Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

The glorification of a poacher and the ingrained antagonism toward game laws and their enforcement has continued since early European immigration to North America. Effective wildlife law enforcement is a complicated discipline requiring selfmotivated compliance which will eventually change social attitudes and behavior regarding natural resource laws. A compliance philosophy evolved in Louisiana after implementing the results of research involving conservation officers, hunters, and violators. This team approach involves law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, probation officers, and convicted violators supported by mass media coverage of major poacher apprehensions and prosecutions. During a 5-year period, compliance with waterfowl regulations in Louisiana improved substantially. A video program entitled, "Innovative sentencing: A key to compliance with wildlife and fisheries laws," was produced and presented with this paper.

These comments are suggested in order to cause an awareness and to deal with problems generated by activistic activities in opposition to lawful hunting and trapping activities.

Effective 31 December 1990, the sale of wild-caught red drum was banned in the state of Texas. Practical enforcement of this legislation required the use of a technique that could unambiguously discriminate between wild and farm-raised fish. Fatty acid profiles were established for wild red drum from 4 major Texas bay systems as well as from 2 aquaculture ventures to determine if this technique could be a useful enforcement tool. Results indicate that fatty acid compositions, especially levels of linoleic acid (18:2n-6) and arachidonic acid (20:4n-6), can be useful to distinguish between wild and cultured red drum. The ability to determine the origin of fish greatly enhances the enforcement of legislation designed to protect fisheries resources.

About the same number of antlerless deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were harvested illegally as were harvested legally during bucks-only days on public land. A large percentage of hunters apparently shoot first and take only legally harvested deer to mandatory check stations. I estimated that 48.2% of hunters were predisposed to noncompliance with bucks-only regulations.

Alabama grade school teachers were surveyed to determine (1) attitudes toward aquatic resource education, (2) experience and training in aquatic resource education, (3) receptivity towards various potential aquatic curricula, and (4) preferences for assorted aquatic teaching materials. In general, Alabama kindergarten through fourth grade teachers had very little formal training in either natural resource education or aquatic natural resources in particular; however, they recognized the importance of both topics, and the majority felt strongly that additional materials and curricula topics in the area should be provided. Most reported that their students had limited access to nature and natural resource educational experiences outside the classroom. Hence classroom materials would provide the major source of information for learning about aquatic natural resources.

With the rapid decline of fish and wildlife habitat and rampant population growth, we are losing the fight for fish and wildlife, and fish and wildlife are losing habitat. The nation's 350,000 churches are an uncultivated key to helping solve our habitat and environmental crisis. Conservation and stewardship responsibilities are scriptural in the western religious doctrine, and churches have had this responsibility from the beginning. No other body is as large nor has the inherent power to excite the conscience into renewed activity on behalf of wildlife and the earth as this potential source.

We examined the usefulness of condition profiles, incorporating postmortem morphologic, physiologic, and dietary indices from fall-harvested deer and seasonal fecal indices of diet quality, for evaluating differences in habitat quality between adjacent populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). This study was conducted on East Range (4.5% of 12,000 ha cultivated) and West Range (0.8% of 18,000 ha cultivated), Fort Sill Military Reservation, southwestern Oklahoma, from November 1987 to August 1989. Analysis of postmortem blood and digesta samples revealed that deer collected from East Range consumed higher quality diets than deer from West Range, where cultivation was lower. Seasonal analyses of fecal nitrogen and cell-wall constituents supported observed differences in postmortemsamples. Our study indicates that morphological indices were not sensitive to the apparent differences in habitat quality between the 2 ranges.

Antler measurements, weights, and estimated ages were collected from 529 male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) harvested on the Campfield Hunt Club, Georgetown County, South Carolina, from 1984 to 1989. Yearlings (N = 216) were aged ≤17, 18, or ≥19 months of age according to premolar wear and replacement patterns. The 4-month hunting season was divided into 3 periods to test for differences in weight and antler development between the ≤17- and ≥19-month-old age groups. Mean number of points and mean weights of ≥19-month-old deer harvested during the first and second periods were greater (P < 0.05) than those of ≤ l7-month-old deer from any period. Mean antler spread of ≥19-month-old deer collected during the first period was greater than all ≤ 17-month-old deer.

