Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

The following paper is a summary of the planning. operation, and results of the first highly successful roadblock used by the Enforcement Division of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. It was held at the junction of Arkansas Highways 53 and 24. about twelve miles south of Prescott, Arkansas, in Nevada County. This roadblock resulted in thirty·one arrests and $3,826.00 in fines and court costs for game and fish violations.

This essay deals with the regulatory function common to all wildlife resource management agencies, and addresses this process specifically from the public relations aspect. It is hoped that these thoughts will stimulate thinking on the parts of both I &. E personnel and top-level administrators on how to better utilize the regulatory publication to put forward agency goals and programs.

Data available in the four national surveys of fishing and hunting (1955, 1960, 1965, 1970) were used to identify how participation in fishing and hunting has changed during the recent environmental movement. Participation in fishing has increased in nearly all segments of the population while participation in hunting has remained the same or may have decreased slightly. Participation in small game hunting decreased while participation in big game and waterfowl hunting increased. A decrease in participation in hunting was most notable in rural areas among farmers and farm laborers. The data in the national surveys did not indicate that an increased environmental awareness has influenced participation in fishing or hunting any substantial degree.

To explore the potential of armadillos as bobwhite quail nest predators, 75 "dummy" quail nests, containing four to six eggs each, were constructed in an area of recent armadillo activity in Clarke County, Alabama during June and July of 1973. During 300 nest nights, armadillos accounted for 25 of 96 destroyed nests. Seventeen other nests contained armadillo signs, but the eggs were not broken. Eighteen of the 25 destroyed nests were located in one small area which might indicate that one armadillo was responsible for most of the nests being destroyed. One armadillo was observed eating eggs from two of the nests in this area of high nest mortality. In all probability, armadillos will be of little importance as nest predators, but individuals within a population may feed on quail eggs.

From the fall of 1967 through the winter of 1972-73, 2,365 common snipe (Capella gallinago) were banded on Paynes Prairie, a wetlands south of Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida. Cattle-grazed maiden-cane (Panicum hem1tomen) was the preferred cover for snipe. Fall migrants came in late-September. The wintering population stabilized from mid-November through lateFebruary. Spring departure began in mid-March; only a few stragglers remained on the study area after the middle of April. Snipe weighed an average of 100 g from October through March and 112 g in April. Band recoveries showed that the snipe returned each year to the same winter range. Only 0.4 percent of the birds recovered were shot by hunters confirming the relative under-exploitation of the species.

Nine woodlots were selected in Ashe and Alleghany counties, North Carolina, to study grouse populations from 1969 to 1972 relative to the effects of hunting pressure in habitat characteristic of small woodlots. The nine study areas were divided equally into the categories of control, regulated and unregulated hunting areas. Pre-hunting season and post-hunting season population levels were estimated by flushing censuses. Numbers of flushes and kills during bi-weekly hunting on the three regulated areas were recorded. Bi-weekly bird dog hunting on the regulated hunting areas yielded hunter hours per kill of 31.5,28.0 and 63.0+ respectively for the 1969-1971 hunting seasons. Personal contacts with landowners and sportsmen were used to estimate the kill on the unregulated hunting areas.

Breeding populations of the mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura) have been declining over the past decade while at the same time hunting pressure and harvest have increased. Thus, minimization of conf1ict between nesting activity and hunting is important in stabilizing populations. As the crop-gland activity of doves provides an indication of post-hatching nesting activity the proportion of doves with active and regressing crop-glands was studied during the 1971 and 1972 hunting seasons in Virginia. Examination dates, number of adult doves examined, number with active (A) crop-glands, and number of regressing (R) crop-glands were as follows: 4 September 1971,82 doves, 12.5 percent A, 8.4 percent R; 2 September 1972, 279 doves, 22.6 percent A, 8.2 percent R; 9 September 1972,89 doves, 23.6 percent A, 14.6 percent R; 16 September 1972, 34 doves, 29.3 percent A, none R; 23 September 1972, 14 doves, 21.4 percent A, 14.3 percent R, 23 December 1972, 11 doves, none A, and none R.

From 1969 to 1972, Blue and Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) were neck-banded to permit identification of individuals and family groups, and 592 geese were dyed or painted to facilitate the study offlock behavior. The geese were dyed or painted to facilitate the study of flock behavior. The geese were captured and marked on the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Thirty-one neckbanded family groups were observed during the 3-year study. Eighteen families were seen together two or more times, while two families were seen together six or more times. The standard family pattern consisted of parents and cohort offspring. Offspring hatched in a family group. Neckbanded parents and yearlings or parents and 2-year-olds were seen together as families. Flocks of 70 to 200 gesse were dyed and released together. The dyed geese were observed to spread out in singles and groups of two to five for a distance of 130 airline miles along the coast.

Resident flocks have become a hope for retaining wild Canada geese in the South. A history is presented of eight such flocks which were attempted on national wildlife refuges. Habitat requirements, management techniques, and significant problems are discussed. Successful flocks now established on five of the eight refuges are providing considerable public enjoyment.

