R. E. Mirarchi

Trapped or hunter-harvested juvenile female mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) in Virginia were examined for reproductive activity during the late summer and fall of 1975, 1976, and 1977. Body, ovary, and oviduct weights, diameter of the 3 largest follicles in the ovary, presence or absence of eggs in the reproductive tract, and presence or absence of crop gland activity were recorded for all trapped juveniles. Blood samples also were collected for estradiol and progestin analysis. All pertinent reproductive data, excluding body weights and blood samples, were collected from hunter-...

Two field techniques were developed to detect and evaluate crop gland activity in live mourning doves (Zenaida macroura). An inexpensive, commercially-produced "inspection light" was successfully used as a crop examination device (CEO). Crops of 45 adult and 40 juvenile doves of both sexes were examined by palpation and CEO. There was a significant (P <0.00 I) dependence of test score upon crop phase; a significant (P < 0.00 I) difference also occurred between test procedures used. Best results were obtained when palpation and the CEO were used together. Under these circumstances,...

A total of 276 attempts was made to immobilize white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) using succinylcholine chloride (SC). SC was injected in powder form by dart in 256 deer (mostly free-ranging) and in solution in 20 deer (all captive). Details of dose levels, age, sex, bodyweight, whether immobilized, time interval injection to immobilization and survival rates were recorded. For the SC solution injected animals, packed cell volumes (PCV) were recorded prior to and at several intervals after injection. Among those deer injected with powdered SC, a 64.1 percent capture rate was...