We examined the relationships of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) to agricultural land uses in the Virginia Piedmont during 1986-1987. Bobwhite were censused and the associated habitat components quantified at 121 roadside census stations. Relative quail densities decreased (P < 0.05) from 1986 to 1987. A multiple regression model (R2 = 0.43) relating relative density of quail at stations to adjacent habitat found positive (P < 0.10) relationships for fallow croplands and other miscellaneous, uncommon cover types, and negative (P < 0.10) relationships for mown lawns and 3 variables describing dense, woody canopies. Management recommendations are to emphasize maximizing the number of different edges present and number of fallow fields in early successional stages. Cultivation of field borders and comers, waterways, and other idle areas should be discouraged.

We studied habitat selection by radio-tagged eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) hens with broods ≤30 days old in the fire-maintained pine (Pinus) forests of southwestern Georgia from 1988 to 1990. Habitat selectivity was determined for 14 hen-poult groups that were tracked for 1 week or more. Hens with young broods preferred (P ≤ 0.05) oldfields and woodlands grazed by cattle. Bonferonni confidence intervals for individual hen-poult groups with >20 locations revealed considerable variation among individuals. Individual brood hens showed preferences (P ≤ 0.05) for oldfields, hardwoods, annually burned pinelands, andl grazed woodlands. Insect abundance in intensively used brood areas was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) greater than in typical winter-burned pinelands where no brood use was detected.

We delineated the distribution of ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) southeast of the range of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), and estimated the total range-area and forested range-area within this expanse. All or portions of 11 states comprised a total range-area of 285,184.3 km2, 25.7% of the total land-area ofthose states. The percentage of each state occupied by ruffed grouse varied from 99.4% in West Virginia to 2.5% in each of South Carolina and Alabama. Approximately 67% of the species' range was forested.

During 5 February-1 April 1987 we released 13 (8 males:5 females) radio-equipped river otters (Lutra canadensis) into the West Fork River, Lewis County, West Virginia. Survival through 4 November 1987 was 56.7% (N = 75). After 10 months, dispersal extended 27.2 km upstream and 23.4 km downstream from the release site. Seasonal movements for the surviving otters varied from 7.1 km to 57.4 km for females (N = 2) and 11.1 km to 52.0 km for males (N = 5). Inter- and intrasexual ranges overlapped 0%-100% each season. Movements illustrated the importance of available refugia on the stream system in this restoration effort.

Two completely randomized design studies were conducted from May 1986 through June 1987 with white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to determine seasonal mineral absorption patterns of guajillo (Acacia berlandieri) and a pelleted diet. The pelleted diet contained 0.56% phosphorus (P), 2.57% calcium (Ca), 0.31% magnesium (Mg), 2.25% sodium (Na), 1.63% potassium (K), 9.6 ppm copper (Cu), 45.0 ppm zinc (Zn), and 314.8 ppm iron (Fe). Calcium and P from the pelleted diet were absorbed in a 2:1 ratio. There were no seasonal differences in mineral absorption of the pelleted diet. The data indicate mineral absorption patterns of white-tailed deer eating a pelleted diet are not different from cattle. Mineral concentrations of guajillo varied seasonally. Absorption of P, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cu, Zn, and Fe from guajillo also varied seasonally. Phosphorus concentrations in guajillo followed active plant growth patterns but were below recommended levels for proper white-tailed deer growth.

Influences of nutrition, season, area, sex, and age on physiology were estimated for 82 adult (≥1 year old) white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) collected in the Big Cypress National Preserve (BCNP), Florida, between August 1984 and June 1986. Deer were examined for fat, kidney fat index (KFI), fecal diaminopimelic acid (DAPA), abomasal parasites (APC's), overall physical condition, in utero fecundity, and lactation. Absence of seasonal variations in fat levels and KFI values may reflect a reduced need for deer in southern Florida to store fat. Differences in DAPA concentrations, APC's, body weights, and productivity between herds suggested forage quality limited the population increase in 1 herd.

