Ted Joanen

A telemetric study was conducted on immature alligators (Alligator mississipiensis) on Rockefeller Refuge from 27 March, 1973 through SMarch, 1974. Thirty alligators, 17 females and 13 males. were captured, tagged. marked for identification, and outfitted with color-eoded neck-collar radio transmitters. Adirectional receiving unit was used to follow their daily movement. The size of the animals ranged from 3'6-1/4" to 5'10-3/4". Minimum home range sizes, daily activity patterns, and habitat preferences were determined for the alligators under investigation. Readings taken during the winter...

In September 1972 the Louisiana Wild Life and Fisheries Commission established an experimental alligator harvest program. The primary objective of the open season was to evaluate a complex system of quotas, tags, licenses and report forms designed to rigidly control the harvest and shipment of alligator skins. Information was also obtained on the effects of the harvest on alligator populations, food habits, tag recovery rates, body condition factors, aging techniques, reproductive biology and pesticide..and parasite levels. A total of61 alligator hunters were issued 1,961 tags. One...

A telemetric study was conducted on adult male alligators [Alligator mississippiensis (Daudin)] on Rockefeller Refuge from April 14, 1971 through March 18, 1972. Fourteen alligators were captured, tagged, marked for identification purposes, outfitted with color coded neck-collar radio transmitters, and released at their respective capture sites. A directional receiving unit was used to follow their daily movements. The size of the animals ranged from 8'3" to 10'5.5". Minimum home range sizes and habitat preferences were determined for eleven of the alligators under investigation. Radio...

Wild caught, captive alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) over a seven-year period exhibited a successful nesting rate of 48 percent in six pens maintained on Rockefeller Refuge. Hatching success in pens (56 percent) closely correlated the 58 percent determined for wild alligators inhabiting natural marsh. Pen construction methods, stocking rates, and maintenance techniques were implemented to simulate natural marsh conditions, thereby encouraging breeding and contributing to the well being of the alligators. Diseases posed no problem during this investigation although fighting...

A study was initiated on Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in order to investigate the possibility of using an electrical current as an aid in capturing alligators. A modified 110-220 volts-A.C. fish shocking unit and a 110-220 volts-D.C. pulsating unit were used in this study. Best results were obtained with the 110-220 volts-D.C. pulsating unit. This method is limited to areas of low water salinity and best results were obtained when the animal was partially exposed and the unit could be applied directly. Mortality occurred where alligators were repeatedly shocked and also if the prod was...