Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are important furbearers that generate considerable income and recreation across the southeastern United States. Growing concerns about impacts of raccoons on wildlife populations necessitates sound information on raccoon behavior and population dynamics. Forest management has changed throughout the southeastern United States due to increased demands for wood fiber and changing land-use objectives on public lands. However, little research has examined potential influences of forest management strategies on raccoon ranging behavior, particularly within intensively managed forests. We examined spatial use patterns and movements of 118 radio-marked raccoons on 2 areas in central Mississippi during 1996-97. The Tallahala Wildlife Management Area (TWMA) was managed by the U.S. Forest Service for multiple use, whereas the Timber Company lands (TC) were managed intensively for wood fiber production.

Home range size quantifies space needed by an animal in a given area and time. Because fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) home range estimates in the Southeast are rare, I radio-monitored fox squirrels to determine their seasonal and composite (i.e., total duration of monitoring) home range size in southwest Georgia between March 1998 and September 1999. There was no sex by season interaction (P =0.11). Male seasonal and composite home ranges (35.8±4.4 ha and 37.0±3.6 ha, respectively) were larger (P <0.001) than female home ranges (seasonal = 13.3±1.5 ha, composite =21.0±6.3 ha). Seasonal home ranges were largest (34.3±5.9 ha) during March-May of 1998 and smallest (5.9± 1.2 ha) during January-February of 1999. Southeastern fox squirrels require more space than midwestern fox squirrels, perhaps a result of patchily distributed and/or temporally variable food supplies. Food abundance and breeding behavior may explain seasonal variation in home range size.

We conducted a survey from 1990 to 1995 to determine the distribution and status of the swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) in South Carolina. Populations appear largely confined to 3 counties in the Savannah river watershed of northwestern South Carolina. We found little evidence that a significant change in distribution has occurred in South Carolina since the species was first reported in the late 1930s. Swamp rabbits are restricted to bottomlands, but were found in a variety of successional habitats ranging from old-fields to mature hardwood forests.

We implanted radio transmitters in 11 armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) on Cumberland Island, Georgia, and monitored them seasonally from July 1987 through May 1988. Six individuals survived (S) the entire study: 5 died (D) between 1-4 months post-implantatin. Home range sizes for S individuals did not differ significantly between sexes (N=6; 3 males and 3 females). Mean overall home range size was significantly smaller for S compared to D armadillos for both the minimum convex polygon (MCP) (S=6.55 ha, D = 11.55 ha; F = 12.49, df=1, P <0.002) and adaptive kernel (AK) (S=9.47 ha, D = 18.81 ha; F = 11.07, df=1, P=0.003) methods. Mean home range sizes for S armadillos differed among seasons for both the MCP (summer =5.34 ha, fall =5.23 ha, winter = 1.65 ha, spring =3.95 ha; F =6.58, df=3, P <0.003) and AK (summer = 10.26 ha, fall =8.75 ha, winter =3.70 ha, spring =6.02 ha; F =5.29, df=3, P<0.008) methods.

We examined relative body size and space use patterns of free-ranging coyote (Canis latrans)-like canids occupying a marsh complex known to have been one of the last refuges of red wolves (Canis rufus). Morphometric analysis indicated that these animals were larger than other Louisiana coyotes, but smaller than red wolves. We radio-tagged 25 (13 male and 12 female) animals during January-August 1996 and January-April 1997 at Sabine National wildlife Refuge, Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Based on 10 individuals (4 males and 6 females) for which we had adequate data, annual MCP (100% Minimum Convex Polygon) home ranges averaged 12.99±2.97 km2 (x±1 SE) and did not differ by sex (P=0.85). Five other radio-tagged animals dispersed from the study area, but stayed within marsh-dominated areas. Canids included human activity zones in their home ranges more often than expected (P=0.01). Levees were preferred as travel paths (P=0.04).

Maintaining a motivated workforce is a challenge for all organizations. Law enforcement agencies are faced with the apparent contradiction in that the factors and performance we value most in officers can utimately lead to them becoming disgruntled and malcontent. Recognition of the early indications of problems is the responsibility of administration, first-line supervision, and the officers themselves. The goal is to guide officers into a well-rounded and balanced life, which will in turn lead them to being productive and motivated for their entire career.

Wildlife Crime Watch is a program based on the successful “Neighborhood Watch.” The objective is to develop a close working partnership with citizens within their communities. This program is an agency-wide effort, not just law enforcement, to involve people in the protection and development of wildlife, the environment, property, and people. By utilizing traditional crime prevention strategies/training we attempt to involve individuals within a community who are not normally interested in wildlife and environmental issues. Hopefully, by giving something of value to these people we expect to be able to interest them in issues important to our agency.

