"It is illegal for the DNR or anyone else to have stocked coyotes," continued Hall. "Actually, they appear to have come in here from the South. It also appears that fox hunters let go some coyotes when fox numbers were down."

Fox hunters releasing coyotes is indeed ironic because coyotes can really put a hurting on a red fox population, the biologist said. In any event, Hall said that coyotes are in West Virginia to stay and have become part of the ecosystem.

PUBLIC-LAND HUNTING I asked Dick Hall if there are any wildlife management areas where West Virginia sportsmen can go and have a realistic chance to come across good numbers of bushytails and cottontails.

"It is unrealistic as a whole to expect very many WMAs to have a lot of both squirrels and rabbits," Hall said. "Squirrels prefer mature timber and rabbits prefer early successional, so that's going from one extreme to another in what the two species like."

The biologist informed that one public land where sportsmen would have a chance at this unusual double play is the McClintic WMA (3,655 acres) in Mason County. This District V public ground is, of course, well known as featuring the most diverse wildlife habitat in the Mountain State.

McClintic WMA possesses farmland, brushy openings, wetlands, mixed hardwoods, creek bottoms and ponds. It is possible for a hunter, for instance, to spend the morning still- hunting through the oak and hickory forests in search of silvertails. And then later in the morning and on into the early afternoon, move slowly through the various kinds of overgrown openings and hope to stir up a cottontail or two.

Of course, the McClintic is so well known throughout the state that it can receive quite a bit of hunting pressure. The WMA is popular with deer, turkey and dove enthusiasts, too.

The biologist also lists a District I public land as presenting sportsmen with a chance at mixed-bag success. The Pleasant Creek WMA (3,030 acres) in Barbour and Taylor counties contains mixed hardwoods, bottomland wetlands and some transitional habitat as well. A combination rabbit and squirrel hunt here would be harder to pull off than at McClintic, but there is a chance for success.

Hall said that the Shannondale Springs WMA (1,361 acres) in Jefferson County provides a slim chance at combo hunting. Warm-season grasses have been planted at this District II public ground, and rabbits do use this type of habitat. Warm-season grasses are ones such as big bluestem, Indian grass and switch grass. All have been long known to attract wildlife.