Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Using hunting accident report forms filled out by Virginia game wardens from July 1961 to June 1977, we analyzed the conditions related to 972 hunting casualties. Virginia statistics are compared with data for the United States for 1970. All data were reported on National Rifle Association (NRA) Uniform Hunter Casualty Report forms. Approximately half Of the accidents in Virginia were caused by judgment errors. About 20% involved lack of skill. Fifteen percent occurred when safety rules and state laws were violated. Approximately' 3% were due to defective firearms. National accident statistics were roughly equivalent to Virginia statistics. In Virginia, 47% of the accidents occurred when hunters sought big game, primarily whitetail deer. However, Virginia hunters spent 28% of their time big game hunting. The preponderance of accidents involved people under 25, years of age and having less than 5 years experience.

Virginia's Hunter Safety program began as a voluntary effort of game wardens in the field and has always depended heavily on law enforcement personnel. Wardens were among the first instructors trained and have been involved in training the majority of the 192,000 safe hunters graduated to date. The recent creation of an Assistant Supervisor for Education in each of the 6 districts has given the hunter safety program a big boost. These people facilitate the flow of equipment and materials in the district. The training is usually offered as a part of the Physical Education Program. Field experience indicates the program is having a positive effect. Graduates of the course are usually courteous and law abiding, a far cry from the trouble makers often encountered. It provides a golden opportunity for law enforcement officers to relate to young and old alike. Getting into the school system with the safety message also opens doors for other school programs in the conservation field.

The well-being of any species of wildlife should be detenuined by scientific methods of observation. The ESSA -is charged with the I1esponsibility of insuring that the government's decisions concerning import and export of certain species of animals and plants are scientifically sound.

Pine planting sites prepared by burning yielded 120 kg/ha of browse fruits thethird growing season after site treatment. Control plots yielded 74, KG-bladed plots 57,and chopped plots 41 kg/ha, Blackberries, American beautyberry, sumac, Sebastian bush,muscadine grape, blueberries, and southern wax-myrtle were the principal species. Mostfruit was available in summer and fall, but some persisted through winter and spring.Fruit production was related to the number and average height of the fruiting browse species.

The Delmarva Wildlife Work Group's procedure for wildlife habitat evaluation refined a procedure for comprehensible and sound development of data collection and analysis. This effort created an accepted format for communications between individual biologists and other professions. Work group consensus of particular wildlife habitat values including a quantity of land use, interspersion and management conditions were much more applicable than individual interpretations. This procedure permits predictionof future wildlife habitat values on lands with various planned activities versus unplanned activities. Application of the procedure involved 150 volunteer participants collecting dataon 19,425 km2 at 60,000 sites.The Delmarva Peninsula is experiencing a growing conflict between agricultural, fish and wildlife, and environmental interests. An important goal of the Delmarva River Basins Survey has been to help resolve these conflicts and enhance the complementary situations.

The average distance moved between captures (d) in a 10 x 10 live trap grid with 15.2-m spacing was determined for eight species of rodents in South Texas during January-July 1975 and 1976. Large samples yielded fairly precise estimates of d for cotton rats (Sigmodon hisPidus) (25.8 ± 0.58 m), deer mice (Peromyscus leucopus and P. maniculatus) (33.2 ± 2.50 m), fulvous harvest mice (Reithrodontomys tulvescens) (36.3 ± 1.92 m), and gray wood rats (Neotoma micropus) (20.7 ± 1.61 m). Generally, movements of adults were larger than those of juveniles and movements of males were larger than those of females. The data indicated a need to stratify the estimated area of trap grid influence by habitat for cotton rats and by yearly rainfall for gray wood rats for more accurate density estimates. The present data may be useful to other workers for determining the area of influence for lines or grids of traps.

Twelve plant species occurring in the understory of young pine plantations in the South Carolina Coastal Plain were analyzed for phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium and crude protein. Nutrient content of foliar samples from unfertilized and fertilized sites showed no significant difference for most elements. Forage production on fertilized sites was three times greater than unfertilized sites.