An investigation of factors influencing gobbling of adult and juvenile eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) was conducted in 1972 and 1973 in the Western Piedmont of South Carolina. General gobbling activity was monitored and individual gobbling behavior was studied. Five adult and seven juvenile gobblers were individually monitored on 24 mornings during the study in order to ascertain specific information on gobbling characteristics. Gobbling intensity of adult and juvenile gobblers was compared. Influences of weather on gobbling were evaluated. Data on changes in availability of hens and social structure of the gobbler population were discussed. The initiation and duration of gobbling was calculated for those gobblers regularly monitored.

Rio Grande turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia) were studied in Roger Mills and Beckham Counties from fall 1966 to fall 1969. Three hundred and eight turkeys were trapped and individually marked, and physical measurements were made. Radio transmitters were placed on 31 turkeys. Tagged turkeys were observed 333 times on spring and summer ranges. Daily ranges of spring flocks varied from 160 to 379 acres. Total number of turkeys in the winter flock varied from approximately 280 to 368 birds. Size of winter headquarters area varied from 351 to 507 acres, and spring range included approximately 60,000 acres. Removal of trees on a portion of the winter area in fall of 1968 had a marked effect on daily activities on the winter flock and size of the winter area. During spring dispersal and winter flock formation, an exchange of members from different winter flocks occurred.

Stomach and crop contents of 75 turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo osceola) poults from 1 to 164 days old and 8 adults, collected from April through October in Glades and Alachua Counties, Florida, were identified and measured by volume displacement. Vegetable material accounted for 75.0 percent and animal material for 25.0 percent of the diet by volume of poults 1 to 14 days old. Poults 15 to 164 days old ate 72.8 percent vegetable and 27.2 percent animal foods. The most important single item in the diet of the I to 14 day old group was "stargrass" (Hypoxis leptocarpa) - this was replaced in importance by the seed of a true grass (Paspalum conjugatum) in the older poults. Eight summer crops of adult turkeys permit a brief comparison between foods of adults and poults.

Population level and habitat selectivity of an introduced population of the wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo L. was investigated during 1969 and 1970 on a 17,000 acre area of bottomland hardwoods. A cover type map was developed to give reconnaissance evaluation of forest types and detailed analysis of vegetative plots furnished a more complete characterization. Five environment types were subsequently revealed; hardwood or glade bottoms, swamp bottoms, clearings, a small live oak grove, and a limited stand of willows. Vegetative analysis indicated that sweetgum, hackberry, and water oak were dominant tree species in the forest overstory. Poison ivy, peppervine, Virginia creeper, blackberry, and rattan were major species in the understory. Fifty-five turkeys were trapped and marked with colored patagial wing streamers. Of 202 subsequent sightings, the majority were collected in openings and adjacent hardwood bottoms.

Since 1954, 3,438 white-tailed deer have been harvested from 5,500 acres on the Kerr Wildlife Management Area. Initial attempts to reduce the deer herd by harvest were unsuccessful due to ingress of deer from adjoining ranches. Range iecovery and habitat improvement were impossible to achieve because of the constant grazing pressure exerted by the extensive deer population. The over-all quality of harvested deer was poor. Deer-proof fences were erected around the wildlife area in 1968 and the inflow of deer from surrounding rances was stopped. Since 1968, the deer herd has been reduced from an estimated 1,038 deer to the present estimate of 320 deer by an average annual harvest of 27 percent. Data indicates that the heavy harvest has resulted in a younger age class herd, lower over-all fawn production, lower hunting success, and insufficient age in buck deer to produce trophy antlers.

In the winters of 1971, 1972, and 1973 st udy groups of white-tailed deer fawns (Odocoileus virginianus) were fed rations of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), oats (Avena sativa L.), and winter ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), respectively, in prder that the effects on growth might be determined. During each eight-week study period, fresh rations were cut and fed daily to individually-penned animals. Analysis of variance showed highly significant differences (P<.01) between rations, both for consumption and body weight gain. Average daily consumption of wheat was 6.0 pounds as compared to 6.5 pounds for oats and 7.6 pounds for ryegrass. Fawns fed wheat averaged a weight gain of2.5 pounds over the study period. Fawns fed ryegrass and oats, however, averaged weight losses of 3.0 pounds and 4.7 pounds, respectively, over the same period.

A study of food-habits of white-tailed deer on approximately 26,000 acres of industrial timberlands in eastern North Carolina was made in a managed pond pine pocosin. A rumen analysis was completed for each of 128 deer collected during the period October 1971 through July 1973. These samples were partitioned into groups: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Although most of the food utilized was leafy browse, definite seasonal trends were established. Fruit of shining sumac and pokeweed was utilized heavily in the fall. A shift to greenbrier and ericaceous plants in the winter was observed. Important spring food items included succulent stems and leafy material of red maple and blackberry. Red maple was also heavily utilized in the summer along with such species as pokeweed, grape, green briers, and swamp cyrilla. The importance of species associated with forest openings is documented.