Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Approximately 90 potholes were blasted with ammonium nitrate and fuel oil mixtures on a fresh marsh and a saline marsh in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. Work covered a 3-year period in fresh marshes and one growing season in saline marshes. Number of ANFO charges used per pothole ranged from 1-15 varying in gross amounts per pothole from 20-415 Ibs. Detonation was by dynamite using either primacord, cap and fuse or electric caps. Depth of charge holes varied from 8-36 inches. Available data are presented on size and depth of potholes, sloughing of spoil, soil types and plant invasions.

Specimens of various game species from Virginia, North Carolina. South Carolina, Georgia. Alabama, and Florida were analyzed for all gamma ray emitting radioisotopes by gamma ray spectrometry methods in a whole body counter. It was possible to determine radionuclide concentrations in the field with relatively simple gamma ray detecting equipment. The most important isotope was Cesium-137. Specimens from the Mountain. Piedmont. and Upper Coastal Plain regions were generally low; those from the Lower Coastal Plain region had significantly higher cOncentrations. Levels of contamination ranged from 250 picocuries per Kilogram in the Mountain region to 152,940 picocuries per kilogram in the Lower Coastal Plain region. Domestic commodities were much lower in radiation burden and were regularly analyzed for radionuclides as a comparison to levels found in game species.

Most forest land acreage in the South is in small holdings. Much-needed hunting land, and income for rural landowners, could be provided by combining small forest holdings into large units and leasing the hunting rights.

Various mixtures of diazepam and alpha-chloralose were tested on waterfoWl in Florida and Maryland by Oral administration on baits. A total of 3 233 waterfowl of a variety of species was anesthetized sufficiently to be captured. All mixtures which were tested reacted faster, and we believe more safely than did either of the two compounds separately. Several species were captured simultaneously at the same bait stations. Reactions to winter-spring capture versus fall capture revealed seasonal differences in physiological effects of the drugs. Local conditions may require special adaptation of the techniques in some cases.

Since 1930 Virginia has either purchased deer for restocking or has carried out transplantation programs in various sections of the state. In 1967-68, detailed records of costs of a transplantation program indicate the average cost per head for white-tailed deer captured by box trap to be $51.68. This trapping program was initiated to, (1) alleviate an over population, (2) determine if malnutrition was evident, and (3) fill the demand for brood stock in under populated areas. Most southeastern states have, at one time or another, participated in similar transplantation programs with equal success and accrued costs. 'Other methods of capture were prohibited in the study area due to industrial working conditions and security measures required by the U. S. Army. Malnutrition was not evident in the confined herd. The program did alleviate the over population currently. Costs of $50.00 per head for transplanted deer is reasonable and justified in Virginia.

Between 1964 and 1968, diazepam, methohexital, methoxymol, secobarbital and tribromoethanol were administered on bait to free-feeding waterfowl of several species in Florida. Characteristics for each of five such agents include varying speed of induction, duration of anesthesia, toxicity, and other pharmacological considerations. Anesthesia was produced with several dosages of each compound, but additional tests are needed to refine dosage rates. Distasteful compounds were not readily ingested which may have biased results in a few cases. The use of anesthetic agents for zoo and domestic animals has been discussed by Lumb (1963), Lawrence and Bacharach (1964), and Barnes and Eltherington (1966), but little information is available about anesthetic agents for wild animals. Literature on the relatively few central nervous system depressants which have been used orally to capture wildlife is reviewed elesewhere in these proceedings (Crider, et aI, 19681.

Experimental dosages of alpha-chloralose, an odorless and nearly tasteless oral anesthetic, were administered on baits to 17 wild black bears (Ursus americanus) and two captive wild bears. Nine of the 17 were sufficiently narcotized to permit handling without mechanical restraint up to 48 hours later. The other free-living bears escaped in sub-effective narcosis or if anesthetized, were not located in the field. One bear died as a result of chloralose overdosage and another succumbed from an overdose of pentabarbital sodium administered after capture. Preliminary data on the application of the method and some suggestions for further research are presented. Investigations on bears sometimes involve trapping and handling for collecting data and marking. An initial step in such studies is to find or develop effective trapping techniques.

Since the summer of 1965, an alligator research program has been conducted in the Everglades of southern Florida. This report describes the progress of the program. Various capture and marking techniques are described and evaluated. Data on growth rates, movement, homing tendencies, and sex and age interpretation from approximately 1,000 tagged alligators are presented. Life history observations, including population trends, activity surrounding a "gator hole", and the effect of water level fluctuation are reported. Man's influences on the alligator population, both from the standpoints of habitat manipulation and poaching, are discussed.

The daily and seasonal variation in dove abundance along roads was studied on the AEC Savannah River Plant between May 3 and October 16, 1965. A 58-mile road census was conducted five days a week sampling all times of the day during each week. The effect of ten weather factors on daily dove counts was tested. Mourning doves were active primarily between the hours of 0530 to 0900 and 1600 to 1930. Within these periods, greatest numbers were observed from 0600 to 0700 and 1700 to 1800. This pattern was maintained throughout the study period and was not noticeably affected by the time of official sunrise and sunset. No doves were observed at night or during the early afternoon hours. Doves were most abundant in May during the spring migration, followed by a decrease to the summer breeding population in June. The number of doves increased with the addition of young until the end of August when the fall migration began.

A total of 500 male cottontail rabbits were collected over a two year period from the Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Mountain physiographic regions of Georgia. Adult testes weight, volume, length, and diameter were recorded, epididymides checked for convolutions and presence of viable sperm, and relative condition of the testes noted as to flaccidity or turgidity and ascended or descended. Regression analysis was performed on young of the year testes growth (volume and weight) and increasing age (eye lens weight). The data revealed that weight and volume were more sensitive indicators of testes condition than length and diameter. No significant seasonal differences were noted in weight and volume between regions and between Georgia and northern states. A close correlation existed between testes volume and percentage of females pregnant. Males in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions were apparently capable of breeding by January of 1966 and 1967.

Brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus) were marked with injections of biological stains and fluorescent pigments and released in the Swan Quarter Bay tributary of Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, to obtain population dynamics information including movement, migration, growth, and mortality. From July to September, 1967,6,163 shrimp were marked and released. Of these, 1,030 (16.7%) were returned. The average interval between release and recapture was 12 days, and the average distance traveled during this time was 3 miles. Only one shrimp was recaptured in the Atlantic Ocean. These data do not clearly indicate the most probable route or routes of movement from the study area to the ocean. Modes of size distribution curves were at 115 mm total length during the eight-week mark-release phase of the study, indicating an apparent "level of equilibrium" condition.