The need for game warderns in metropolitan areas is greatly underestimated. Demographics are used to show comparisons between tasks performed by wardens in metro vs. rural areas. This is demonstrated by tabulating the activity from wildlife agency reports. Results from Oklahoma hunter participation surveys are used to calculate regional hunting pressure and illustrate the violume of investigations. Wildlife revenue data from 3 county-based license categories are used as relative indices to show sportsmen density. This paper will show the great disproportion of sportsmen density to wardens deployed. Much of the information presented in this paper is based on 20 years of practical field experience as a game warden in the 2 major metropolitan counties in Oklahoma.

Conservation Rangers in the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) face new challenges that have resulted from social and ecological changes caused by urbanization during the past 10-20 years. As the type of natural resource user in Georgia has changed, so has the role and responsibility of the conservation ranger. These changes include increased numbers of boaters, decreased numbers of hunters, an increased emphasis on education of the public by law enforcement personnel, and new laws (some of which are not game and fish laws) to enforce. As a result of these trends, conservation rangers in the future will be required to assume more diverse responsibilities than that of the traditional game warden. To meet the challenges associated with these trends, DNR will need more and differently trained conservation rangers in the future to serve the increasingly urbanized public in Georgia.

In south Arkansas, the use of open oil pits by the oil industry and the oil, which has escaped into the secondary containment areas, is having a detrimental impact on migratory waterfowl, game species, non-game species, and the surrounding environment. The use of aerial surveillance to visually locate these sites and recording of the sites with a GPS has proven the most effective method for location of problem areas. The formation of a partnership of 5 agencies provided the manpower for the land-based investigative teams and a letter gave the oil producers the knowledge of the investigation and problems thought to exist. The retrieval of migratory birds and game and non-game species during the on site investigative visits gave the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the evidence necessary to pursue criminal charges against offending oil producers.

The succession and species composition of necrophilous insects on animal carcasses can be used by wildlife law enforcement officers for estimating postmortem interval (PMI) at suspicious death scenes. Necrophilous insects infesting wildlife carcasses (Louisiana black bear, white-tailed deer, and alligator) in a woodland habitat were monitored during the spring of 1999 to eventually develop a guide for estimating PMI by wildlife officers based on an insect database. The study was conducted at the Waddill Outdoor Educational Center in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. An overview of the study is provided herein based on sampling of aerial and ground inhabitating necrophilous insects associated with the carcasses. Sixty-five species of insects were manually collected during the spring study (20 fly species, 33 beetle species, and an assortment of spiders, mites, and other miscellaneous insects of minor forensic importance).

During 1996 and 1997, local wildlife officers reported illegal activity indicating the need for a covert operation to be conducted in and around the Everglades City area of Collier County, Florida. Information indicated individuals in the area were taking large amounts of wildlife and fish including deer, white ibis, snook, and possibly marine sea turtles. As a result, in May 1998, Operation Alliance was born. The operation consisted of 1 covert investigator taking up permanent residence in the Everglades City area. His task was to establish himself as an outlet for illegally taken wildlife and fish. Another investigator was assigned as case agent to handle evidence, non-covert investigations, and officer safety. After 2 years of investigation, Operation Alliance closed with the arrest of 13 individuals on 101 charges. This included 53 second degree misdemeanors, 3 first degree misdemeanors and 45 third degree felonies.

As our nation grows in a successful economy, wildlife enforcement agencies find themselves in a highly competitive race to recruit and develop qualified applicants for the ever-changing career of the wildlife enforcement officer. This challenge is not limited to any one area of the country and solutions must be as innovative as the technological advances our society is experiencing. Agencies that have developed standards for the level of experience and education they require in their officers, must also develop programs that target the recruitment and retention of those officers. Intern programs have often been viewed as a means to show effort on the part of agencies to hire minority and female applicants and yet most have not succeeded.

Specialization is a needed law enforcement function and strategy to combat white-collar criminal activity involving natural resources. Increased state and federal management concerns of living natrual resources have led to a dramatic increase in law enforcement responsibilities. Effective enforcement of all regulations is integral to the management process to protect, conserve, and maintain sustainable levels of living natural resources. State and federal resource regulations mandate a comprehensive and specialized compliance program. Comprehensive and specialized programs will maximize existing resources ultimately benefiting the public and the living natural resources.

