which this opportunity is exploited was determined <br /> by first forlmulating a list of potentially huntable game species. This list was <br /> based on a cumpilation of wildlife field data obtained during all field activities. <br /> Criteria for identifying wildlife species in the Nucla study area as huntable were: <br /> 1. Whether the species is legally a game animal in Colorado <br /> 2. Whether the species occurs in sufficient numbers to attract hunters <br /> 3. Whether there is sufficient primary habitat within the project area to <br /> support the species <br /> "Hunting pressure" or exploitation of each potential game species in the study <br /> area was determined using DOW data. Game hunting and harvest data for the hunt <br /> area in which the project area occurs were accessed to determine hunter use. <br /> Localities receiving mrore hunting pressure within the hunt area were determined <br /> from the available data (see Results, page 50) . <br /> DATA ANALYSIS <br /> Computer Facilities. All quantitative data were analyzed on a Cyber 730 cony <br /> puter. Data were: entered on keypunch cards that had been double punched and <br /> verified. Con-puter print- outs of the raw data were generated in the same format <br /> as the original field data sheet to expedite the data checking process. All <br /> data were permanently stored on magnetic tape to facilitate subsequent data manip- <br /> ulations and checking of original results. Data were analyzed using specially <br /> developed programs and output was generated in a format that facilitated inter- <br /> pretation. <br /> Relative Abundance Indices. Estimates of population size for the different groups <br /> of animals surveyed in the study area are provided by relative abundance indices. <br /> These indices are based on percent sampling effort (e.g. , # of small marmials per <br /> 100 trap nights) to ensure coniparibility of data collected by varying sampling <br /> -13- <br /> J IJ N 1 1 19et <br />