D. L. Combs

Hunters shooting white-tailed deer from roadways, illegal in Tennessee, is a problem that, among other things, creates a bad image and publicity for sport hunting. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) has used decoy deer to help apprehend violators and combat this problem. We evaluated the use of this technique by designing and distributing survey forms to TWRA wildlife officers. We collected survey forms (N = 100) from 21 different counties. Only 17.8% of 734 vehicles that passed decoy deer during the survey periods stopped, but violations were committed by occupants of 46.6% of...

Since 1970, over 40% of all American black ducks (Anas rubripes) observed during mid-winter waterfowl surveys in the Mississippi flyway occurred in Tennessee. Local differences in distribution, migration chronology, and annual variation in abundance have not been investigated within the state. We used Tennessee recovery records from 1970-1987 to evaluate breeding locations of black ducks wintering in Tennessee and waterfowl survey data collected by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1955-1992 to evaluate trends in geographic distribution and...

Primary foods of American black ducks (Anas rubripes) and mallards (A. platyrhynchos) wintering at Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge were compared by examining esophageal and proventricular contents of ducks collected during winter, 1990-91 and 1991-92. Seeds of natural plants comprised the primary component of the diet of both species. Nodding smartweed {Polygonum lapathifolium), wild millet (Echinochloa crusgalli), lovegrass (Eragrostis hypnoides), and rice cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides) were the most common seeds consumed by both species. Water smartweed (P. hydropiperoides) also was...