Nesting ecology of the American alligator (Alligator mississipiensis) was investi. gated on the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge between 1972 and 1976. Nesting occurre~ during late June and early July. Egg counts were taken in 55 nests. Average clutch Size was 30 eggs ± 12-44. Of 110 nests studied, 90 percent were destroyed before hatching. Predation accounted for 96 percent of the nest loss with black bear (Ursus americanus) being the major nest predator. Hatching success of eggs in successful nests was estimated to be 70 percent.

Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) eggs were collected at four intervals during incubation and subjected to a single submergence to test the effects of flooding on hatchability. Treatments consisted of a 2-hour, 6-hour, l2-hour, and 48-hour submergence. Hatching success was significantly related to duration of immersion. Throughout incubation, eggs were not affected by 2 hours of flooding, but 48 hours of submergence produced total mortality.

Three hundred and fourteen large alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) collected in the marshes of southwest Louisiana in conjunction with 1972 and 1973 autumn hunting seasons were examined for food contents. Foods were categorized by year and by marsh type. Vertebrates were the most important foods consumed, of which mammals comprised the largest percentage by weight. Arthropods and fish were important foods in the more saline areas. Thirteen percent of the adult females contained alligator eggs or egg shells in their stomach.

Yearling male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, had bony protuberances covered with hair in place of bone antlers. The testes were subfunctional but did contain type-A spermatogonia. The seminal vesicles were not producing seminal plasma. These abnormal deer had significantly smaller body and endocrine gland weights than normal yearling male deer. Since these abnormalities were not observed in older male deer, we considered the condition to be transitory. MorfQver we believe that the abnormalities were caused by a hormone deficiency between the anterior pituitary and the testes. Malnutrition brought on by chronic overuse of forage plants was a contributing influence.

The foods of 172 armadillos from the recently established Florida population wer,e compared with foods of the native population as reported by various authors. Some differences were observed, but the foods of armadillos in Florida were quite similar to those reported for the species from its native U.S. range. Seasonal variation in the consumption of Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Myriapoda, and Annelida were noted.

Habitat types and structural features of the habitat were correlated with bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) whistle counts along 133 random transects in Texas. The probable biological significance of these parameters was ascertained by their interrelationships and from the literature. Bobwhite whistle counts were correlated with habitat types that provided adequate food, cover, nest sites, and song posts. If a habitat parameter provided one or more of these requisites and was limited or in excess, it was usually significantly correlated with bobwhite whistle counts. Mesquite (Prosopis spp.) habitats were important nesting sites for bobwhite within 7 of 9 ecological areas in which they occurred. Habitat parameters correlated with bobwhite densities differed between eco· logical areas and therefoI'e, bobwhite breeding habitat should be managed by ecological area.

From 1973 through 1976, 2,066 clapper rails (Rallus longirostris) were banded at eight locations on the Georgia coast, using an airboat and night-lighting technique. Banding success was high with a maximum 2-hour catch of 87 rails, and an average banding rate of approximately 16 birds per hour. Most rails were banded during the preseason period with migration-winter banding limited by winter tide conditions. Band recoveries of Georgia clapper rails (R. t. waynei) suggested significantly more movement than was previously recorded in the literature. A direct recovery rate of 0.63 percent was determined.

Waterfowl populations were monitored at Lake Wales, Florida, over a three· year period to determine factors associated with their abundance and aggregations. Monthly water level, water temperature, aquatic vegetation percent cover and percent frequency of occurrence, and chlorophyll a data were correlated and regressed. Significant models were derived to describe variation in total waterfowl, ring-necked ducks, canvasbacks and American coots. Interactions of introductions of two exotic species. grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella Val.) and hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata Royle) with waterfowl populations were discussed. A decline in numbers of some waterfowl species was attributed to changes in hydrilla abundance as a result of the combined effects of grass carp, water level and other factors.

A public opinion survey designed to measure human attitudes toward wild alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) and alligator management was carried out. Most \\92%) l"1orida residents view the alligator as a valuable species, but 73% felt that large alligators are dangerous. There was variation in the degree of danger attributed to alligators by various socioeconomic groups. Opinions about management strategies were more variable than for the other topics examined. In urban areas, 52% felt that wildlife officers should capture large alligators, a sizable group (50%) favored commercial harvest and sport hunting in wild areas, and 25% favored complete protection in wild areas.

