. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1993 Proulx and Drescher: Distribution of the Long-tailed Weasel 189. K'Spocimen identified by goyernment employee O- animal(s) seen by government employee t - capture (s) by trapper S-animal(s) seen by trapper V-animal (s) seen by landowner I -animal found dead by landowner N-confirmed distribution Figure 2. Distribution of the Long-tailed Weasel in Alberta based on questionnaires and interviews, July 1991. reported by Hall (1951), Soper (1964) and Gamble (1981). Our confirmed locations in Waterton Park were in agreement with Soper (1973). Our patchy distribut
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1993 Proulx and Drescher: Distribution of the Long-tailed Weasel 189. K'Spocimen identified by goyernment employee O- animal(s) seen by government employee t - capture (s) by trapper S-animal(s) seen by trapper V-animal (s) seen by landowner I -animal found dead by landowner N-confirmed distribution Figure 2. Distribution of the Long-tailed Weasel in Alberta based on questionnaires and interviews, July 1991. reported by Hall (1951), Soper (1964) and Gamble (1981). Our confirmed locations in Waterton Park were in agreement with Soper (1973). Our patchy distribution in southeast Alberta also corroborated previous findings (Soper 1946; Williams 1946, Smith 1981). On the basis of our findings, and those of other researchers, Johnson et al. (1992) concluded that the Long-tailed Weasel is still common through- out the prairies and recommended to COSEWIC that its status of threatened species be changed to a non- status designation. The corridor of distribution of the Long-tailed Weasel in Alberta is located in the parklands where open grasslands alternate with groves, drought is not as prevalent as in the prairies, and soils are dark brown in the southern parts and black in the northern parts (Looman and Best 1987). Of course, the park- lands offer the most suitable soils for agriculture. Gamble (1982) suggested that, because these soils were heavily transformed by agricultural practices in the western provinces, the Long-tailed Weasel distri- bution had suffered from a severe reduction in habi- tat. On the other hand, one must recognize that the transformation of native range into crops may not have been totally detrimental to the Long-tailed Weasel. For example, in Iowa, Polderboer et al. (1941) found that Long-tailed Weasels preferred areas where the dens of Plains Pocket Gopher (Geomys bursarius), Franklin's Ground Squirrel {Spermophilus franklini), and other burrowing mam- mals were numerous and close to cover. Alfalfa fields, because
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