Year-round diet of coyotes (Canis latrans) was assessed from 292 fecal samples using frequency of occurrence of prey types and relative percent volume of prey types. By both measures, the most important food item for each season was rodents, except in the fall when volume of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianust in scats exceeded the volume of rodents. In most cases the 2 methods ranked prey groups identically. Five of the 7 differences between adjacent seasons identified by frequency of occurrence were corroborated by differences in volume. Lagomorphs also were important, and their remains occurred in > 16%of each season's samples. Coyotes utilized rodents, lagomorphs, white-tailed deer, and fruit most often, consistent with other southeastern studies of coyote food habits, although the composite annual average for white-tailed deer (37.6%) exceed all reported levels from southeastern studies.

Carcasses of 60 coyotes (Canis latrans) and 72 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) were collected from November 1986 to February 1987 in the Bluegrass and Knobs region of central Kentucky. Stomach content analysis revealed that diets were similar between the 2 species, with a Hom's index of overlap = 0.81. Coyotes consumed a small variety of relatively large prey items (i.e., items occurred at high frequencies in the stomachs); whereas red foxes ingested a large variety of small prey items. Major dietary items were small mammals (76% of red fox diets, 57% of coyote's) and cottontail rabbit (18% of red fox's, 22% of coyote's). Cattle were a major diet item for coyotes but not for red foxes (28% and 8%. respectively).

The fell-and-burn site preparation technique is an effective means of regenerating low-quality hardwood stands to pine-hardwood mixtures in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. In this region, pine-hardwood mixtures offer a compromise between the benefits of hardwood management to wildlife and the economic benefits of pine management. However, the fell-and-burn technique has not been tested in the Piedmont and other regions. This study compared the effects of several variations of the fell-and-burn technique on small mammal communities and wildlife habitat in the upper Piedmont of Georgia during the first year following treatment. Results indicate that high-severity fires may damage site quality. All site preparation treatments produced more forage biomass and richer, more populous small mammal communities than did unharvested controls. Unburned, felled sites supported more forage biomass and more species of small mammals.

We studied wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) gobbler habitat use and seasonal home range size by radio telemetry in an area dominated (45%) by loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations (PP) in Kemper County, Mississippi, 1986-1988. In 1986, gobbler habitat use was more than expected for PP (fall) and pine-hardwood forests (spring). Use was less than expected for pine-hardwood forests (fall) and fields (summer). Use was as expected for PP, pine-hardwood, and hardwood forests and fields for the other seasons. In 1987, PP were used less than expected for all seasons. Use was more than expected for hardwood forests (spring and fall), pine-hardwood forests (summer and winter), and fields (spring). In spring and summer of 1988, use was as expected for PP for pine-hardwood and hardwood forests.

A questionnaire entitled "Spring Turkey and Other Hunting in Virginia: A Hunter Survey" was sent to 2,500 randomly selected Virginia resident hunting license holders, 440 of whom were spring turkey hunters. The questionnaire focused on 4 aspects of spring gobbler hunting: economics, season structure, aspects of enjoyment, and safety. This paper deals with the attitudes and opinions of Virginia's spring turkey hunters towards specific issues relating to safety during the spring season. Simple means or frequencies were computed for all responses to survey questions. Responses to questions were compared using the X2 test for independence. The average Virginia spring turkey hunter was male, 38 years old, and had hunted during the spring gobbler season for about 10 years. Most felt that the site they hunted on during their last trip of the 1990 spring season was not crowded. Over 45% had felt in danger of being shot at least once during their spring turkey hunting experiences.

We used the 1988, 1989, and 1991 annual mail surveys to Georgia hunters to compare attitudes of successful and unsuccessful deer hunters. All hunters rated seeing game and lack of crowding as the most important components of hunter satisfaction. Important factors contributing to a positive perception of hunting season quality included number of deer observed and harvest success. All hunters indicated the opportunity to hunt for trophies as more important than killing game; however, successful deer hunters rated trophy opportunity higher than did unsuccessful deer hunters. The presence of trophy deer ranked first among successful deer hunters and fourth among unsuccessful hunters, as factors encouraging use of wildlife management areas.