Over 2,400 first-year band recoveries of 144,800 northern banded wood ducks (Aix sponsa) were examined to identify the source of northern migrants harvested during 1950 through 1968 hunting seasons in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas. Harvest trends for the seven-state area revealed that 20 percent of the northern migrants was derived from Eastern Canada and Atlantic Flyway production areas. However, 80 percent of the northern birds was obtained from two Mississippi Flyway production areas. Individual state derivation patterns of northern adults and immatures are discussed in detail.

Twenty-six native forage species were collected during each season of the year on the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in the central portion of the Texas Rio Grande Plam and analyzed for percentage content of crude protein (CP), phosphorus (P) and in vitro dry matter digestibility (DMD). Average values for all species during spring. summer. fall and winter were: CP 18.4, 15.4, 16.6 and 17.1; P 0.23, 0.18, 0.19 and 0.19 DMD 61.7, 56.2. 53.3 and 61.1. Average CP of shrubs and forbs was 14 or greater during all seasons of the year, grasses varied from 12.5 in summer to 14.4 in winter, and Opuntia lindheimeri ranged from a low of 5.4 in winter to 13.3 in spring. P content varied from a low of 0.08 in O. lindheimeri during summer to a high of 0.33 for forbs in winter. Forbs were higher than other plant classes in P during all seasons of the year. O. lindheimeri had the highest DMD (> 86.8) of all plants tested.

Blood samples from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus texanus) were taken in three locations in south Texas to establish metabolic profiles and nutritional status and to determine the correlations of body condition, location, season, sex, age, reproductive status, stress and hemolysis with hematological values for this species. The parameters we measured included glucose, prorein, albumin, globulin, AIG ratio, creatinine, cholesterol, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, uric acid, urea (BUN), total lipids, free fatty acids, triglycerides, alkaline phosphatase, serum glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase, lactic dehydrogenase, serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, packed cell volume, hemoglobin, red blood cells and white blood cells. The means of these parameters were related to 17 factors which we felt might have some correlation with the values. Two of the most important factors affecting normal blood values were hemolysis and stress.

A total of 146 bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) was collected during the winters of 1972-73 and 1973-74, from 2 study areas in Tennessee and 1 area in Florida. Body weight, levels of body fat, burden of gastrointestinal helminths, and adrenal weights were determined. Quail from the Tennessee areas were significantly (P < 0.05) heavier than those from the Florida area. Fat was extracted using a Soxhlet ether extraction apparatus, and was expressed as a percentage of oven-dry body weight. Percentage body fat differed significantly (P < 0.05) among all areas, being greatest in east Tennessee (13.7%) and least in Florida (10.4%). Infection rates of gastrointestinal helminths varied among areas and years, with birds from east Tennessee showing markedly lower infection rates (59.5%) than birds from the other two areas (100%). The overall rate of cestode infection (19.3%) was much lower than the rate of nematode infection (88.3%).

Since the early 1960's, over 4,500 wild hogs (Sus scrota) have been relocated through Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission trapping operations. The trap now used by the Florida Commission is described. It is basically an open-top, sectional trap consisting of 4 separable panels with a multiple-capture root-door in one panel.

Average diurnal range sizes for 10 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns indicate an increase from 3.3 ha at 1 week of age to 52.0 ha at 12 weeks of age. Distance between successive die! locations increased with age, but total daytime movements did not increase with age, therefore increasing diurnal range size appears to result from increasing nocturnal movements as fawns grow older. Partial cause for large diurnal ranges of fawns in the Wichita Mountains is believed to be the open prairie habitat, but other ecological and behavioral factors may also influence diurnal range size.

Historical documents concerning occurrence, distribution and abundance of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) in West Texas are full of information pertinent to wildlife managers. These sources indicate the decline of pronghorn was directly caused by human settlement of antelope range. These data show that pre-settlement antelope populations in the Panhandle and Permian Basin were greater than those in the TransPecos District. Development of surface water seems to have favored the reestablishment of populations in the Trans-Pecos, whereas intensive agriculture is limiting the return of antelope in the Panhandle and Permian Basin.