We sampled 3 species of catfish (blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus, channel catfish I. punctatus, and flathead catfish Pylodictis olivaris) from 3 different habitat types (tailrace, main channel, tributary) in 4 river systems in Alabama to quantify their relative distribution, age structure, growth, and habitat use. Blue and flathead catfish were more abundant than channel catfish in all systems, and flathead catfish were both most numerous and had the greatest average length in 3 of the 4 systems. Blue and flathead catfish had similar age distributions containing both juveniles and adults, while channel catfish were dominated by young and immature fish. Flathead catfish abundance did not differ across habitat types, although they tended to be found near woody debris and in higher flow. Blue catfish catch rates did not differ among habitats, although their abundance tended to be higher in pebble/cobble substrates.

The food habits of flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) in the Altamaha River system, Georgia were determined by examining the contents of 866 flathead catfish stomachs from the Altamaha and Ocmulgee rivers during the summer of 1997. Stomach contents were analyzed by frequency of occurrence, percent composition by weight, and percent composition by number. Dominant prey items consumed were centrarchids, ictalurids, and invertebrates. Invertebrates were the most prevalent diet item by number and weight consumed by flathead catfish <30l mm. Centrarchids were the dominant prey item consumed by flathead catfish >301 mm. Since the establishment of flathead catfish in the Altamaha River system there has been a decrease in the native redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus) population.

Ultrasonic telemetry was used to determine seasonal temperature selection by adult flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) in a 93-ha reservoir in west Texas, Buffalo Springs Lake. We implanted temperature-sensing ultrasonic transmitters in 29 flathead catfish and monitored them from June 1993 through June 1995. During the summer months, flathead catfish were found in the warmest lake waters (24.5-31.5 C) even though cooler well-oxygenated water was available. As lake temperatures decreased in fall and winter, flathead catfish were located in the warmest available water. Coldwater habitats were utilized only when the reservoir was not stratified. There was no significant difference in temperature selection by flathead catfish based on size, sex, year, or month. Other habitat variables may be more important to the overall habitat selection by flathead catfish in Buffalo Springs Lake.

We examined food habits of bowfin (Amia calva), in the Black and Lumber rivers, North Carolina. Stomachs from 192 Black River bowfin and 175 Lumber River bowfin were analyzed to determine frequency of occurrence and percent by number and weight of individual food items consumed from 1994 to 1997. Crustaceans [primarily crayfish (Astacidae) and grass shrimp (Palaemonidae)] were the dominant food item consumed by bowfin in both rivers. They occurred, on average, in 79% of Black River bowfin stomachs containing food and accounted for 65% by number and 53% by weight of all food items consumed. In the Lumber River crayfish occurred, on average, in 71 % of bowfin stomachs containing food and accounted for 63% by number and 27% by weight of all food items consumed. Fishes, primarily centrarchids and ictalurids, were of secondary importance in the diet of bowfin.

Food of bluegills (Lepomis macorchirus), redear sunfish (L. microlophus), and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) from Belews Lake was examined during their recovery from selenium (Se) contamination to evaluate the influence of diet on the continued bioaccumulation of Se in their skeletal muscle tissue. The redear sunfish and largemouth bass consumed food items that originated primarily from Belews Lake while bluegills consumed mostly terrestrial insects. Food items originating from the lake generally exhibited higher concentrations of Se and resulted in higher concentrations of Se in the skeletal muscle tissue of the redear sunfish and largemouth bass when compared to bluegills.

In October 1997, apparent spatial heterogeneity in the black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) age distribution was observed in B.E. Jordan Reservoir. The number of age groups for black crappie increased from downlake to uplake. The objective of this study was to verify this spatial heterogeneity. Trap nets were used to collect black crappie in 4 sections of the reservoir. Black crappie ages ranged from 1 to 17 years, and fish ≥10 years were found only in the upper 2 sections of the reservoir. Significant (P<0.05) differences in the black crappie age distribution were found between most reservoir sections in April 1998. However, only the lower most section and upper most section were significantly different in November 1998. There were no differences between sections in April 1999.

Contest angler exploitation rates for crappie (Pomoxis spp.) ≥254 mm total length (TL) were estimated for Lake Texoma, Texas-Oklahoma, from tags returned by anglers fishing in Crappiethon USA contests in 1994 and 1995. Unadjusted contest angler exploitation was 27% in 1994 and 23% in 1995. Exploitation rates were adjusted for handling and tagging mortality and tag retention. Non-reporting was assumed to be 0%. Handling and tagging mortality rate estimates were 22% in 1994 and 10% in 1995. Tag loss for both years was calculated at 14%. Adjusted contest angler exploitation rate of crappie ≥254 mm TL during Crappiethon was 41% in 1994 and 30% in 1995.